Where We’ve Been...
The Spirit of Veterinary Medicine
Hurricane Relief Fund was established at LSU in 2005 on the heels of
Hurricane Katrina. Named in honor of “Spirit,” a much-loved dog
belonging to the fund’s lead donor, the purpose of the fund is to
support animals that are
affected by hurricanes and other natural disasters.
Hurricane Katrina struck the
Louisiana and Mississippi coasts on August 29, 2005. The School of
Veterinary Medicine, along with countless volunteers, provided a
massive response. Temporary animal shelters were established at the
LSU AgCenter’s John M. Parker Coliseum in Baton Rouge, La., and the
Lamar-Dixon Expo Center in Gonzales, La. Parker Coliseum housed
owned animals brought out of the New Orleans area by their owners;
Lamar-Dixon housed rescued animals. Faculty, staff and students from
the LSU SVM volunteered at both facilities.
Within 48 hours, the Parker Coliseum
took in 500 animals. In total, more than 2,000 pets were sheltered
there. Over 8,000 animals were housed at Lamar-Dixon, including more
than 300 horses rescued by volunteers. These shelters operated 24
hours a day for almost two months. Volunteers worked tirelessly
attending to routine needs daily and providing medical care for
these animals and to reunite them with their owners.
The incredible generosity of
thousands of people like you supported the multiple expenses
incurred caring for these displaced animals, including
transportation to shelters around the country and subsequent
transportation so that they could be reunited with their owners.
Where We’re Going...
The LSU SVM shelter medicine program
in partnership with the Humane Society of the United States provides
services to shelters seriously damaged or destroyed by Hurricane
Katrina, including shelter management advice, implementation, and
individual animal care at shelters in East Baton Rouge, Plaquemines,
Jefferson, and St. Bernard parishes.
Under the leadership of Dr. Susan
Eddlestone, associate professor of veterinary medicine, LSU hosts a
monthly “spay day” for cats in a program known as the LSU Animal
Sterilization Assistance Program. Approximately 100 sterilization
surgeries are performed monthly.
Our new mobile veterinary clinic is
now available for state-wide emergency response and was first
deployed after Hurricane Gustav rolled through Louisiana. The unit,
acquired in partnership with the American Kennel Club, will be used
throughout the year to support shelter activities in southern
Louisiana. The Spirit Fund supported equipment for the trailer and
the truck to haul it. In the response to Hurricane Gustav, LSU
students were engaged in the massive evacuation from New Orleans
while in Baton Rouge (with all other emergency clinics closed
because of power failure), faculty, staff and students took in 40
emergencies a day for the first three days of the aftermath. Spirit
funds were applied where a ppropriate
to animal care during this critical period.
SVM Faculty have developed special
elective courses in the professional curriculum that define the role
of the veterinary profession in disaster response and prepare our
students for engagement. We have presented Large Animal Emergency
Response Training Clinics in collaboration with the LSU Fire and
Emergency Training Institute and the LSU Stephenson Disaster
Management Institute. “Lessons learned” from our experiences have
been disseminated widely at major veterinary meetings. LSU has set
the standard on a national and
 global
scale as leaders in this necessary area of veterinary medicine.
The magnificent bronze sculpture,
Connections, in honor to those who come to the aid of animals,
was dedicated in the SVM Serenity Garden on November 6, 2008. This
project was supported independently of the Spirit Fund.
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