Request for Katrina Animal Rescue Stories for New Book

From another group. Do you know of people who need to be recognized for putting their time and life secondary to saving the animal vicitims of Hurrican Katrina? If so, read on.....


Call for your rescue stories to be part of a very special book.


As I have returned home and contemplated all that I just experienced, and
am continuing to experience, of the animal rescue effort in New Orleans, I
have decided to write/edit a book.

It is a book that will honor 2 entities in particular.
It will honor all of you, the remarkable people who dropped everything (and
are even now continuing to do so) to go to unknown territory and save the
animals that so desperately needed your help.

And it will honor the animals; the innocent victims of this whole tragedy-
the ones that held on to life and even looked out for one another, until we
could get to them as well as the ones that we could not get to in time.

And it is a book that will essentially be written by all of you. The human
animals who were there, breaking down doors, cleaning stalls, offering
comfort, dispatching teams to critical animals, brainstorming new
strategies, crawling under houses.and risking everything.

I have seen many of you keeping blogs, exchanging e-mails and sharing your
experiences with one another- I want us to share these now with the world.
And I trust that this writing, recounting and sharing will somehow be
therapeutic for you as well- As a psychologist and one who participated in
and helped run the rescue effort, I know that we are each holding so much
pain within us.

I ask that you each take a few moments, before your memory fades, and
reflect on a particular rescue or instance that has affected you deeply.
It may start with an image you saw on television that prompted you to go
and it may end with a rescue that filled your heart.
It may recount you holding a starving dehydrated animals as he/she took her
last breath. It may be about having helped an elderly woman find the cat
that she feared dead- the one you rescued from the rafters of her attic.
It may be about the limping dog that led you to her sick companion, another
dog and then ran off having done his job to help the friend.

The stories are endless- and you are the ones to tell them. They do not
have to be dramatic or earth shattering. Just a sharing of what you saw,
what you felt, what motivated you, how it changed you.anything that feels
like it needs to be said.

You are remarkable, special unique individuals and your work will inspire
many, as it already has.

Your stories can be any length but ideally somewhere between 2 and 10
pages.
Poems and photos that might accompany these stories are welcome too.
As of now there will be no monetary compensation for the stories but
proceeds will go to a fund set up through 1800saveapet.com for animal
rescue efforts in the future.
Each story will reflect that it was written by you and a brief bio of who
you are and what you do will likely accompany the story.
Obviously not all stories will be chosen for the book but maybe if there
are enough, we can publish more volumes.

After reading your stories, I may want to interview you more.

Please send stories to piapia@adelphia.net or brosmar@hotmail.com

I would like to have them all by December 1 if possible.

Best wishes and on behalf of the animals I thank you deeply,

Pia Salk, Psy.D.