First, I want to acknowledge Barbara Cotters as one of the hardest-working and most dedicated Katrina reunion volunteers from the beginning. She is the one who found the photos of Jazz posted on Andy Odam's PawMatch website. Andy is the man who stole Jazz out of Jefferson Feed and took her to Texas.
Like many of us, Barb felt overwhelmed at the sheer volume of pets and the magnitude of the disaster and rescue/reunion efforts, so she decided to focus on the Cocker Spaniels, the breed she is most familiar with. She created the Lost Katrina Cockers website with photos and information on many of the lost and found Cockers.
She made this statement:
The dog was dehydrated, though not drastically, suffering from the heat...but not in bad shape at all compared to many of the dogs who went through the storm. Look, I saw animals before Katrina and then rescued the same animals...and even within the first 10 days after the storm they looked bad. There is no way what looked ill and crappy after Katrina looked the same before Katrina. The animal would have been dead if that were the case. The dog was matted, but it looked like a recent development... the hair was long enough that I would say it was groomed about six to eight weeks before Katrina. I only touched it through the front of the cage, and did not take the dog out of the kennel. There were no obvious infections or skin conditions or the animal would have been moved from the 'okay' pile to the 'in treatment' pile of kennels, which were away from the kennels okay to go to Lamar. The treatment kennels were kept there overnight at minimum, in the air conditioning, with a vet overseeing their care. Every single animal that came into Jefferson Feed was examined by the vet, Dr. Missy Jackson, a friend of mine. Dr. Jackson is employed at Southern Animal Foundation in New Orleans.
Understand that the temperature outside was 99 degrees at minimum... inside the houses it was 120 to 150 degrees depending on how well shut the house was. Very old houses, built in the Victorian days, with real high ceilings were only at about 120-130. Newer structures, from 1920 on, were hell houses... without tall ceilings for the heat to rise to, and with tighter closures. Those were at minimum 150 degrees.
How long can an animal stay alive in a car which will reach 180 degrees in twenty minutes in the oppressive heat of the south?
I can tell you this, there was definitely an intake form duct taped to the top of the cocker's kennel. The boys who delivered the donations, from an animal organization in Austin, were just volunteers. I don't know why they took the dog, or why the dog was let go in their hands.
Shalanda Augillard leaves her home in
After working through the night, Shalanda gets off work early Sunday morning and goes home to pack, then goes to her parents’ home. They spend the afternoon making sure they and their neighbors and friends are prepared. Shalanda leaves to take some supplies to a friend west of them and then is unable to get back to her parents’ home because a curfew had been put into effect earlier than expected.
In the very early morning, Hurricane Katrina makes landfall just east of
The Augillards provide a refuge for neighbors, several of them elderly people with no families.
The National Guard evacuates the family. As Shalanda’s mother tries to board the boat with Jazz in her arms, the Guard orders her to leave the dog behind. She places Jazz in their second-floor apartment with lots of water, food, and access to a well-ventilated porch, thinking they will return soon. CBS reporter John Roberts is on the boat with the Guard.
Shalanda succeeds in contacting her parents and learns that they were forced to leave Jazz behind.
Shalanda's employer, which never suspended operations, sent teams to survey hard-hit areas to determine the most efficient way to continue service. Shalanda is assigned to survey the area in which her parents live and goes to her parents’ home. The door has been kicked out, the home has been ransacked, and the building has been marked with the date of September 7th . Jazz is not there.
Shalanda makes the first of many trips to Lamar-Dixon to look for Jazz, who needed her medication for a thyroid condition. She inputs all of Jazz’s information on Petfinders.com.
Andy Odam of PawMatch and Thomas Darnell of Rivers & Reefs leave
A black cocker spaniel appears at the Jefferson Feed Store. The spaniel had been examined by a veterinarian and had documentation attached to her crate. No one reported seeing any other cocker spaniels that day. See statement below from Charlotte Bass for the full account.
After being told not to remove any animals from the Jefferson Feed Store, Andy Odam steals the black Cocker and transports her back to
Jennifer Hays, then a PawMatch board member, posts information about the black cocker spaniel on the PawMatch blog before Odam returns to
The PawMatch blog recounts Odam’s return to
Andy Odam and PawMatch place the black cocker spaniel in foster care with Catherine Danie of ARF, an animal rescue group, in Wimberley. At the time of placement, Odam had not provided any medical care for the dog.
Another ARF volunteer takes Jazz to veterinarian Dr. Thomas House at San Marcos Veterinary Clinic. Dr. House exams Jazz and determines that she has numerous health issues that are all treatable. His tests indicate that her urine contains triple phosphate crystals and that she is Heartworm NEGATIVE. He suspects that she has bladder stones and that she is hypothyroid. The ARF volunteer declines any further treatment.
PawMatch posts that the cocker spaniel needs a new foster home.
Tiffany Madura agrees to foster the black cocker spaniel.
Madura takes the dog to Dr. Barrett Donop at
The dog undergoes surgery for removal of bladder stones at Oak Springs Veterinary Clinic.
Barbara Cotters sees the PawMatch web site, which has photos of a black cocker spaniel on the home page, along with a link to contribute to PawMatch through PayPal. Barbara believes that the dog is Jazz and sends the photos and link to Shalanda who notices that the dog has white markings on her mouth that are very similar to Jazz's distinctive white markings.
Shalanda contacts Odam, who refuses to let her see the dog.
Shalanda continues her attempts to persuade Andy Odam to allow her access to the dog on his web site. She provides the medical records that she was able to retrieve from Jazz’s veterinarians (their clinics had been destroyed by Katrina) to Louisiana Deputy Attorney General Mimi Hunley, who tries to negotiate a meeting between Augillard and Odam. Odam cuts off contact with Hunley.
March, 2006 – May, 2006
Many people involved in animal rescue throughout the
Shalanda obtains a temporary restraining order from the
Jazz is held at a kennel at Shalanda’s expense.
The first of two parts of the preliminary injunction hearing is held in
When the preliminary injunction hearing resumes, Judge Henry is not available. Because Augillard has again traveled to
Two sweaters and a hairbrush belonging to Jazz are sent to Dr.
Dr. Halverson reports that even though she found hairs on the sweaters, there is inadequate amplification. She does, however, find a serum exudate encrusted at the base of the bristles of the brush that yields adequate DNA. She then requests a reference sample from the dog in
Attorney for Madura files a motion for a protective order, arguing that Jazz should not be made available for DNA sampling because Augillard, Philips and Smith had access to her on
Even though Judge Davis had ordered the DNA testing, an additional hearing is required to compel Madura to produce the dog for DNA sampling. Judge Henry orders the defendants to produce the dog within one month; Shalanda is at the hearing.
DNA samples are taken from the cocker spaniel by Thomas Beckett, DVM, in the presence of Dr. Donop at Oak Springs Veterinary Clinic . The samples were sealed by Dr. Beckett in the presence of Dr. Donop and
Dr. Halverson concludes that the samples from the hairbrush are from the same dog that the samples were taken from in
A hearing is held to determine if the Court would allow Dr. Halverson to testify by telephone. The request is denied. Shalanda attends the hearing.
Dr. Halverson is deposed in
Dr. Halverson travels from
The parties mediate for four hours.
The parties mediate for an additional three hours but do not reach an agreement.
To provide even more proof that Jazz and the dog in
Laura Maloney, director of the Louisiana SPCA, writes to Andy Odam, requesting the immediate return of the cocker spaniel he removed from Jefferson Feed Store in violation of established protocol. Odam never responds to that letter.
Trial is held in Hays County District Court in
Judge Henry faxes a letter to counsel stating that the Court renders judgment in favor of Madura. No explanation is provided.
Judge Henry releases his findings of fact, contending that the testimony of Augillard’s witnesses was not credible and alleging that the DNA evidence had a “high potential for tampering” even though no evidence of tampering was ever introduced.
Shalanda’s attorney files a notice of appeal.
Appeals Court overturns the trial Judge Henry's asinine decision and Shalanda is reunited with Jazz almost three years after Katrina.
1 comment:
Anita looks really great! You have a wonderful way of putting everything in perspective, this was a difficult case with a lot of things going on behind the scenes, especially with Tiffany being part of the reunification process.
You really exposed Tiffany for how she and Andy schemed to keep Jazz from Shalanda. Everyone should know what she did and this finally puts the evidence front and center for them to decide for themselves.
Laura Strickland Samoasmom on Nola worked along side me and with Shalanda many months looking for Jazz and giving Shalanda advice. She was a great resource searching out and putting the pieces together about the cocker Tiffany posted about on Nola that she was picking up.
Anita you have done so much to help reunite pets and always so supportive and upbeat you should be very proud of the help you have provided to reunite so many by getting the facts out. Thanks so much for telling Shalanda's story.
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