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Pets finding refuge in Rome, too

09/12/05
By Lauren Gregory, Rome News-Tribune Staff Writer

Illegible road signs “twisted like pretzels” and miles upon miles of empty gas pumps could
have prevented Rome’s Jane Berry from making it down to Louisiana this past week.

But as it turns out, nothing can keep the Sterile Feral Inc. Founder and president from
animals in need.

“Some of these people, their pets are all they have left,” said Berry, who drove 22 hours
round trip last week to carry 31 Gulf Coast dogs and cats to safety.

Berry, who had originally planned to drive down to Jackson, Miss., ended up traveling an
extra three hours to Alexandria, La., where animal shelters were becoming overcrowded
with surrendered pets.

Since residents evacuated from the area were not allowed to bring animals with them,
Berry said, existing shelters “were so overrun (their staff) just had them in crates in their
houses.”

Berry made the trip alone, unwilling to give up any extra space in her Humvee. “I needed
the space in the front seat for cats and dogs,” she said. “How I fit 31 in there I don’t know.
But once I got there, compassion took over and I just fit them in every nook and cranny I
could.”

The cats and dogs are now all safe at Sterile Feral and will begin to go out to foster
homes after they have been quarantined, spayed and neutered and treated for any
illnesses.

In the meantime, Berry is back for a second round of rescues in Louisiana and will
probably be there for “the better part of a week,” said Sterile Feral co-founder Mary Kate
McCaffrey.

She will continue to check on animals in temporary shelters as well as try to reunite pets
with their owners.

In Rome, McCaffrey and other volunteers will work on finding homes for Katrina’s animal
victims. “We’re trying to get them out as quickly as we can so we can get more in here,”
McCaffrey said.

The organization is always looking for help to offset the cost of cat litter, food and
veterinary care, Berry said.