Student Aids in Pet Rescue after Katrina
Krista Schepanovsky with a rescued dog
Photo by Terry Reagan
Extension student Krista Schepanovsky volunteered for the Humane Society in Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina and shares the following about her experience:
“After seeing all the images that were on the news after Hurricane Katrina, I felt compelled to do something more than send money. I wanted to go and help in any way I could. I do not have a medical background, but I’m a huge animal lover, so I went to volunteer with the Humane Society. It was the most difficult thing I have ever done but also the most rewarding. It was amazing to see how people came from all over the US and Canada—vets, vet techs, and people like me—and really pulled together and worked hard, usually at least 12 hours a day. To see a family that had lost everything find a way to come to the shelter and look for their pet—another family member they had to leave behind—and find that he was safe . . . to see them reunited, those were really special, happy moments amid all the devastation.”
Krista worked first at the main site in Gonzales, Louisiana, then at a shelter for 400 dogs in a male medium-security prison, where the inmates helped care for the animals.