Katrina at 20

20 heroic tales of people helping animals 

as told to Sandra Sarr, LSU Vet Med strategic communications

Connie and Andrew Gaspard, pet owners

Connie and Andrew Gaspard are pet owners whose dog was treated at LSU Vet Med and returned to them. The Gaspards had been looking online for their chocolate Labrador retriever, Hershey Kiss. Hershey had been brought to the Veterinary Teaching Hospital from one of the state’s animal shelters and was treated for a skin condition possibly due to exposure to chemicals from the floodwaters in Chalmette, La. Hershey was in the hospital for a few weeks when the Gaspards received a call from a friend letting them know that their dog was at LSU. “We didn’t evacuate until the Friday after the storm. We didn’t want to leave the dogs. That’s the main reason we didn’t leave right away,” Andrew Gaspard said. Hershey was released from the hospital and joined them in their temporary home in Mandeville, La.