Step around the poop, if you can

Called M this morning around 11 am. He and kitty were on the road again after spending the night in El Paso at a motel. He seemed happy and surprised to report to me that no one had stolen anything from his car overnight. Evidently he had a bad experience at a motel in Texas a while back-someone had stolen his bike from his car.

Anyway, he was on his way to Arizona to stay with aunts,uncles and cousins-a long drive from El Paso-At least he's not in the way of Lovely Rita anymore. He should be back to California by Saturday, the same day Rita is set to hit Galveston

I wonder if anyone will be able to get into either Louisiana or Texas by Saturday.

Well, I will worry until M and Voodoo are safely back to Cali-of course, we get bad ass earthquakes. Standby all you folks-we might need you too.






This is an interesting recent blog entry from Kelsey, the lady who rescued Voodoo, M's cat from his apartment in Orleans parish a few weeks ago..



"Yesterday we visited the sixth ring of HELL. Dr. White called me at 10pm Monday night about a targeted rescue in Meraux for 18 cats in one house. I had never been to Meraux before Katrina, and have no 'before' to compare it to. For those that don't know, this is St. Bernard Parish and the location of the Murphy Oil Refinery. Have you ever seen those shows on Discovery about volcano lava flows- where the lava is thick with a black crust on top? Add septic smell and you've got St. Bernard Parish. They've covered the oil spill on the main roads with sand, so it's not so slick, but this is, or was where the 'toxic water' was. Lakeview water was just an extension of Lake Ponchartrain comparably-relatively clean. First, let me say that this was the MOST challenging roadblock I've gone through. I have a xeroxed letter from Sheriff Harry Lee, of Jefferson Parish, allowing access, a certified letter (with seal-an original document)from Henry Rodriguez, President of St. Bernard Parish allowing access anywhere in the parish and an Iberia Humane Society 'Pet Rescue' sign on my truck. The 'gentlemen' at said checkpoint could not have cared less. They said they didn't care what passes I had, there was a forced evacuation and they expected the area to flood again. When I explained that Dr. White had sent me to rescue 18 specific cats, I was told, " Go in, get them and get out. If we have to come looking for you, it will be with handcuffs." Yea, Dr. White!! There are few street signs, so finding this house was challenging. When we do, it's a 2 story with a well ventilated roof, very little siding and a swamp on the first floor. We didn't see how any cats could still be in the house; it was a wreck. The first thing we noticed, after the condition of the house, was the large dog footprints in the dried mud all around the house and the gutted armadillo in the backyard. Still, we went in. After much searching through really awful stuff, I heard Leah yell "Cat". There, hiding in the box spring of the bed was a Himalayan looking cat. She thought it was dead until she shined the flashlight on it and it moved. It took 3 of us to catch this skinny, dehydrated, filthy cat and he took one of the thick 'cat proof' gloves into the crate with him. In the crate he refused food and water and charged the gate. We looked around some more and found a cat behind the dryer. This cat looked fat and fairly healthy as he ran up the wall, ran circles around us and jumped out of the 2nd floor wall and was gone. We left food and water for him. While we were in the area, I received 2 calls about animals in Chalmette-telepathic that these people knew we were there. We went by both houses. We couldn't see how any animal survived that-I kept calling it the 7th gate of hell, but Leah explained that Dante's Inferno called them rings and this was the 6th. Too philosophical for the occasion and I know I read that in 11th grade humanities class, but have killed too many brain cells in the following years to remember specifics. SUVs were in the air vertically leaning against houses, telephone poles, other cars and piles of debris. The sludge was 7" thick and clung to our boots like glue. I told Jen that it looked like the biggest cowpie she'd ever stepped in-she pulled her foot up and the boot stayed firmly stuck in the gook.
We didn't find either of the animals we were looking for, ut we did find footprints, so we left food and water. On our way out of town, a DEQ truck stopped us to report a dalmatian in front of a house on Palmisano. We went, and sure enough,laying down in the dried muddy grass in front of a house, was the largest dalmatian I've ever seen. Leah brought him water and he growled and charged her. Finally, an area of my expertise. I got a lead and some bisquits and explained to him that I had wolves and he didn't scare me. Maybe it was the babytalk, or maybe it was the gentleman at a house across the street that helped me corner him, but I got the lead around his neck. After that he was fine. I think he was guarding his home and didn't trust any of us and wasn't leaving until his family came home. With Rita approaching, we knew they wouldn't be back for a while and I wasn't leaving without him. My parents have my 12 year old dalmatian (the wolves don't like him) and my husband has a dalmatian that I fight for bed space every night, and I'm a dog person (who primarily rescues cats).
When we were leaving St. Bernard Parish, we passed a big army convoy leaving. When we got Uptown, we noticed that there were NO army checkpoints. We picked up 4 cats on Hillary that the owner told Leah to feed and water, but leave them since they'd be back Wednesday. Hello Hurricane Rita-all bets are off, we called him and he said to get them. this was easy; we put crates on the floor and 2 cats walked into them-the other 2 we caught and put in. 4 cats in Uptown (a non-decimated area)= 15 minutes. 1 cat in Meraux (a majorly destroyed area) 1 hour. The trauma those animals in the lower parishes went through is unimaginable.

I gave you the long story. The short conclusion is that when the lady from Meraux came to claim her cat, it wasn't one of her 18 cats. It turns out, he is a feral cat. Right place right time to be rescued. She named him Leah-Kelsey and had him neutered, vaccinated and bathed. However, she told me today that she'd like to find a home for him since she and her husband don't have the energy to tame a feral cat.
I told Dr. White about the dalmatian we caught and he has the contact information on him, but was not able to catch him. Yippee, he has an owner.

Until we know where Rita is going, getting back in is next to impossible. I received some desperate calls about the 9th ward animals. If anybody is already in, please go and help. We will come back as soon as we can get in. There may be a group going into St. Bernard to deliver dog food to the shelter there (and check for those cats), but we're not sure they'll even be able to get in.

Sorry for the length of this, I couldn't help it. And I've only had 2 beers.

I wish the residents of the lower parishes all of the love and luck I can. And to the deputies at the St. Bernard checkpoint, "Can we do the handcuffs next time?"

Also, thanks to my best friend Jen Deane, who is not really a dog person and is allergic to cats, for going with us and helping. At really awful moments, she made us regain perspective and remember why we were there." gulfsails.blogspot.com