The Natchitoches Humane Society shared this first hand account from a flood victim being united with her pets. Freddy was a Natchitoches Humane Society rescue and Sasha was a rehome that the organization assisted with.
Jackie Cobb was forced to leave her adopted pets Freddy and Sasha when the flooding in Southern Louisiana forced her to evacuate from her Denham Springs home. She was told Freddy and Sasha would be okay but no one took her name or any information. It was extremely hectic.
She messaged the NHS to ask if Freddy was microchipped because she couldn’t locate him. Sadly, Freddy was adopted at a time when the NHS didn’t have microchipping.
The great news is that Jackie was reunited with her beloved pets and they are safe.
Here is her account of what happened:
It’s been a nightmare.
My cat Sasha is skeletal thin because of age and kidney disease. I told them I couldn’t leave her, that she would die if someone wasn’t making sure she had water. They made me leave both of them.
The next day they sent a few of the animals to where I was. There was Sasha’s carrier…with someone’s dog in it.
I thought she’d died until two days later when Sasha’s former owner sent me a message. An animal shelter treating Sasha for dehydration and fleas had read her microchip.
As for Freddy, I had an army of people looking for him. I was told the animals were being sent to Slidell and then I was told church families took them, one story after another.
The Denham Springs animal shelter flooded. They had to open kennels and let dogs swim for it. Freddy ended up at Livingston Parish Animal Shelter. I have him now, but he is going to go with fosters which is best so I can focus on getting a place to live.
So many animals displaced and we’ve learned so little since Katrina. People were still being forced to leave their pets for one reason or another. Animals in shelters before the flood were being shipped out of state so shelters could house rescues. I am lucky. But others…..
I lost everything but I have a good job and resources. I sat in a shelter and watched the aged, infirm and disabled. Some won’t make it.
The bag Jackie packed with a few clothes, shoes and pet food when she was rescued from her home never arrived at her shelter. She had to get food from someone the short time she had her pets with her. She even refused to be moved from the first shelter she was placed at because she couldn’t take Sasha and Freddy. But none of that matters anymore. Sasha and Freddy are both alive, safe in foster homes and Jackie’s next mountain to climb begins now.
The NHS extends its thoughts and prayers to ALL the “boots on the ground” rescues and city and state municipalities involved in this crisis. And to the people that have lost everything, including their pets.
The organization can’t stress enough the importance of microchipping pets. There is no telling what can happen in a split second to separate owners from their pets. Having them microchippped ensures a way to get them back.