Sometimes charity is more than just helping raise money, it is taking action. On July 11th two of our lady Louisiana Ghostbusters began a trip to help a dog and three cats make it to Best Friends Animal Sanctuary (http://bestfriends.org) in Kanab, Utah. One of the Louisiana Ghostbusters, Emily Harris, is a volunteer with the Animal Protection and Welfare Society –APAWS (www.apawspets.org) in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. A dog named Julius was rescued by APAWS from an abusive situation in which he was believed to have been physically abused and malnourished. Julius has a neurological disorder that causes him to walk in circles and have problems with his vision. It is very likely abuse caused his disability. APAWS applied to get Julius into Best Friends which specializes in treating and rehabilitating animals with special needs. Julius was accepted and told he had to be at Best Friends before July 18th.
After Julius was accepted APAWS was contacted by Northside Humane Society about 10 cats that were rescued after their owner was evicted from her home. The owner lived in the country and was forced to move into her relative’s home and was only allowed to bring three of her cats. The other cats had no place to go and were being faced with either being left behind at the empty home or being euthanized. Northside applied to Best Friends and the sanctuary accepted the remaining cats with the condition that they could only take 3 at a time due to space limitations. APAWS was happy to take the three cats to help save their lives. Northside is currently fostering the remaining cats until they can either be adopted or transported to Best Friends.
Plans were made and Emily requested help with the drive as it is a 24 hour trip one way from Baton Rouge, Louisiana to Kanab, Utah. Emily posted the need for help with the transport and saving the day was Claire Mok, another member of the Louisiana Ghostbusters. So on July 11th at 7:00 a.m. our lady Ghostbusters began a long and strenuous road trip to help four animals begin new and wonderful lives.
The first day of the trip took almost 19 hours. The trip began with Emily picking up Julius from his foster home and then the three cats from Northside Humane Society. From Baton Rouge she traveled to Lafayette to get Claire and the group then headed out. Stops were made every few hours to allow Julius a chance to get out and finally around 2:00 am the ladies made it to Albuquerque, New Mexico. Because Julius and the cats had to be at Best Friends by 4:30 pm our ladies were only able to get three hours of sleep then had to get everyone back in the mini-van and head out. By 5:30 am the ladies were back on the road and were able to reach Kanab, Utah by 3:00 pm that afternoon. Julius was taken to Dog Town where he was allowed to run around in his outdoor enclosure while they got his indoor room ready for him. By the look on his face he was a pretty happy dog. After this the cats were taken to Cat World and settled in together. Fortunately Best Friends does not like to break family up, so the ladies were told that they were going to keep the cats together at the sanctuary.
The trip was very successful and the ladies were able to head back the following day traveling to Amarillo, Texas. After a good night sleep the ladies made it back home safe and sound on July 14th. A successful trip saving the day for our furry friends.
Louisiana Ghostbusters Saving the World One Dog, Cat, & Charity at a Time