Equine News from 2005

LSU…From the Beginning


BATON ROUGE — “We should have well over 300 horses at Lamar Dixon by tonight”, said Ky Mortensen, Director of Advancement for the Equine Program at Louisiana State University. “By the end of the week, who knows…probably close to 500…this weekend we should be getting close to having a pretty good handle on having either brought in what needed to be evacuated, and knowing what is okay where it is for the time being”.

“We’ve been manning the horse rescue hotline 24 hours a day for about 6 or 7 days now and its been non-stop.” “There are literally thousands of individuals that have called in wanting to help or in need of help. We’ve simply divided them up into groups. Some are those that have horses that need to be rescued. Others are those with available resources, pasture, hay, stall space, whatever, and they want to make that available to anyone who needs it. Others still, are those that simply want to send money, and then we’ve got a lot of people who are willing to bring their trailer and physically come and get involved.”

“We (LSU) have been at this for quite awhile now and I think the most challenging thing has simply been the communication among groups in trying to coordinate the efforts and get everyone on the same page. Nobody was ever really called up and placed “in charge”, here, this has simply been a massive effort by a lot of different groups working with LSU from the beginning. It’s a little hard to keep a handle on at times, but we’re not complaining. It’s working for the horses, so I it’s working for us too.”

“There are hundreds of little interest stories that have or will come out of this thing. Some will be remembered for a long time, written down and shared nationwide. Others will only live in the memories of those immediately involved. I got a call on Tuesday night from some of the guys from the Arkansas Horse Rescue team, letting me know that they had rounded up 5 mules and two horses and had cornered them near the railroad tracks downtown near the Aquarium, and needed us to come and get them.” “That’s what the LSU role has been…you call us, tell us where the horses are, what you need, and how to get there, and we get the trucks and trailers out there with veterinarians, technicians and volunteers on board to handle the situation once they arrive.”

When the call for the mules came in, Dr. Dan Burba left immediately with our own LSU truck and trailer and headed into downtown New Orleans to try and find the mules. He and I were on the radio back and forth…he was driving right through downtown New Orleans, military everywhere, roads blocked, flood waters all around, shots being fired…it was crazy. Luckily we never lost contact, because I was at headquarters in front of a wall of maps, guiding him through the street maze to get him in the area where the mules were supposed to be, and he was just driving for all he was worth down there trying to do the best he could. “I remember he said, “Okay Ky, I’m on the street (Elysian Fields Ave.) tell me where to turn and how far down they are…this is crazy down here, we need to find these mules as quick as we can and get out of here.”

“Okay, I see them, man they’re all over the place!...I thought they were in a barn…this is going to be tricky…hold on, I’ll get back to you”. That was the last thing I heard for awhile until he was able to get back with me about 20 minutes later. He and a technician had them all loaded and was leaving New Orleans. Amazing really, when you consider what they were up against.

“Every day we make several runs to various parts of New Orleans and the surrounding area. Sometimes its 7 or 8 trips, other times its more, it just depends. Each evening we try to work as a team in headquarters and assess who is still out there and who we can get to the following day. Dr. Moore puts it all on a schedule, lining up volunteers, trailers, veterinarians from the clinic and surrounding area, technicians, supplies, etc. Then the following morning we all meet at Lamar Dixon, the assignments are handed out and everyone hits the road. We won’t know what the outcome of the day’s efforts are until everyone is back that evening. Sometimes we come back with only a fraction of what we went after. Other times we end up sending additional trailers into an area where we didn’t think there were many to bring out.”

“Here is a glimpse of what a typical schedule looks like for any given day during the rescue process, the people involved to make this happen on a daily basis, and the results of a days’ efforts”

Hurricane Katrina – Horse Rescue
Horse Hurricane Helpline @ LSU Equine Clinic (225-578-9501)
WEDNESDAY – September 7, 2005/ Status Report

GROUP 1 – St. Bernard Parish – Departed @ 8:30 am ~ 26 horses are in need of evacuation (have 2 mini stallions and 2 horse stallions) - Jay Addison’s truck/trailer (Addison/Giardina)
–Dr. Chad Richard and Dr. Lance Hidalgo with Roger from Georgia with truck and large trailer (loaded with hay/feed) – can haul ~ 12 horses
–Dr. Neil Henderson and Toby Wallace (in Heather Mayfield’s truck/trailer)
– To haul 4 stallions (2 minis and 2 horse stallions)
–Texas Lone Star Rescue with 2 trucks/trailers with total capacity of ~15-20 horses – to follow Dr. Chad
–Mr. Luis Pomes – knows the area well, was very helpful in identifying location of horses on Tuesday and is helping to care for some of the horses and other animals in the area.
–Girl on barge needs Advantage for two dogs (sent enough for Chihuaha and Labrador)
**Need to collect and haul back about 50 dogs from the St. Bernard Parish Sheriff’s Office – the SPCA or another group may be arranging for this, however, if these dogs are still there in the afternoon and there is an empty trailer to put them on, then stop there and load them on to the trailer and haul back to Lamar Dixon.
Needed Supplies: (1) 2 pair #8 hip boots, (2) bird seed, (3) ferret food, (4) dog food, (5) 50 bales of grass hay, (6) 1 ton of feed, (7) Advantage
OUTCOME: Collectively brought back about 40-45 horses on these trailers, 3 dogs, some cats and some goats.
Also delivered the above mentioned supplies.

GROUP 2
RUN #1: Near Huey P. Long Bridge – Departed @ 8:15 am
–Sue William’s trailer (6 horse without partitions)
–Dr. Phil Deville (337-652-8937), Leslie Talley and Sue Williams (225-978-3685)
–Sent a truck and 6-horse trailer with Vet and Tech from Austin, TX with them
–4-H Barn on/near Bridge City Avenue – 8 horses (including 1 small colt and 1 donkey)
–2 Horses under the Belle Chasse Bridge (may need rescued)
–Film Crew from Entertainment Tonight and Insider to accompany Ky Mortensen
Everything was fine at the 4-H barn and there were some other horses that reportedly needed to be looked at…All were fine except a laminitic horse
OUTCOME: Horses in the abovementioned barn were okay and the owners did not want to take them out. They also went to some other locations and examined several horses. One horse was identified with laminitis and they tried to bring it back, but after a lot of time, the owner decided she did not want it taken and she would care for it there.

RUN #2: Departed for two farms in the St. Rose area near River Road and Williams Blvd. –
OUTCOME: Got 7 horses and 3 goats owned by Beverly Varuso at Martha Lambert’s farm and 1 horse from Mr. Bonura’s farm on Martin Drive.

GROUP 3 – Chef Menteur Hwy – Far East New Orleans – Departed at 8:30 am
– Chef Menteur Hwy – Far East New Orleans – 10 horses in one area and 2 injured in another
– Will be shown where horses are by the Arkansans for Animals (HSUS)
– Diane and Glenn Ladner (870-998-5011)
– Will meet at the Wal-Mart in Boutte @ 8:00 am
– Drs. Kleinman and Snyder and in truck/trailer with Texas LoneStar truck/trailer (12 horses)
OUTCOME: Brought 12 horses out and identified 19-21 more that needed evacuated tomorrow.

GROUP 4 – Slidell area – Departed @ 8:50 am
–Slidell, LA – 5 horses (including 2 THBs) - Sue Williams has directions – please check with her – same area you were in the day before, but need to go a little further down the road
–Burba and John Ladner (8-10 horse stock trailer) – loaded with hay/feed
–Dr. Redmon went with Josh/Cody pulling the LSU 4-horse trailer (LSU truck left at Lamar-Dixon)
–Take Hay/Feed and Chip Reader
–Locate Slidell FEMA site
OUTCOME: John Ladner picked up 7 horses and headed back to Lamar Dixon Expo Center. Dr. Burba picked up 3 horses and took to Lamar Dixon.

GROUP 5 – Plaquemines Parish – First departed at 8:00 am, then returned and departed around 9:45
–Drs. Hubert and Fugler and Dawn Kelley (803-0735)
–Took load of hay/feed with them to leave for some of people they contacted yesterday
–Lori Wilson with two trucks and 4 horse trailers – they had 2 trucks, one trailer, one car and some kids
– Dr. Hubert separated from them to be more efficient
OUTCOME: Dr. Hubert delivered the hay/feed and checked on horses – none were in need of assistance – he heard that Dr. Hebert was trying to help with 50 horses nearby and so they went to check to see if they needed assistance. He ended up bring 34 dogs out of the area and delivered to Lamar Dixon.

“The main thing now is to look at how we’re going to handle this thing in the long run” said Mortensen. “Dr. Pete Haynes and I met with Bonnie Clark and Dr. Denny French, who have been coordinating and looking after everything at Lamar Dixon in terms of horses. We’re working on a plan right now as to how we are going to care for these horses over the next weeks, and even months. Where we are going to be able to keep them, how we are going to look after them logistically, how we are going to verify ownership of those that are claimed, and what we are going to do if we end up with unclaimed horses on our hands months down the road.”

“We are really concerned with getting these horses claimed and reunited with their owners. Everyone needs to know that if they are unsure about the location of a horse that is missing from the hurricane, there’s a good chance he is sitting in a stall at the Lamar-Dixon Expo Center in Gonzales, Louisiana. People need to either go take a look themselves, send someone they know, or call down there and talk to somebody.”

Those interested in providing financial assistance to the effort are encouraged to make their contributions to the Louisiana Veterinary Medical Association’s Dr. Walter J. Ernst, Jr. Memorial Foundation. This fund is established specifically for emergency efforts to help animals. By simply visiting www.lvma.org, potential contributors can click on “Hurricane Relief Fund” on the home page to download the form. Simply designating “Horse Rescue” on your check will ensure its use for the equine rescue effort. For more information or to make donations, please call the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine at 225-578-9900 (www.vetmed.lsu.edu) or the LVMA at 1-800-524-2996.