Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast on 29 August 2005. K-9 Cab Pet Taxi, the only IPATA member in the vicinity of the devastation, became the natural selection to serve as liaison for the region. Responding to a cell phone call for assistance in transporting 30 dogs from Tylertown, Mississippi, to a rescue shelter in California Operation Pet Lift began. Eventually, over 1500 displaced dogs and cats were airlifted to safety out of the region via Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport (New Orleans International Airport was not operational). In addition to shuttling pets to Baton Rouge metro airport, K-9 Cab Pet Taxi delivered donated pet food, carriers and ancillary supplies to local shelters and distributed monetary donations to shelters received from outside the disaster area. Fortunately, a good percentage of those pets rescued from the disaster area were reunited with their owners. Those not reunited with their families were adopted to new loving homes.No pets rescued during Operation Pet Lift were euthanized.

K-9 Cab Pet Taxi’s efforts were greatly assisted by and would like to specifically commend Kevin O’Brien, owner of PetRelocation.com, who handled communications and coordinated transportation, and an anonymous contributor whose generosity was instrumental in the success of Operation Pet Lift. A special thanks to Continental Airlines who went out of their way to help and whose personnel volunteered their time for pet lift flights, in the air and on the ground. Additionally we would like to thank and pay tribute to the many animal rescuers who risked both their health and safety to help the thousands of animals affected by Hurricane Katrina. We also wish to acknowledge the efforts and assistance of IPATA members worldwide in providing kennels, food and other supplies to the disaster area.