Volunteer Work and Animal Rescue Training

Jane Garrison
Search and Rescue Professional and Founder of Animal Rescue New Orleans

There are many ways you can help with rescuing animals. Right now there are thousands of animals on the streets in New Orleans and the surrounding counties. These animals are living in areas that are still uninhabited with little availability of food and water. The only reason these traumatized animals are alive is because of the volunteers who have helped set up food and water stations all over the area. If you are interested in volunteering with animal rescue and feeding, please go to AnimalRescueNewOrleans.org and e-mail us with the dates you would like to come. It does not take special skills to feed these animals. All you need is a big heart and a willingness to work hard! We desperately need more volunteers, so I encourage you to join us in our quest to save as many of these victims as possible.

Dave Pauli
Regional Director for The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS)

There are many opportunities for everyone to help with animal rescues. First, you should make sure that your family and your communities have good animal disaster plans. For this disaster, the largest need is for local animal adoption agencies to accept more animals from Mississippi and Louisiana. If you are interested in adopting a Gulf Coast animal victim, contact your local shelter or humane society and let them know. They can contact HSUS (disasters@hsus.org), the Louisiana SPCA, or Best Friends Animal Society to enquire about getting some of these animal victims for temporary foster care and potential adoption. The animals must be fostered a certain length of time to give their original caregivers an opportunity to find them!

Question: What training do animal rescuers get?

Jane Garrison
Search and Rescue Professional and Founder of Animal Rescue New Orleans

I suggest that anyone wanting to help animals pick up some books and learn about issues that affect animals. Books such as DIET FOR A NEW AMERICA, DOMINION, and 101 WAYS TO SAVE THE ANIMALS are great places to start.

I took a disaster training class and received my certification. In 1997 I went to my first disaster, the floods in Northern California. Since that time I have rescued animals in several other disasters. I plan to give classes and write manuals on how to rescue animals during disasters. If you are interested in these courses or helping in future disasters, please go to AnimalRescueNewOrleans.com and send an e-mail indicating this.

Dave Pauli
Regional Director for The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS)

There are many training courses available. You can start with two FEMA self-study courses available at http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/IS/crslist.asp. National groups also provide regional training. Information about HSUS’s training courses can be found at http://www.hsus.org. Interested parties can also check their HSUS regional office for scheduled classes.