Love of animals lured Amy Maher to

volunteer for Louisiana rescues

By Hilary Anderson

Edwardsville attorney Amy Maher was always the person to whom friends and neighbors brought stray animals. It does not surprise

those who know her that she has been rescuing animals who lost their homes during Hurricane Katrina.

“I have no idea how I started loving animals,” said Maher, an assistant Madison County state's attorney. “Stray dogs and cats always

seemed to find me. I cared for birds that fell out of trees and was always looking for homes for unwanted animals.”

Maher and husband Roger Smith, a supervising Madison County coroner's investigator, first brought their mutual love of animals to a

higher level when they took a class in rescuing animals in disasters. They helped when St. Louis experienced a flood.

“We didn't do a lot then but got to know people from Noah's Wish,” she said. “The volunteer organization works at rescuing animals,

setting up shelters and doing adoptions when necessary.”

Maher and her husband liked what they saw, joined the group and participated in a three-day intensive disaster simulation more than a decade

ago. The couple now serve as regional coordinators for Noah's Wish.

“We learned from experts how to handle a variety of scared and injured animals -- horses, rabbits, reptiles, not just dogs and cats,” she

said. “Ideally each volunteer goes to training once a year. We learned to work together as a unit.”

That training proved useful when it appeared that Hurricane Katrina probably would batter the Gulf Coast around Louisiana.

“We started planning our response the weekend before the hurricane hit,” Maher said. “We talked about what we would be doing, tallied

available resources, and checked for volunteers.”

Since she and her Noah's Wish colleagues had trained with the Slidell, La., animal control department, they directed their focus there.

“Slidell's animal control people said they would need us,” Maher said. “We made an agreement that even if we didn't hear from them,

we would go anyway.”

Communications lines were down, but Noah's Wish volunteers and two paid staff members flew into Houston on the day after the

storm hit. They rented cars and drove to Slidell. Maher drove in from Edwardsville two days later.

The group discovered that the Slidell Animal Shelter had been destroyed. The animals were evacuated to a temporary shelter at a

public works warehouse on higher ground.

“It has been nonstop,” Maher said. “Public works employees helped clean out junk there and set up canopies, dog runs, crates and

cages.

“Our ‘residents' included not only rescued animals from destroyed homes but the pets of people who turned them over to us because

they couldn't care for them. Within a week, we had 150 animals needing temporary shelter.”

Then the group began going house to house with the city police, looking for animals that were left behind. “It is so sad to find animals

who didn't make it,” Maher said.

Noah's Wish volunteers and staff members are still at the site bringing in animals from New Orleans and areas surrounding the city.

“On any given day, we have about 150 volunteers and at last count, we had 642 animals,” Maher said. “We have vets coming from all

over to help. We take the sick and injured animals to the Louisiana State University veterinary school.”

Maher says their policy is to give the animals to their rightful owners once they have places to live and can care for their pets. It is only

when a pet is surrendered, or the owner cannot be found, that it is put up for adoption.

Maher credits her co-workers with helping to make it possible for her to help in animal rescues. “They've been really caring and flexible.

We're like a family helping each other out when necessary. Sometimes I use vacation time to do my volunteer work.

Noah's Wish is always looking for more volunteers and might still need help with the after-effects of Hurricane Katrina in transporting

animals and supplies.

Maher is understandably vocal about pet owners creating their own disaster plans.

“You might not live near a hurricane area, but what if a car smashes into your front window, a tree falls on your house in a rain or wind

storm, or there's a fire,” she pointed out.

“You need to make sure your animals are protected. If you're not home, who can take your animals until you get there or have another

place to live? You must have someone to back you up.”

Pet owners should fill out forms or instructions on where someone might find a pet cat that likes to hide, and vet permission slips that

allow a pet to receive treatment in the owner's absence.

“Pet owners should have emergency supply kits for their pet,” Maher urged. “That would include temporary tags that can be attached

to collars for cats that give the owner's original address.”

She advises pet owners to arrange for long-term foster care if they can't go home for a while. “If your pets are scared or injured, you

want someone who knows what they're doing to retrieve and care for them,” she added. “These are not just public safety and health issues,

they're a matter of compassion.

“Last of all, if you must leave your home without them, let your pets loose. They have a slightly better chance of surviving. You can't

know how many animals we found who were tied up and drowned because the water rose above their heads.”

Maher's love of animals is second only to her family's love of the law. “My grandfather was a Madison County attorney and judge,” she

recalled. “My mother programmed me to be an attorney ever since I can remember.”