In Louisiana last weekend, Midge Grinstead saw thousands of horses and dogs in a shelter that resembled a battlefield hospital.

“They needed to wash all of the animals. They were just covered in slime. It was horrible,” said Grinstead, the executive director of the Lawrence Humane Society.

Among Hurricane Katrina’s animal victims, more than 1,300 dogs and 326 horses were housed in a triage system at The Lamar-Dixon Expo Center in Gonzales, La., about 50 miles north of New Orleans.

Grinstead and her husband, Mark, led a Lawrence caravan of three pickup trucks with trailers that hauled about 550 pet crates and 500 bowls for food and water, she said. Volunteers Laurie and Russell Peak, Eric Green, Chester Henry and Kevin McMullen joined them.

The Lawrence director received a call last week for help from the Humane Society of the United States. After collecting donated pet supplies, the group hit the road. When they arrived, they immediately went to work.

Midge Grinstead, left, executive director of the Lawrence Humane Society, and her husband, Mark, play with their dog, Cody, at their North Lawrence home. The Grinsteads took supplies to Gonzales, La., for Hurricane Katrina pets.

“We saw things that needed to be done, so we just started doing them,” she said.

While Grinstead bathed dogs, the others helped unpack more truckloads of supplies that came.

Grinstead said the cleanliness and efficiency of the triage operation amazed her as rescuers brought in about 500 animals per day.

Horses and dogs rested in stalls at three barns while other barns housed homeless people, she said. Grinstead said there was about one volunteer per animal.

Though many had broken bones, most of the dogs seemed happy after they had a bath and a meal, said Grinstead, director of the Lawrence Humane Society for nine years.

“The horses looked beaten up. They make a big target when winds are 140 miles per hour,” she said.

Petco Animal Supplies and Orscheln Farm and Home Supply in Lawrence, Vet-Vax Inc. in Tonganoxie, and Pet Smart stores in Overland Park and Shawnee donated the supplies.

Peak and four volunteers left again this week for a shelter in Baton Rouge, La., and they will stay for about 10 days, Grinstead said.