New Orleans Animal Rescue

Although the shamefully disorganized response to the human tragedy of New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina was an outrage, another astonishing catastrophe occurred in regard to the city's pets: the official evacuation procedures barred the inclusion of family pets in the exodus from the wreckage, leaving an estimated 250,000 animals to fend for themselves in the destroyed city. Narrated by Kevin Bacon, Luke Heppner's powerful documentary New Orleans Animal Rescue details the extraordinary work of the brave volunteers who ventured into deserted, hurricane-ravaged New Orleans to rescue these abandoned animals, which faced starvation, thirst, and disease while being locked in homes or left on flooded streets. Documenting the largest animal rescue in history, the film highlights the efforts undertaken to bring these poor creatures to safety, nurse them back to health, and either reunite them with their owners or secure new homes. While some of the footage here is both heartbreaking and shocking, New Orleans Animal Rescue is a sterling tribute to the brave men and women who saved thousands of animals—one that also offers a disturbing reminder to planners that emergency evacuation procedures need to consider more than just the two-legged residents in an at-risk environment. Highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (P. Hall)