Volunteers desperately needed for animals at Lamar Dixon Expo Center in Gonzales

I was at Larmar-Dixon for 11 days. The organization is non-existant. If you are looking for a pet, they tell you to come there and look or look on Petfinder.com. Only SOME of the animals were photographed for petfinder. The animals could havebeen scanned when they arrived, BUT THEY WERE NOT ! The animals could have been checked for tel numbers on their tags, and those numbers called, BUT THEY WERE NOT ! The ultimate blame is on the HSUS which headed up the entire operation, and DID NOT DO THEIR JOB ! I am sickened by the whole thing. It was a tragedy upon a tragedy. The "paid" workers should have pitched in with the overworked volunteers, but they were too busy sitting in their air conditioned RV's or taking pics for their scrapbooks. All this while the volunteers cleaned cages, walked dogs, fed and watered animals, and took in the 150-300 new animals a night. There weren't even chairs for the volunteers. We had to sit on the ground to have a break or eat our meager meals. And remember, the ground had feces, urines, and everything tracked in by animals who had walked in the "toxic soup." The tireless volunteers stayed there for the animals only. The HSUS, ASPCA, etc could have been sent home on a bus and the volunteers could have done a better job. We, the volunteers, were from across the nation. We left spouses, children, jobs, etc to come and save animals. And we were treated like garbage. The truth WILL come out. Too many people know what the agencies and the govt of LA DID NOT DO. I hope they can't sleep at night.

I just returned from a week at Lamar-Dixon and I agree with much of Roni's post. We volunteers worked so very hard. There was little or no communication, and the entire situation is chaos. I, too, wondered why so many HSUS employees had time to sit around and chat with each other when they could have pitched in to help (one veterinarian, Deb Campbell, was not above walking a dog or fixing food -- she is terrific!).

During my first two days, I consistently received conflicting direction, so that I could count on being spoken to like an unwanted stepchild several times a day. I was especially upset when I pointed out an animal sitting in a filthy, water-laden crate late one night (he couldn't even lay down), only to be chastised for being in that particular area.

When Deb Campbell came back on duty (two days after I got there), she provided great direction, and I spent my time focusing on the animals in her ICU area, making sure they were clean and dry and watered and fed, with the help of several other dedicated volunteers. We did what we could to offer a little extra comfort, scratching behind ears, brushing matted fur, digging through boxes to find a soft bed for an old, sick dog, etc. And, as part of the night shift, Deb had us tuck them all in around midnight with a treat.

Eric's Dog Blog

I'm in Gulfport, Mississippi leading the rebuilding of the Humane Society of South Mississippi’s animal shelter, which was destroyed.

This blog provides vivid descriptions directly from the operations of various rescue groups in New Orleans, LA and surrounding areas. We are working around the clock to save 50,000 to 100,000 pets that are in this disaster zone. Time is running out! But we are still pulling 1000s of animals out every day - animals that have been on their own for 20 days! Please help! Click on the links lower right! Read on!

I am going to the Lamar Dixon Expo centre on Thursday and I havent been scared away by the comments! can you give me an insider's idea of what I should bring other than what is on the list the HSUS gave me? are iodine tablets/water filter necessary? and advice on what really needed is to help....thank you very much.

There is a list at the bottom of this webpage that you might find useful.

http://dawnwatch.com/katrina

Best of luck!

I SPENT 6 DAYS AT LAMAR-DIXION UP UNTIL THE COLSING. WHAT A FULL FILLING EXPERIENCE. SINCE I HAD HORSE EXPERIENCE, I WAS FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO MUCK ~45 STALLS, AND SLOWLY EXERCISE MY GUYS (MOSTLY STALLIONS) SOME WERE QUITE ILL STANDING IN WATER FOR 3 DAYS OTHERS WERE JUST WAITNG FOR THEIR BARNS TO BE FIXED. NEVER SAW SO MANY PUSSY HOOFS, BUT THE LSU CARE INCREDIBLE!!! AFTER MY STINT THERE AT L-D I WAS DEPLOYED TO W.JEFF MED CTR AS A RELIEF NURSE , HAD AN OPPURTUNITY TO VISIT THE FRENCH QUARTER AND SAW MY DONKEYS WORKING!! ALSO ON THE NEWS A DOG, PRECIOUS WAS LEAVING TO MEET UP WITH HER FAMILY DISPLACED TO A SHELTER IN NM GREAT TO SEE HER REUNITED! THANK YOU FOR THE OPPURTUNITY TO WORK WITH LSU AND THE HUMANE SOCIETY LIZ NERZIG,RN USPHS/RELIEF NURSE