United Animal Nations' helping victims of Hurricane Katrina/Rita

I can imagine how anxious you are to find out what the United Animal Nations' Emergency Animal Rescue Service (EARS) is doing to help animal victims of Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita.

To date we've deployed nearly 200 volunteers to assist with our emergency sheltering efforts in the Gulf region, and we expect to deploy even more in the coming weeks.

Here's what is happening right now:

• MONROE , LOUISIANA :  Last week we erected a new temporary shelter in Monroe and almost immediately received 134 dogs from the Lamar-Dixon Expo Center in Gonzales, the main staging area for animals being rescued from New Orleans . Volunteers worked hard to prepare for the dogs' arrival and get them settled into their new home, and it paid off the very next evening when they reunited a yellow Lab with his owner, who had seen him on a local news broadcast. Over the weekend EARS volunteers spent grueling hours preparing for and suffering through Hurricane Rita's torrential rains and wind. And thank goodness they did as the storm was not kind. In fact, ten volunteers bravely used their own bodies to hold a massive door from being ripped off by the winds on Saturday. Now that Rita has passed, we expect more animals to arrive from Lamar-Dixon and we anticipate deploying more volunteers to help care for them.

• JACKSON , MISSISSIPPI :  EARS is winding down operations of the pet-friendly shelter that was initially opened prior to Hurricane Katrina. A team of EARS volunteers has been caring for animals belonging to evacuees and animals rescued from points south for the past three weeks. Volunteers are helping owners with pets in the shelter find foster matches and boarding options. The Jackson area also suffered the force of Rita this weekend, when frequent tornado warnings sent all volunteers to the safest portions of the building. The shelter was sandbagged and animals moved into the center of the facility in advance of the storm.
• NACOGDOCHES , TEXAS :  EARS Southeast Regional Director Raquel Aluisy arrived on Friday to assist the Texas Animal Control Association with an emergency animal shelter at the Expo Center , where more than 500 animals were evacuated in advance of the storm. Many people are picking up their animals as they return home, but it is possible a staging area in this portion of the state will continue to be needed as assessments are completed and rescues get underway. EARS volunteers are being mobilized now to assist with this shelter.
• SACRAMENTO , CALIFORNIA :  Our efforts from HQ have been focused on coordination, reconstruction and reunion efforts...

COORDINATION -   UAN is coordinating our response efforts with other national organizations providing animal disaster relief and facilitating daily conference calls and in-field meetings among these organizations. We're in touch with federal and state authorities in an effort to ensure much-needed assistance gets to the animals in need as quickly as possible.

RECONSTRUCTION - UAN has pledged $100,000 to the Katrina shelter reconstruction fund established by the ASPCA and HSUS. Over the weekend UAN pledged an additional $75,000 to help the Louisiana SPCA rebuild. We hope to offer a total of $250,000 to shelter reconstruction efforts in the Gulf region.

REUNION - We receive hundreds of calls and e-mails each day from people who want to volunteer or support our relief efforts in some way. We are committed to reuniting as many families with their pets as possible. The last thing any of these hurricane victims need is the trauma of losing their companions.