I got back from helping the HSUS with the displaced animals at Lamar
Dixon Expo Center in Gonzales, LA.  What an awesome experience!  I am
so glad I got the opportunity to help out.  I have written up my
experience and some of the stories I came away with in a word document.
I asked Flippy if she would post it on her website.  If she agrees, I
will post the link so if anyone is interested in reading it, can do so
at their leisure.  I do apologize ahead of time, I'm not as good a
writer as a lot of you are.  : )

There were a lot of neat moments down there, and people were so
grateful for our help.  Even if we were unable to find any information
on the whereabouts of their pet, they just appreciated how sincere we
were and how we tried to cover ever possible avenue to track down the
pet.

One of the girls I met took up a collection from her co-workers so she
could fly down there from New York.  Whatever she had left over, she
was going to donate.

Another lady drove from California to volunteer.  It took her a week to
get there 'cause she didn't like to drive at night.  Her husband is
flying out this week to drive back with her.  She said they are into
windsurfing and spend all their vacations at the ocean.  So they are
going to take 2 or 3 weeks and visit the Grand Canyon, the Presidential
Library in Arkansas, etc.  How neat!

I have 2 cats and 2 dogs.  I boarded the dogs at a kennel I've used
just once.  I like her set up, the kennels are large, the dogs can get
outside to potty when they need to, and they can play with the other
dogs while the kennels are being cleaned.  It was going to cost me over
$300.00 to keep them there for 10 days.  I told her what I was doing,
she mentioned that she wanted to go down but had a 5 year old son and
decided she better not risk having something happen to her.  I asked if
she would consider giving me a break on the price, since this came up
so suddenly.  She said there would be no bill when I got back!  I do
expect to pay at least half, but that was a nice offer.

Now on a cat note: a co-worker stopped by my house each day to take
care of my 2 cats.  I got an email from her asking if I'm sure they
should only get 1 cup of food each.  She said they acted so hungry, so
she was giving them a little more than that.  They're on a diet, but
now I'm sure she is their favorite person.  :)  They did seem a little
disappointed when they saw it was me walking through the door and they
were back to their usual portions.

Well, I guess I need to get back to reality.

Purrs,
Theresa