From PEOPLE Magazine Click to enlarge
Dogs, cats, ferrets, parrots: The ASPCA estimates that 8,000 to 10,000 companion critters (not including farm animals) have been affected by the storm. Across the region, volunteers sought out lost pets, strays and animals separated from families during evacuations, giving them medical treatment and registering them in databases in hopes they'll be reunited with their owners. Still, thousands of animals likely remain in attics and unpassable neighborhoods. Zoo animals, who were carefully evacuated, have fared better, and volunteers rescued monkeys and genetically enhanced research mice—worth $1 million—from labs at Tulane University. But the most cherished rescues remain those of pets belonging to owners who thought they had lost everything. Dr. Eve Ognibene, a staff vet on New York's North Shore Animal League America's rescue team, recalls the words of one Mississippi woman who found her best friend alive in her flooded home: "As long as I got my dog back, this is fine."

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