PETS HAVE FOSTER HOMES WHEN OWNERS DISPLACED

A foster home program for pets has greatly reduced the stress and trauma the area's domesticated animals are undergoing due to the flood of 1993, say animal welfare and animal control officials.

Overall, the area's animal population is in good shape, they add.

Organized by the Cape Girardeau County Humane Society, the foster home program matches stranded pets with volunteers willing to give them a home until their owners once again have permanent housing. Most of the pets belong to people who have been displaced by the flood and are living in shelters.

Staying in a foster home is far preferable to being put in a cage at the Humane Society. "We see a lot of depression in the animals in an unknown place with unfamiliar animals," said Nancy Richards, administrator for the Humane Society.

"They're better off in foster homes. When they're away from their family, they react like a child."

So far, eight or nine dogs have been placed in foster homes. More than 25 people have volunteered to open their home to the pets.

A few flood-victim cats also have been found and are being boarded at the Humane Society. "We're hoping they will be adopted," Richards said.

Some people have offered to board livestock as well.

In addition to foster homes, some pets are being boarded for free by veterinary clinics.

"We have homes available to foster every pet except snakes," Richards said.

Some volunteers specify the kind of animal they are willing to take, and some require the visiting pet to be vaccinated because distemper and parvo are particular concerns at this time of year.

Particularly worrisome is that the animals might have come in contact with a raccoon. Raccoons easily transmit distemper to other animals "They can even breathe on them," Richards said and the flood has pushed many of them into foreign territory.

A few pets had to be rescued from the floodwaters. A ferret that escaped in the flood zone was returned to its owner. Richards said she also heard a report that a firefighter had saved a boxer that appeared to have been left on a porch to guard an abandoned house.

She is pleased to report that lost or abandoned pets are not showing up at the Humane Society in big numbers.

"I think people are being more careful and not waiting until the last minute," Richards said. "I don't think we're going to see a whole lot of animals."

Preparation is key to helping a pet make it through the flood unscathed, Richards said.

"If you are in an area where there is the potential for flooding, you may want to contact us now so we have a foster home set up."

The Humane Society also has agreed to take in strays from flood-wracked Ste. Genevieve, which has no animal shelter. So far there hasn't been much need, Richards said. "I'm surprised we aren't seeing more."

The contention that pets appear to be surviving the flood pretty well is echoed by Charles Stucker, a health officer-nuisance abatement officer for the city,.

"The Humane Society starting that (foster home) program has really stopped the problem," he said.

Sunday afternoon, he was about to leave on a boat patrol of the city's flooded areas, looking for people in the wrong place and animals in distress. "We want to give animals the same chance as humans to survive," he said.

He's also checking on movements within the city's rodent population, which he said some people are concerned about. "It's not a problem at this time," Stucker said.

"Things are going a lot smoother than I anticipated."

Wild animals have been most affected by the flood. Many deer that normally bed in the now-flooded lowlands on the Illinois side of the river have swum across to the Missouri side, Stucker said.

One that made it was found dead in the 600 block of Ranney Street in South Cape Girardeau. "It had been beaten to death by the water," Stucker said.

Swimming across the river isn't that difficult for the deer, he said, but climbing up the bank is. "The current beats them against the rocks."

Those that survive usually make it to land near the Missouri Dry Dock on Aquamsi Street. "I've seen eight different places where they had come out of the river," Stucker said.

The deer then head south on Giboney Street to South Sprigg Street and disappear near Highway 74, he said.

Normally, the city takes any raccoons and opossums that are captured to the I.R. Kelso Bird Sanctuary on Route 177. That is not possible because of the high water.

Stucker said a few farmers in the area have agreed to take the animals on their land in the interim.

The nature of this flood has eased some of the problems animals normally experience, says Dennis Steward, regional supervisor for the Missouri Department of Conservation.

"Most problems occur when there are flooded conditions on both sides of the levees. This time it's only on one side so ... (the animals) would have a place to go."

Small animals that can't move rapidly rabbits and ground hogs, for instance have been most affected, Steward said.

In addition, some quail may have lost nests on the river side of the levee, he said.

Deer also would be affected if much of their habitat is flooded. Fortunately, there's much more habitat to go around in the summer.

"If we had to pick a time to have a flood, this has less effect for many wild species," Steward said.

Floods always create stress in animal populations by pushing them out of their habitat, Steward said, and the longer the flood lasts the worse for the animals.

"If it is prolonged stress it possibly would result in increased mortality, possibly increased predation and possibly a decrease in weight," he said.

His suggestion for humans who want to help these animals is to give them breathing room.

"The animals are more prone to stay along high ground," Steward said. "We encourage people to stay off the levees."