Click here for a NOLA TV news report on the shelter project.
The Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care Foundation (VECCF) conducted an animal shelter support project in conjunction with IVECCS held this year in New Orleans. The symposium was September 26-30, 2007 and the support project was scheduled for September 25-26 immediately prior to IVECCS.
The St. Bernard Parish Animal Shelter in Chalmette, LA (east side of New Orleans) was identified as being most in need as very little had been done to repair or improve the facility since Hurricane Katrina two years ago. Dr Gary Stamp, VECCF Administrator, toured the shelter in May and again in August and met with shelter officials to validate the extreme need and willingness to accept volunteer support. At this time, it was learned that the LSU Veterinary School also was initiating a Shelter Outreach program for the New Orleans area and was going to focus first on the St Bernard Parish facility.
The VECCF and LSU group, led by Dr Susan Eddlestone (DACVIM, Assistant Professor) decided to collaborate efforts on the facility. It was determined that the initial project would be to establish a surgery room at the shelter so that veterinary students from LSU Veterinary School could perform spays and neuters at the facility. This would give the students valuable training experience plus make the animals more adoptable. The shelter in its present condition was overflowing with animals but had no capacity to test for any diseases or have a spay/neuter program. Thus, an adoption program was non-existent. The VECCF put out a call for volunteers July 21st targeting veterinarians and technicians planning to attend IVECCS. Over 50 individuals responded.
Dr. William Smith, President of the Veterinary Emergency & Critical Care Foundation, was placed in charge of the project and did a preliminary site visit in early September to estimate the work needed and equipment required to accomplish the mission. On Tuesday, September 25th, Drs Smith and Eddlestone, along with 18 volunteers who had registered to attend IVECCS, performed a thorough cleaning of the facility; they scraped, sanded, painted, and installed new ceilings. On Wednesday, September 26th, thirty IVECCS volunteers assisted with painting, cleaning, and socializing dogs and cats. Thursday through Saturday, Dr. Smith and several volunteers continued work by installing doors, cabinets, and wet tables. The plumbing and electrical connections were made and the major portion of the project was completed at midnight on Saturday night. Final cleanup was conducted on Sunday afternoon, September 30th, and a functional surgery room with an additional treatment/exam room were ready.
When the volunteers arrived on Tuesday the 24th, they found deplorable conditions in a facility that been devastated by Katrina two years earlier. There had been minimal repairs made on the shelter and only in late summer had permanent power and hot water been restored. As Dr Cindy Otto commented, "I was devastated by the state of affairs as I passed through the 9th Ward and St. Bernard Parrish. Arriving at the Animal Shelter, it was clear that it too had suffered, but unlike the overwhelming sense of gloom elsewhere, here was hope and promise. The energy of the staff and the volunteers made all things seem possible. The commitment from LSU to continue to collaborate with the shelter to provide care for the animals, while a teaching opportunity for the students instilled a confidence in me that the work we were doing was going to have a lasting effect. In the brief time that we spent there, the transformation of the physical space was amazing, but it was hope and promise that painted the walls not just bright colors."
In a few days the volunteer veterinarians, technicians and students who came from all over the U.S. worked with the shelter staff to transform the facility. They created surgery and exam rooms out of overrun animal holding rooms that had no ceilings. Most of all, however, the volunteers brought hope and encouragement.
The below account of the situation by Rene Scalf, RVT, VECCF Secretary and volunteer says it well.
"My post Katrina animal relief experiences really were a driving factor for my involvement with the Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care Foundation. This is the true meaning of life. It is all about making the effort to make a positive difference in other people’s lives. This shelter still has a tough road ahead as it still takes money and people to keep it running, but at least there is a clean working space now to allow for spay/neuter and simple procedures for the animals. Hopefully, ongoing donations can help ease the strain and pain of the extreme loss that the shelter faced two years ago."
Industry representatives were contacted in late July to donate supplies and equipment as part of the support project and over 20 companies responded very generously. Equipment and supply items were also donated on site by exhibitors at the Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care Symposium. This included surgery instruments, stainless steel wet tables, surgery lights, ophthalmoscope/otoscope combinations, stethoscopes and a gas anesthesia machine. Other equipment items were sold to the VECCF at significant discounts. Supplies such as vaccines, flea & tick products, antibiotics, diagnostic tests, needles, syringes, bandaging materials, etc were donated and shipped by several industry partners.
The VECCF was officially founded in August 2003 as a sister organization to the VECCS. It became active during the hurricane season of 2005. The organizational objectives and missions of the VECCF are to: a) Provide support to disaster response operations; b) Fund emergency and critical care related research; c) Fund post-graduate training and continuing education programs. The Foundation is an IRS category 501(c)(3) charitable organization and is actively seeking donations to meet the above mentioned missions. Contact the website linked through: www.veccf.org or call 210-698-5575 for more information.