> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Local groups tackle animal disaster along Gulf Coast - URL: https://www.smdp.com/local-groups-tackle-animal-disaster-along-gulf-coast/ - Published: 2005-10-10T15:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-23T07:55:20.000Z - Author: Guest Author - Tags: Health, Santa Monica, #archive-import *Volunteers share stories at Unleash the Beach benefit* *By JASMIN PERSCH Special to the Daily Press* Local veterinarian Jennifer Conrad returned last month from an animal-rescue mission in Louisiana where she found an overwhelming amount of animals roaming the streets. Others were trapped in their homes for nearly a month, or dead. Conrad, 39, rounded up animal lovers she’s met throughout her career to volunteer their services to help pets abandoned by evacuees who escaped Hurricane Katrina. She went to New Orleans on Sept. 16 and returned Sept. 21 with the first group of volunteers. Her group, affiliated with her veterinary clinic, General Animal Hospital, brought 14 animals to Santa Monica from Louisiana by car. The group had to leave many animals behind because their resources were limited, but they left several packs of food and plenty of water for the animals they could-n’t take with them. Since Conrad returned from Louisiana, she’s had one case etched in her mind: As she was walking past one of the many abandoned homes, she heard a tiny yelp. “I found a dog lying on the ground, almost dead,” she said at a benefit to raise money for Katrina canine victims held in Santa Monica on Sept. 28\. “He couldn’t lift his head. I did emergency care on him in my hotel room and saved his life.” Conrad was able to get in touch with the dog’s owner through contact information on his collar. She will reunite the two in Florida in the next couple days. Apparently the dog and its master were separated when the dog ran back into the house after the crate that was attached to an airlift rescue cable broke. The helicopter took off after shots were fired at them, which was widely reported throughout the area. Conrad said the owner was physically fragile and suffered a heart attack while being rescued from his home. He was flown to Miami, where he still remains. The man is the only owner Conrad and her team have been able to contact — but it hasn’t been without a lack of trying, she added. In an effort to reunite them, the makeshift animal rescue team puts photos and detailed descriptions of the pets found on www.petfinder.org and leaves notes on homes. Conrad said she is expecting a $1,400 donation to continue her efforts. The money was raised from a benefit for the animal victims of Hurricane Katrina held at the Edgemar Center last month. Georja Umano, the benefit’s organizer and president of Unleash the Beach, said another $1,400 will go to Kim Finger from Much Love Animal Rescue, which flew 100 animals from the hurricane-struck Gulf Coast to California. The group has reunited three animals with their families, Finger said. Much Love volunteers are putting together a catalogue of the animals they find and plan to keep it at a New Orleans library so pet owners who don’t have Internet access have a way to reunite with them. Finger and Conrad both shared their animal rescue stories from Louisiana at the benefit thrown together in a week by Umano. Unleash the Beach is an organization that is attempting to secure a section of the Santa Monica Beach between Montana and Arizona avenues. Animals are not allowed on the beach in Santa Monica. “A part of our mission is to raise the level of animals in our society,” Unleash the Beach board member Risa Freeman said. “We’re not just simply owners, we’re guardians (of our pets).” David Kaplowitz, who also spoke at the benefit, reported what he saw in New Orleans not from the perspective of a volunteer but from that of a documentarian. Kaplowitz has been in Katrina-ravaged Louisiana shooting a documentary on the animal-rescue movement. He has followed the stories of volunteers and explores what impels teachers, graduate students and professionals to leave their jobs to help animal victims, he said. “They need more people down there,” he said. “There are still dogs, cats standing in the streets. “People are trying to keep the animals alive, but only the sickest and dying are brought to the shelter,” he said. Kaplowitz often found himself helping the search and rescue mission with a camera in his hand, he said. People who attended benefit gasped in horror when they heard the three speakers tell what they saw. Unleash the Beach board member Susan diRende said she wouldn’t have been able to leave her dog behind. “I would not go, I would have to see the tidal wave coming,” diRende said. “Love is love, whether it’s for a dog or a human.” *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 10, 2005.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/101005.pdf?ref=smdp.com)