Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast on August 29—its second visit to the U.S. mainland in less than a week—and left hundreds of people dead, hundreds of thousands of people homeless, and forced tens of thousands to leave their animals behind as they fled the rapidly rising floodwaters. Once the storm passed, animal groups from around the country poured into Louisiana and Mississippi to rescue pets trapped in the floodwaters and toxic muck of the affected areas. The response, many believed, quickly became the largest animal rescue and sheltering operation in U.S. history. Read all about the work of The HSUS's Disaster Animal Response Teams in this unprecedented disaster.