| 8 STATE HURRICANE KATE by Jenny Pavlovic  Â
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Look, Pavlovic takes you through some terrible events and tells some horrible tales, and her experiences and evolution from them. The first chapter had me in absolute meltdown, tears streaming and me snivelling, but, from chapter two it wasn’t as hard on the emotional reaction. I lived through the Ash Wednesday bushfires and saw some horrible things, but I lived through it as a survivor not a rescuer, except of my own and friend’s animals. And then, for whatever reason, I get to read this book during the 2008 American hurricane season, and having in recent times become great friends with survivors of the hurricanes to hit Florida since Katrina, so perhaps I am a bit too emotive. In any case, I have enormous respect for volunteers and those who volunteer to rescue animals, for, alas, there is a significant portion of the human population who are out and out irresponsible, cruel, and worse, who shouldn’t own animals. I don’t actively undertake rescue as my commitment is to my animals, friends’ animals, and those I breed, I can’t solve the world’s issues, but I can do a little bit, and Pavlovic’s book carries an apt quote “I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something. And because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do” Edward Everett Hale.  Â
Essentially, the book is a divestment of Pavlovic’s soul, a soul that matured because she made the decision to go down to Louisiana and help with the rescue of dogs. The biggest issue, despite the time lapse between the hurricane and Pavlovic’s arrival was the ‘administration’, it will make your blood boil to read how poorly things ran, and how the ‘rules’ were constantly changing. I pray America at least has taken on board the disaster they created after nature’s disaster. From this, Pavlovic managed to rescue an elderly but sprightly Australian Cattle Dog type, and the book bears Kate’s name. Pavlovic tells of Kate’s tenacity, in fact her own too as she faced many, many challenges of her own in getting Kate back across eight states, and in getting her healthy and her own life companions events. The book is fabulously supported by adapt quotes – life coaching stuff, but boy, packed with added meaning in relation to the chapters they masthead. Perhaps the text could have benefited from a more diligent editor occasionally as several times the same point was repeated, but I confess to being sensitive to repetition – it is the way of the modern telly documentary and really grates on me. The book is supported by news and contacts for rescue groups in north America, advice on how anyone can contribute to a rescue effort, even without being able to donate money or by travelling into a major disaster area to contribute. In fact, I was thrilled to read, and if I ever travel to America I think I would see if I could attend one, about the Noah’s Wish Volunteer In-Field Training Program for disaster animal rescue volunteers. The book is a well made softcover. While I am not sure who I would specifically recommend the book to, I do wholeheartedly recommend it generally, besides Pavlovic has dedicated at least 50% of the profits to the 8 State Kate Fund, which is the immediate legacy of Kate coming into Pavlovic’s life, because Kate has shown there is an ongoing need for rescue, even on a one on one basis, each day and everyday. In any case, the book is of particular relevance to those that live in areas that could be hit by a disaster, all Australian Cattle Dog owners, probably pit bull ‘breeders’ as that ‘breed’ created so many head and heart aches for the Katrina rescuers, any ‘breeder’ who is careless of where their dogs are placed, and even those like me with myself cosily wrapped up in my world of showing and competition.  |
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Posted on September 17th, 2008 Filed under: General, Reviews
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