Book Documents Rescue of Animals Stranded by Katrina

Book Documents Rescue of Animals Stranded by Katrina


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Keith McCord reporting All this week, you'll be seeing many stories about the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

This is one of those stories -- about a Utah photographer who was in New Orleans just after the storm went through.

Book Documents Rescue of Animals Stranded by Katrina

But his photos aren't of the devastation.

Troy Snow is a photographer with the Best Friends Animal Society in Kanab, Utah. Two weeks after the hurricane, he and other staffers went to New Orleans to rescue the pets that were left behind.

He took his cameras to document the effort.

Book Documents Rescue of Animals Stranded by Katrina

Troy Snow signed autographs and got hugs from strangers at Barnes and Noble at The Gateway. He's on a book tour, promoting "Not Left Behind"-- a collection of his photos, documenting a two-week pet rescue mission to New Orleans.

He took 1,500 photos, each with an emotional story.

A couple of news reporters told them about seeing a boat spray painted with the words; "Dog in boat."

They found it--and there was!

Book Documents Rescue of Animals Stranded by Katrina

Troy Snow: "This dog was full of blisters, chemical burns and sunburn, there's just no telling how long he was there. You can see as he was being picked up, Paul got him and his feet--he was just rigid."

Each day, the rescuers spent most of the time in a boat, trying to pick up as many animals as they could.

Troy still gets emotional about this photo--two pit bulls had been stranded on top of a submerged car.

Troy Snow: "The brown one jumped in, and started swimming right at us.. And just had this wild look in his face.. Wild look in his eyes."

After snapping the picture, Troy reached for the dog-- a little apprehensive-- after all, it's a starved and sunburned Pitt Bull!

Troy Snow:"So when I reached down to pull this dog up, you couldn't hear anybody talk, because his tail was wagging so hard--bam bam bam against the side of the boat.... Curled up in me....."

Troy's crew then picked up the other dog, which waited patiently.

Each day, the group from Best Friends, and other organizations brought the rescued animals to a temporary sanctuary, several hours away from New Orleans. There, the animals would be nursed back to health and taken care of by hundreds of volunteers.

Book Documents Rescue of Animals Stranded by Katrina

One of Troy's favorite photos is of this woman, who came to the sanctuary looking for her golden retriever-- and found her!

Troy Snow: "This lady said that she had lost everything she owned, and all she cared about was her baby, and so as far as she's concerned she hasn't lost a thing."

Book Documents Rescue of Animals Stranded by Katrina

We can't resist showing this picture of a very happy dog who was not left behind.

In fact, none of them were. More than 3,000 animals were rescued and taken to that sanctuary-- which operated for 249 days.

Some of the proceeds from the book will help fund future rescue efforts like this one.

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