I just received a video made by a friend of mine in Baton Rouge named Pat Leavy, depicting the Saint Bernard Pet Massacre Memorial recently held on January 30, 2008; and remembering this barbaric event still pains many of us very much.  Imagine how these pet owners must feel.

In the midst of all the turmoil of catastrophic devastation and the loss of life, Hurricane Katrina did leave many survivors, both human and animal, who valiantly struggled to survive the horrific winds, the severe flooding, and the almost hopeless abandonment they endured for weeks and weeks.

And long after the humans who had been left behind were rescued, thousands of left behind animals still woefully roamed the flooded Gulf Coast streets in search of food and family, while thousands of others were still locked inside houses and other buildings; facing dehydration and death by starvation, as their food and water sources were rapidly being depleted.

While every animal rescued was worth every effort and every cost to we rescuers, thousands of these precious pets still tragically perished, as time so tragically ran out for them. 

And yet, while our many animal rescues were taking place, and while we animal rescuers quickly opened feeding stations throughout the devastated Gulf Coast for animals that we were as of yet unable to rescue, there were many other human beings in the area - the cruel, sadistic, gun toting kind -  who, during a time of complete chaos, joyfully decided to take matters into their own hands - using left behind pets as target practice; shooting these pets as a game; and torturing these pets to fulfill their own sadistic pleasures. 

Among their very lame excuses:  many of them claim they had to shoot dogs on the street in concern for their own safety—even though almost every dog that I and hundreds of other rescuers encountered - were extremely friendly, and extremely ecstatic to see any human being – their tails wagging excitedly - probably thinking to themselves:  ‘maybe my family has finally come back for me’ - 'maybe these human beings have brought me a little food or water, or even, a little compassion’ -  only to receive a bullet in the head, or an arrow in the chest.

The policemen involved in the St. Bernard school massacre claimed that it was far more humane for them to kill the thirty-three extremely terrified pets huddled there, than to let them slowly starve.

Yet, we animal rescuers were everywhere in that area, while thousands of pounds of pet food and fresh water were pouring into the area from all around the country.  A simple alert to any one of us would have immediately brought in tons of food and water for these very unfortunate animals trapped in that flooded St. Bernard School. 

And these so called ‘mercy killings’ at St. Bernard, and in many other areas of the Gulf Coast, were not instant, merciful deaths for many of these helpless pets, as video footage I’ve seen depicts the slow, agonizing deaths of many dogs, struggling very hard to stand after being savagely shot, while gloating humans gleefully watched.  I also saw a cat that someone had shot with an arrow, and it lingered in severe agony and torment for days.  Despite surgery, this woefully tortured feline eventually died.

These pets were not given instant, merciful deaths, as many of these cold-blooded killers claim; and even if they had, there was absolutely no need for any additional animal slaughter, while hundreds of us would have raced to that school in St. Bernard, or to anywhere else on the Gulf Coast for that matter – with a simple request for assistance – to save these creatures.

And we will never know all of the many atrocities inflicted upon so many of these left behind pets during this very tragic period in American history.

The ability of we human beings to take pleasure in inflicting pain, agony, fear, and death upon other living beings, upon completely innocent and defenseless animals, upon obviously loving pets--is truly sickening to many of us, and it’s also extremely frightening.  

In fact, our modern day cruelty and callousness often make me ashamed to be a human being.  And it’s yet one more horrific memory from those god-awful days I spent in New Orleans that will haunt me for the rest of my days.