“Horses are being pulled out as we speak,” said Martha Littlefield, assistant state veterinarian for the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry. The Horse spoke with Littlefield yesterday (Sept. 6) about the state of Louisiana’s equine rescue activities in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Littlefield has been fielding hundreds–if not thousands–of phone calls from individuals regarding rescues.

As of Tuesday afternoon, Littlefield said that two veterinarians were being air dropped into an area with a barn containing 40 animals. “They need to triage those animals,” she said. “I think it’s in St. Bernard, one of the parishes that was really hard-hit with the hurricane and a lot of water. She said that once animals are brought out and decontaminated, their care has been very well coordinated by veterinarians. Some of the horses that have been taken care of and claimed have been moved away from the Lamar-Dixon Expo Center in Gonzales, La., where equines have been taken after evacuation.

There are still many horses that have yet to be found, and Littlefield hopes that if people know of pockets of horses in parts of Louisiana that they would call the Horse Hurricane Helpline or report it on Louisiana’s central information site about animal evacuees: www.vetmed.lsu.edu. Littlefield echoed the statements of many officials over the past week: “The problem right now is getting to these animals.”

“Also, gasoline is a big issue right now,” said Littlefield, “and it’s being handled by the Department of Agriculture and Forestry. Gas and diesel are in very short supply and have to be partitioned off to all the rescue officers