Beyond the Storm: The Difficult Road to Recovery after Katrina

The Humane Society of Louisiana has been at the forefront of animal protection in Louisiana since 1988, but keeping our lifesaving programs for animals in operation after the hurricane has been our biggest challenge.

Tens of millions of dollars were raised to help animals during the 2005 storm season. Unfortunately, only a small fraction of those contributions were directed to our New Orleans based agency, although our group was at the epicenter of our nation's greatest natural disaster.

Before the hurricane, HSL operated a private animal shelter for abused and abandoned animals in New Orleans, just minutes from the Superdome. Katrina's high winds and rain destroyed our shelter and, despite our ongoing efforts, we have never received adequate funding to replace or rebuild what was lost. Our inadequate insurance settlement did not even cover our outstanding mortgage on the building. In addition, wind and water destroyed merchandise and equipment at our nearby Thrift Store, which we had operated since 1997. We were forced to close that business as a result of Katrina, as well.

With the population of New Orleans halved, the Humane Society of Louisiana lost hundreds of key donors and volunteers, who were nurtured over the course of 20 years. These local supporters not only funded our group's work in New Orleans, but also made it possible for us operate lifesaving programs for animals in rural parts of Louisiana, where communities are often without shelters or programs to help abused, neglected or homeless animals.

Since Katrina, we have operated an emergency shelter in nearby Tylertown, Mississippi, where we originally evacuated our animals to safety , ahead of the approaching hurricane. In addition to HSL's other programs, this facility still houses more than 150 animals at any given time, many of them were rescued during the immediate aftermath of the storm. With a staff of only a handful of people, we respond to problems in our community and across the state on a regular basis.

Katrina dealt a devastating blow to our group and the animals of our region. For that reason, we have initiated a 'Paws to Rebuild' fundraising drive, in connection with the three year anniversary of Katrina. The goal of the campaign is to raise $300,000 by the end of this year, to help us recover our losses on our destroyed shelter building. We will use the funds both to secure and make improvements to our Tylertown shelter site and to reopen a statewide headquarters in New Orleans.

If you would like to make a donation to support our Paws to Rebuild to rebuild campaign, please visit our DONATION page.

Thanks for supporting our work for animals in need!