By Kaaren Valenta

Deb Moran’s heart melted when she saw Heather, the yellow lab mix at the temporary shelter operated by the Humane Society in Gulfport, Miss., where animals rescued after Hurricane Katrina were being housed, along with strays and dogs given up by their owners.

“She reminded me so much of the dog I had growing up in Newtown,” Ms Moran said. “Lady was a greyhound-lab mix. She died when I was 15, just before I got my driver’s license. I’ve never had a dog since, but once I saw that little face at the shelter in Gulfport, I knew I had to help her.”

Deb Moran had been wanting to do something to help the hurricane victims, so when she learned that a family friend was taking a box truck full of donations from the SPCA of Westchester (N.Y.) to Gulfport, she immediately volunteered to help.

“There were five of us,” she said. “John Iannuzzi and I drove the truck with donations and cages down on October 18; the second team of three volunteers drove the truck back on October 20 with 16 dogs. They stopped every two hours so it took them 36 hours to drive straight home.”

Ms Moran had sent an email to her friends and co-workers before she made the trip, asking for donations.

“I raised $1,000 in four days,” she said. “Several Newtown businesses — Hickey Septic, Oak Street Design, Creating Carpentry by Bob, and LCM Booking Services — were very generous. I used the money to get $100 gift cards for PetCo, Office Max, Home Depot, and Wal-Mart to give to the shelter in Gulfport.”

She also collected dog and cat food, bowls, toys, blankets, and towels.

“I’m used to little shelters located next to the dump, like Newtown’s, with a handful of dogs, so this was a real eye-opening experience,” she said. “The Humane Society of Gulfport is renovating an old warehouse that must be 60,000 or 70,000 square feet. It went on forever with training rooms, puppy rooms, cat rooms. But it isn’t open yet because everyone is focused on what has to be rebuilt because of the hurricane. So they are still in the old shelter.

“I thought the amount of supplies stockpiled there was so much that ours wouldn’t be needed,” Ms Moran continued, “but then I saw that truckloads were being sent from there to shelters in other towns like Biloxi and Waveland.”

Many of the animals came from surrounding communities, as well. The community of Gulfport had pledged $1 million for the planned new $3 million shelter, but volunteers now worry that the pledges will not be able to be paid because of the damage to homes and businesses and loss of jobs due to the hurricane.

Gulfport is located about 50 miles east of New Orleans, but the devastation all along the coastline is unbelievable, Deb Moran said.

“There was nothing there — everything along the water was destroyed. There were piles of bricks, but not a whole lot of debris — it was washed away. Houses often were missing their first floors, everything inside washed away, but the second floors were still intact.”

“We went to [a restaurant] and half the things were crossed off the menu, not because of a lack of food but because they don’t have the enough cooks. The animal shelter normally had 32 people working there but now, after the hurricane, they only have 12 and these people are working 12- or 13-hour days, seven days a week.”

There were 68 dogs in the shelter the day they arrived, but 150 had left for new homes in Pennsylvania the day before. The shelter, located at 13756 Washington Avenue in Gulfport, accepts more than 15,000 animals a year and performs more than 4,000 spay and neuter surgeries.

Although several thousand dogs and cats have been rescued since the hurricane, many have been claimed.

“It had been seven weeks [since the hurricane] so the dogs that could be reunited with their families have been,” Deb Moran said. “These dogs mostly are strays or dogs that were relinquished by their families who could no longer care for them. One dog came with a two-page letter from its former owner that made you cry if you read it.”

That dog was Rory, a 5-year-old pointer mix who has been adopted by Liz Newnham, a realtor with Century 21 in Newtown.

“Two black lab mix puppies named Rita and Katrina also went quickly. They were adopted right away,” Ms Moran said. “But ‘my dog’ and the others are available. I wish I could adopt her — I want to name her Willow — but I can’t have a dog where I live.”

The attitude toward animals is very different in the South, she said.

“The animal population is out of control there,” she said. “They get a dog and tie it to a tree in the backyard. Most are not spayed or neutered. They don’t go to the vet. A lot of the dogs have heartworm. Five of the 16 dogs we brought back are being treated for it.”

Ms Moran had high praise for the Westchester SPCA services: All of the animals, dogs and cats, are spayed or neutered. They are tested for feline leukemia and FIV, receive all vaccinations, and worming. After adoption each receives a free first exam from a veterinarian and free behavioral information and counseling.

“The fee is only $75 to adopt a dog,” Ms Moran said. “The dogs are walked and trained every day. The SPCA volunteers do a really good job.”

The five dogs with heartworm are being placed in foster homes during their treatment. “If they survive, they can be adopted, too ” she said.

NOTE: The Westchester SPCA is open seven days a week, excluding holidays, from 10 am to 4 pm Monday through Saturday and 1 to 4 on Sunday. It is at 590 North State Road in Briarcliff Manor, N.Y. 10510. There is a website with more information at www.spca914.org.

For more information about the shelter in Gulfport view www.hssm.org.