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Working tirelessly since the
beginning of the catastrophe, LSU field service
veterinarian Dr. Dennis French has been the primary
veterinarian in charge of efforts at Lamar-Dixon and
has coordinated all health monitoring duties with
the assistance of a number of LSU veterinary
students who have worked diligently under his
supervision for days.
"We've had a few health issues with horses
that have come in that have been drinking the
saltwater from the flooding," said French.
"The students and I have administered fluids
and are working to stabilize them right now. I'm not
seeing any depression or any fevers, nothing that
would indicate a contagious condition, so at this
point I think that all of the symptoms I'm seeing
are purely the result of these horses being in a
traumatized state.
"I can't tell you how proud I am of these
students," French continued. "These kids
have been with me day in and day out down here,
they've taken all of the animals in, they have an
identification and medical records system in place
and have been with me step for step as we've gone
through triage and worked to stabilize the animals
we've received. "
The LSU Horse Hurricane Helpline center in Baton
Rouge has been given the primary assignment by the
State Veterinarian's Office to assume the role of
coordinating the ongoing rescue efforts. They have
been heavily engaged in identifying horses that
still need to be rescued and work to line up teams
that can help when the time comes. Drs. Rebecca
McConnico heads the rescue efforts.
"It's a matter of locating them (the horses)
and finding out how to get them since many roads are
not accessible because of flood waters, downed trees
and power lines. Helicopter surveillance would
provide a time-efficient way to assess the big
picture, but this will likely have to wait until the
stranded people are successfully evacuated,"
McConnico said.
Related Resources
Hurricane Katrina's Impact on Pets and Animals
Hurricane Residents Try to Find Lost Pets
Humane
Society of the United States
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