Dr. Scholl goes to Mississippi to rescue hurricane pet victims

Dear Friends,
I have been sickened by the sights I have seen on the news, due to the devastation from hurricane Katrina. The scenes of dogs hanging on for their lives from tree limbs, wandering aimlessly with no food, water or shelter has moved me into action.
This Thursday Yadira Avila and I will be taking a travel van to Perlington, Mississippi, to help the Pontchartrain Humane Society. We will be taking medical supplies to treat any injured animals, and any amount of dog food, etc that we can stuff into this van to help those animals that need some assistance.
I have been working on this for the past week, and apologize for the short notice, but would greatly appreciate any help our clients could give us! I am specifically asking for any donations of dry dog food, new or used collars and leashes, kennels and crates, and bottled water. Cash donations would also be greatly appreciated.
We will be leaving this Thursday, around noon, so any donations need to be turned in by that time. We may make a later run up that way in October, depending how successful we are with this trip.
Our main goal will be helping catch these dogs, treat any that are sick or injured, and help construct an outdoor holding center, until they can be safely moved to a permanent facility or placed back into their original homes
Our plan is to stay through Tuesday of next week and be the primary medical team for this group.
I appreciate any supplies you may be able to help us with. Please keep Yady and myself in your prayers. We are excited, but a little nervous about going.

Sincerely,

Dr. Anne Scholl

Dear Friends,
 
Dr. Scholl has been contacting our office throughout the course of her rescue mission via cell phone (when she has a decent signal). From what we understand the conditions in Mississippi are horrendous. What has been televised on the news does not do it justice.
Since Friday she and Yady have treated over 150 pets including dogs, cats, raccoons, an iguana, birds and as we spoke on the phone someone brought a goat to her. Almost all the pets they see are emaciated and dehydrated from either wandering the streets for ten days with no food and water or from being locked in a home where they sought refuge in the highest level possible (the attic in most cases) to get away from the water. They have all been subject to the "muck" on the ground and a good number are now suffering from skin conditions. Many are now infested with fleas and ticks. She has seen numerous wounds and even some fractured bones.
Dr. Scholl and Yady have set up a triage unit and have being basically running the rescue mission. They have had very little help and have decided to stay until Thursday as help is slowly coming in. She has put in requests to FEMA and the US Army for more veterinarians (or any at this point) and finally the Army is sending some vets today. She is determined to train the new staff coming in so operations will stay consistent and successful after she leaves.
Rescue groups from around the country are helping out in the rescue and rehabilitation of these poor animals. She has sent groups of 20 treated pets to rescues in Washington D.C., Louisiana, and Virginia to name a few.
Dr. Scholl is also bringing pets here to Orlando. Rescue groups and foster homes will keep the pets for 3 to 6 months, during which time they will try to reunite them with their original families. There is only a 2% chance that the original owners will locate their lost pets or even try to locate them. After the 3 to 6 month "foster" period ends each pet will be eligible for adoption to their foster family or a new loving home.
We already have one refugee who was relocated to Animal Hospital at Vista Lakes last night. We have named him "Mugsy". He is a pitbull mix who is as sweet as can be. He came a little hungry, tired, and hesitant but has already stolen our hearts. If anyone is interested in fostering him, please call Animal Hospital at Vista Lakes at 407-380-3011.
We can't thank everyone enough for all the items donated to this mission . Because of you it has and will continue to be successful. They still have plenty of supplies due to the overwhelming support our clients and community have put forth. Keep Dr. Scholl and Yady in your prayers for a safe trip home.

Your friends at Chickasaw Trail Animal Hospital

Dear Friends,

Well, Yady and I have been back for about two weeks now, and I wanted to update everyone on our trip. I feel it was a Huge Success! The clients and friends of Chickasaw Trail Animal Hospital donated around 9,000 pounds of dog and cat food, over 80 cages, hundreds of leashes and collars, and over $7,800 dollars. We also had eight other people, some that we had never met before, follow us out and help rescue. An extra special thanks goes to Boyd Johnson, Rance, Mark, DeeDee Pecora, her daughter Laura, Jessica Delater, Melanie, and Mercedes. They all slept in the "wild", worked relentlessly in the heat, and helped in any way we could use them. You guys "ROCK"!

We spent six days in Pearlington, Mississippi treating and rescuing pets of all kinds, including one baby raccoon who is recovering at Back to Nature Wildlife Center in Orlando, one iguana, living at Dr. Scholl's house, two turtles, now residing in Washington D.C., and over 235 dogs and cats. We sent the iguana immediately to Dr. Diaz at Affiliated Veterinary Specialists due to his severe bone disease, dehydration, wounds, and severe emaciation. He spent over ten days with Dr. Diaz, who miraculously was able to save him! All of which Affiliated veterinary Specialists did for free for us! Dr. Diaz is the new "Exotic Specialist" there and is compassionate and very good at what he does!

We still have one beautiful red Pitbull, "Red", that we are trying to find a home for. She is fully vaccinated and treated for heartworms. “Sweat Pea”, a Walker Hound, also would welcome a "cadillac home" after she has fully recovered. The other pets who we have found foster/adopted homes for are; "Mugsy" being cared for by Suzette Diaz's family, “Annie” and “Rambo” adopted by DeeDee Pecora and neighbor, and one very cute black kitten adopted by Terri Barton and boyfriend Mark.

Portions of the money that was so graciously donated went for the additional truck rental which we needed to get all that food out there, gasoline, walkie-talkies, and Polaroid cameras and film for identifying the pets.  Also for replacing tools donated by Boyd Johnson who so diligently worked daily in helping us, and emergency fees incurred as animals came back to Orlando on Sunday. In addition we gave $3,000.00 to the Ponchartrain Animal Humane Society to help them continue with feeding and caring for the local pets in the area. I have also set aside some money to help a beautiful chocolate Labrador "Cocoa" that was accidentally hit by a military truck. We had splinted his leg and sent him to an animal hospital for fracture repair and the owners have no home or money to pay the bill.

Well, sorry for rambling, but I wanted to update you on what all of you helped us to accomplish!
I am so blessed to have such wonderful friends and family to support us on this journey! It was exhausting, but exhilarating, and I would not have missed it for anything. We could not have done what we did without your help.

Thank you again!

Dr. Anne Scholl-Mealey