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November 4, 2005|Volume 34, Number 10


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Michele Papero, who is a veterinary technician, is pictured here with one of the animals rescued after Hurricane Katrina.



Yale employee lends skills to help
animals after the hurricane

"Every time you turned around, someone was touching or hugging a dog or a cat," says Yale research associate Michele Papero of efforts made by volunteers in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, to care for animals rescued from Hurricane Katrina.

Papero, who works in Professor Durland Fish's laboratory in the Division of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases, is a veterinary technician at Shoreline Animal Emergency Clinic and a member of Rural Area Veterinary Services, a group under the umbrella of the Humane Society, which provides veterinary care in impoverished areas.

She was among the 300 volunteers who were deployed to Mississippi and to shelters in Jackson and Gonzales, Louisiana, by Rural Area Veterinary Services and Veterinary Medical Assistance Team (VMAT), the veterinary part of Federal Emergency Management Agency. The volunteers -- who included Humane Society staff, members of VMAT, veterinarians, technicians, animal handlers and people with shelter experience -- came from all 50 states and from Canada.

Papero worked in the Forest County Multipurpose Complex in Hattiesburg from Sept. 24 to Oct. 1. The shelter housed 700 animals that were either strays, rescued animals or surrendered pets from the Gulf area of Mississippi. The creatures -- including cats, dogs, horses, pigs, goats, geese and tropical birds -- filled four barns.

The animals were treated for everything from pre-existing conditions to such ailments as heat stroke, kennel cough, upper respiratory infections, diarrhea and pyometra. The latter, an infection of the uterus that sometimes occurs in unspayed female dogs, is a life-threatening condition in which the uterus fills with bacteria that produce toxins that can damage the kidneys.

Papero's shelter sent a group of its veterinarians and technicians to both the Jackson and Gonzales shelters, where animals were much more ill and were being treated for dehydration and gastrointestinal problems due to consuming contaminated water.

"We didn't see too much of that where I was. Not everybody was on medication, but you wanted to be sure you looked at everyone every day," Papero says. "Even if you're not providing medical care, you're trying to clean kennels and feed and water that many animals."

Despite the devastation caused by the hurricane, Papero says, the animals wanted for nothing. The shelter had a complete pharmacy of medication, prescription food, toys, bowls and leashes, all of which had been donated. Truckloads of ice came to the shelter. This ice was put in the water bowls, and the cats were given ice packs for their stalls on hot afternoons, she recalls.

The love, care, compassion and teamwork that went into treating the animals made the shelter a success, notes Papero. She vividly remembers the staff meeting when one volunteer said, "These animals are all people's pets, and we should all treat them like they are someone's pets."

"And they were," said Papero, "They were."

When animals arrived at the shelter, they were given a decontaminating bath with a safe chemical that would disinfect them in case they had been in any type of human excrement or in any kind of area that was of risk to humans, says Papero. The animals also received a veterinary examination and were de-wormed, vaccinated and micro-chipped. The microchip is a little computer chip, about the size of a grain of rice, injected underneath the skin so that if animals get lost, they can be scanned and reclaimed, explains Papero. In addition, the animals were photographed, and these pictures went into their records, along with information about where they were found, whether they were rescued or surrendered, and their medical treatment.

All animals from the Mississippi and Louisiana shelters were shipped to no-kill shelters around the country and are listed on Petfinder.com and Petharbor.com. The shelters are required to hold the animals for 30-45 days, so their owners have a chance to find them. After the waiting period, the animals are put up for adoption or put in foster homes.

Papero notes that, once the animals are healthy, "they will thrive in a nurturing environment."

-- By Marcie Foley


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Today's press fails to get 'to the bottom of things,' journalist says

Activist calls for cohesive global response to international migration

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Yale employee lends skills to help animals after the hurricane

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