7.30.2006

At least 20 lawsuits now filed for return of Katrina pets

Above link is to an article in yesterday's Dallas Morning News. Some of the 20 cases have been filed against the shelters or rescue groups that adopted away owned dogs, and in other cases the lawsuits are filed against the individuals with the dogs.

I would hate to be among those not-yet-sued, harboring Katrina dogs, wondering when the other shoe will drop, wondering when the subpoena will arrive. Yes, this would be the dark side of being a martyr.

But I also imagine that this would be a really good time for those people to find some escape route that allows them to return the dogs in whatever way they can find to save face. We have already seen that it's impossible for any of these people to say "I'm sorry, I made a mistake and I want to give you back your dog." But there are lots of varied and creative ways that someone can do this, such as Lynne Welsh having declared that the Dog Whisperer told her that Rocket needs to be returned to his family in New Orleans (of course she changed her mind again after that and decided not to return Rocket).

Here are a few suggestions.

1. Say that you were just diagnosed with a terminal illness and given the extenuating circumstances decided it would be best to return the dog to its original owners. Be sure to allow yourself to maintain your martyrdom to possibly even evoke some sympathy in the process.

2. Announce that the unexplained symptoms you've had for the past ___ months were recently diagnosed as an allergy to Chow mixes/poodles/St. Bernards/Shih Tzu/Yorkies...and that your doctor ordered you to get rid of the dog. Better yet, say that your child developed the horrible allergy to the dog.

3. Claim that your job is relocating you to Beirut and you thought it best to find a new home for the dog here.

4. Another good one that hasn't been tried yet is to announce that you have recently been saved and declared Jesus as your personal savior, repented all your sins and have come to see your evil ways. Beg for forgiveness. If this can work with mass murderers I imagine it will work quite well for Pam, Lynne, Biannca, Elizabeth, Lisa, etc.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am so disgusted with what seems to have become the prevailing attitude in this country. Elitist crap. One of the people having to sue to get his dog back is a war veteran, being denied of his rights. That makes lots of sense. Here this man goes to Iraq to bring DEMOCRACY to the Iraqis, and at home his constitutional rights are trampled.

People don't see the hypocrisy. How did we become a nation of such stupid, selfish, people?


Denise

Anonymous said...

I agree with Denise. What are we..a nation of "sybills"? People adopt ( alledging ) to care for the poor lost pets, but when the poor lost OWNER shows up, suddenly they fight to keep the pet that is not rightfully theirs?
I dont get it.
If ( supposedly ) someone has the heart to go out and adopt because they have compassion..where is that same compassion when the real owner shows up?

Anonymous said...

This is all dripping with irony. On the one hand, the current custodians tell the real, pre-Katrina owners, "get over it, move on, the animal is 'mine' now." On the other hand, these same people accuse the real, original owners of having no feelings (for allegedly 'abandoning' the animals--no matter to them that the circumstances were horrific beyond belief.)

What the current custodians appear unwilling to grasp is that the real owners DO have feelings, they LOVE their animals fiercely, compassion for animals does NOT end south of the Mason-Dixon line, and in fact it appears to be the other way around. It's the non-Southern adopters who appear to think these animals are just 'things' that can readily be forgotten about (and appropriated, like a used plasma TV.)

Callous, selfish monsters! O what grief you inflict!