Katrina at 20
20 heroic tales of people helping animals
as told to Sandra Sarr, LSU Vet Med strategic communications
Joseph Taboada, DVM, retired professor of companion animal sciences and associate dean of student affairs
The "Katrina Hilton" had to be created for volunteers since there were very few hotel rooms available in Louisiana after the storm.
"One of my memories of those days after Katrina was how the veterinary profession stepped up to help. Veterinarians and veterinary technicians came from all of the country to help and spent time at the shelters that the school helped set up at the Parker Coliseum and the Lamar Dixon Expo Center in Gonzales, La. They came down to Louisiana without a place to stay but came anyway. When they came to the school, they needed a place to get out of the summer heat, and we turned two of our classrooms and the study rooms in the Learning Center into places for them to stay. We bartered for mattresses from the University Recreation Center and set up the 'Katrina Hilton.' At its peak, it held almost 100 people living in the school and working at the shelters. The students also became involved, and we had a course pop up in which the students got credit for using their skills as veterinary professionals in the shelters. In reading their journals as part of that course, it was obvious they had experiences that were life-altering. It was so inspiring to see something so positive to come from something so tragic.”