Nearly 700 dogs, 425 cats and assorted guinea pigs, rabbits, pigs, ferrets, hamsters, gerbils, mice, tortoises and birds are being sheltered at the facility.
At the Expo Center, there are 200 dogs, 50 cats, parrots, cockatoos, guinea pigs, snakes, goats, a pot-bellied pig, a pet rat and even a flying squirrel, said a recent report by the
Los Angeles Times.
The Expo Center is also taking care of more than 220 of New Orleans' horses and mules, said the report, including chestnut miniatures, Belgian draft horses, Arabian racers and white stallions formerly used to pull newlyweds through the French Quarter.
As of Monday, at least 4,000 cats and dogs and 500 other animals have been rescued in Louisiana since Sept. 2, the state's Department of Animal Health told the
Houston Chronicle. Many of these have been shipped to permanent animal shelters outside of Louisiana, some as far away as San Francisco, Chicago and Washington, D.C.
The flood of pets hasn't stopped. According to reports, hundreds of animals are still arriving at shelters near New Orleans each day, far exceeding the numbers discharged to owners.
As of Monday, there had been only 200 reunions at the Parker Coliseum, accounting for around 15 percent of the animals sheltered there, said the LSU Veterinary School of Medicine's Web site.
