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From November 2005 ANIMAL PEOPLE:

Lewyt Award Goes to Dogs and Cats who Helped Survivors of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita

To people throughout the world, the names Katrina and Rita will forever signify death and destruction. Endless videos of devastated homes and ravaged landscape will always be in our minds. To animal lovers everywhere, pictures of dogs stranded on rooftops and cats wandering through abandoned streets will also be with us for all time. But there is more to their story. However desperate these pets were to survive, they never stopped giving unconditional love - and more - to people in their lives. The story of Brill was reported in the October issue of Animal People. He is a German shepherd mix who arrived with a woman at the Lamar-Dixon staging area in Gonzalez, LA. Brill and the woman were strangers before they were trapped together for many days on the top floor of a building in the hurricane zone. Brill (short for Brilliant, as he was called by his human companion) continued to bark until rescuers arrived. Unable to care for him, the homeless woman entrusted her savior to Erin Marcus, a volunteer at Lamar-Dixon. Ms. Marcus will adopt Brill if his first guardian does not claim him.

In addition, animals were an incredible comfort to those in distress: "I have been at the Red Cross center here in Knoxville for two days," Humane Society of the Tennessee Valley executive director Vicky Crosetti emailed Merritt Clifton on September 5. "This is where all refugees must sign up for government help. Even though I have tons of boarding kennel space available for an extended period and plenty of foster homes, the people who got out with their animals are not ready to be separated from them right now."
These stories are only two of the many thousands of reports of heroism and compassion shown by dogs and cats who were themselves in the gravest danger.

The Elisabeth Lewyt Award for November 2005 has been presented by North Shore Animal League America to all the dogs and cats who, despite their desperate situations, showed amazing love, bravery, and empathy to the people and other animals with them. In honor of these dogs and cats, the League will present the Humane Society of Louisiana with a plaque and a $1,000 check. The Humane Society of Louisiana worked tirelessly in the staging area in Tylertown, Mississippi to save the lives of the animals affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.