Katrina dog reunited with grateful owner

Deborah Marks drove from New Orleans to Normal, IL earlier this month to pick up Goldie, the dog from whom she was separated since Katrina when she left to get insulin for her diabetic aunt and was then not allowed back to her home. The Humane Society of Central Illinois flew Goldie to Bloomington after she was rescued. A local family adopted the dog and Deborah filed a lawsuit.

I received the following email from Deborah along with this photo of Goldie at home.

Below Deborah's email & photo are some of the more moronic quotes from Maurice Barry, Vice President and attorney (maybe soon-to-be former attorney) for the Humane Society of Central Illinois:

Goldie Home Again

Hi everyone this is Deborah emailing just to say THANK YOU for helping my family get our dog Goldie back. Goldie was returned on February 01,2007 by her adopted family. Goldie is doing fine.

Again I would like to thank Mrs.Hunley, my lawyer Dominic and their staff from putting up with me calling all day and almost everyday. All of the rescue groups, volunteers who have taken the time to research and help me find Goldie. To the adopted family THANK YOU, for taking care of her and for having a heart to give her back.

Words can not express how my family feel having her home. I am sorry for emailing so late with this information. Thanks again to everyone for their support in this journey.

Deborah

This is Goldie at a shelter after Katrina

Maurice Barry quotes:

"There's a lot more to this than what she's saying," Barry said. "When the facts come out, you'll see she's misrepresented facts. She's tried every route to cause problems for the Humane Society."

Barry said that even if the dog did belong to Marks, the Humane Society still will oppose taking her away from its adopted family

Marks has been the only pet owner to contact the Humane Society about any of the Katrina pets, Barry said.

Barry recalled the emergency trip he took with Dave Severino to Slidell Airport last year to rescue the pets about a month after Katrina. Volunteers from St. Tammany Parish quickly helped load the dogs and cats on the plane during the rescue mission. There were no documents signed concerning ownership of the pets, which the volunteers represented as having been relinquished or abandoned during the disaster, Barry said.

"We were just worried about getting them the hell out of there," Barry said. "Every one of those dogs and cats would have died had we not flown down there that day."

“You’re going to make her out to be the biggest martyr in the world,” Barry said from his office Thursday. “This is news to me completely. We seem to be making up the story as it goes along. Everyone from New Orleans has a bad story.

“That dog would be dead if we hadn’t flown there to pick it up. Period. That’s the story,” he said.

Designer coats made from dog fur

By KASIE HUNT, Associated Press Writer Fri Feb 23, 9:41 AM ET

WASHINGTON - That fur trim on your jacket that you think is fake? Tell it to Fido. An animal advocacy group says its investigation has turned up coats — some with designer labels, some at higher-end retailers — with fur from man's best friend. Some retailers were set scrambling to pull the coats from shelves, take them off Web sites and even offer refunds to consumers.

The Humane Society of the United States said it purchased coats from reputable outlets, such as upscale Nordstrom, with designer labels — Andrew Marc, Tommy Hilfiger, for example — and found them trimmed with fur from domestic dogs, even though the fur was advertised as fake.

"It's an industrywide deception," said Kristin Leppert, the head of the Human Society's anti-fur campaign.

The investigation began after the society got a tip from a consumer who bought a coat with trim labeled as faux fur that felt real. Leppert and her team began buying coats from popular retailers and then had the coats tested by mass spectrometry, which measures the mass and sequence of proteins, to determine what species of animal the fur came from.

Of the 25 coats tested, 24 were mislabeled or misadvertised.

Three coats — from Tommy Hilfiger's Web site ShopTommy.com, Nordstrom.com and a coat from Andrew Marc's MARC New York line sold on Bluefly.com — contained fur from domesticated dogs. The others had fur from raccoon dogs — a canine species native to Asia — or, in one case, wolves. The single correctly labeled coat was trimmed with coyote fur, but it was advertised as fake.

Most of the fur came from China.

In response to the Humane Society's investigation, Tommy Hilfiger stopped selling the fur-trimmed garment and said it was looking into the matter. "We were quite concerned to hear of this finding," said spokeswoman Wendi Kopsick.

Nordstrom called the 62 consumers who had purchased vests with dog fur trim to give them the opportunity to return the vests "because we would never want to deceive our customers in any way," Nordstrom spokeswoman Brooke White said. She said Nordstrom no longer buys fur trim products from the vendor, who had marketed the vests as faux fur.

Charles Jayson, chief executive of Andrew Marc, disputed the Humane Society and insisted in a statement that all fur on his coats labeled as raccoon contains "only farm-bred raccoon fur from Finland, and our items labeled 'faux fur' are a 100 percent synthetic fabric."

Importing domestic dog and cat fur was outlawed in 2000. Intentionally importing and selling dog fur is a federal crime punishable by a $10,000 fine for each violation. Michael Markarian, executive vice president of the Humane Society, said his group had contacted all the retailers and designers selling mislabeled coats or coats with dog fur.

Raccoon dogs look like oversized, fluffy raccoons and aren't kept as pets. Importing their fur is not illegal, but activists argue they are still a type of dog.

"This is an animal that is routinely killed by stomping them, or beating them, or skinning them alive," Markarian said. Video produced by Swiss Animal Protection and posted on the Internet shows raccoon dogs clubbed or slammed on the ground and some writhing, gasping and blinking as they are skinned alive.

The discovery of domestic dog fur is the latest twist in the investigation that ensnared retail giants Macy's and J.C. Penney late last year. Both of those retailers were discovered selling coats with raccoon dog fur labeled as raccoon.

J.C. Penney initially removed the offending garments from its stores around Christmas — but eventually it had employees scratch out the 'raccoon' label with black magic marker and put the coats back on the shelves. Macy's immediately pulled the items from its shelves.

Burlington Coat Factory also pulled some coats with mislabeled fur from their shelves. Rap artist Sean "Diddy" Combs stopped producing and selling coats from his Sean John line that had raccoon dog fur, and rapper Jay-Z pulled coats with raccoon dog from his Rocawear label.

Mislabeling fur is a misdemeanor punishable by a $5,000 fine or a year in prison. Fur valued at less than $150 is not required to be labeled.

A bill introduced by Reps. Jim Moran, D-Va., and Mike Ferguson, R-N.J., would close that loophole by requiring labels for all fur regardless of its value. It also would ban fur from raccoon dogs.

"Americans don't want Lassie turned into a fur coat," Moran said. "In the U.S., we treat cats and dogs as pets, not trimmings for the latest fashion wear."

Other retailers the Humane Society said sold mislabeled raccoon dog fur included Lord & Taylor, BergdorfGoodman.com and Neiman Marcus.com. Designers whose clothes were mismarked included Donna Karan's DKNY and Michael Kors. A coat from Oscar de la Renta advertised as raccoon had raccoon dog fur.

Neiman Marcus, which owns Bergdorf Goodman, said it removed Bogner and Andrew Marc coats from its Web sites. Michael Kors said it was investigating, and a DKNY spokeswoman said the label was unaware that raccoon dog fur had been used.

Donna Karan's executive vice president for global marketing and communications, Patti Cohen, said, "While it is not illegal to use this type of fur, we have taken measures to ensure that it is never again used for any of our products."

A spokeswoman for Oscar de la Renta declined to comment.

Click here for a list of companies/designers found to have garments made from dog fur:

Virginia Groups Collaborate to Protect Pets in Emergencies

FOR RELEASE AT WILL -- Feb. 21, 2007

Richmond, Va. - Virginia emergency managers, veterinarians and animal advocacy groups have developed a set of guidelines to provide assistance to pet owners and pet-friendly shelters during an evacuation. The organizations will build and maintain databases of pet-friendly shelters, services, supplies and trained volunteers to call upon during an emergency.

A memorandum of understanding, finalized in January, sets forth specific responsibilities for five organizations during an emergency declared by the governor. Representatives from the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, the Virginia Department of Emergency Management, the Virginia Veterinary Medical Association, the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine and the Virginia Federation of Humane Societies will help to identify pet-friendly facilities and train volunteers to coordinate assistance to those shelters during disasters.

"During Hurricane Katrina thousands of people left their pets behind or did not evacuate in order to stay with their pets," said Dr. Richard Wilkes, state veterinarian. "For many people, the safety of their pets is just as important as their own."

In addition, the VVMA will take the lead role in establishing a State Animal Response Team, a tax-exempt corporation that will explore additional funding for training and equipment through grants and corporate sponsorships.

"Many pet owners don't want to leave their pets during an evacuation," said Michael Cline, state coordinator for emergency management. "This MOU is an important step in making sure that pet owners and their pets have a place to go during a crisis."

Representatives of the five groups will meet quarterly to evaluate the progress of implementation and to revise and develop new plans or goals as appropriate.

Amazing Grace!

The movie opens this Friday.

Click above link to see the video clip that tells the story behind the song.

ARNO on Inside Edition

Although the city of New Orleans is only half it's pre-Katrina population, the number of dogs has remained high. As some New Orleans homes lie empty and abandoned, they are still providing shelter for many four-legged victims of the disaster.

Even 18 months after Katrina, many pets who were separated from their owners by the storm, are now living wild.

Pet-lover Robin Beaulieu runs an organization called Animal Rescue New Orleans. She spends her days and often her nights too, touring the city in her converted school bus, rounding up strays, sometimes using humane traps to catch them. Often the dogs are mangy and scared.

"I would say several thousand former pets are on the streets still today," Robin told INSIDE EDITION.

Robin worries over the fate of pets that have had to live wild in the 18 months since Katrina. "It's very difficult for a domesticated animal to fend for itself," Robin said.

One reason former pets have a hard time is because where there are no people, there's no thrown-away food to scavenge. As a substitute, the packs of now-wild dogs often attack and eat rats, and even cats.

The former pets are often purebred dogs, and stick out amongst the strays.

Tina Bernard is animal control officer for one New Orleans parish and says owners are still coming in to her shelter trying to find the pets they lost during the chaos of Katrina. She can only describe the situation as "heartbreaking."

Volunteers like Pam Leavy place food wherever there's a sighting of strays, but their efforts are often in vein.

"I've seen as time goes on, there are less and less dogs out, and it's not because we're getting them, it's because they just weren't making it," Pam said.

For more information, contact:

Animal Rescue New Orleans
271 Plauche Street
New Orleans, LA 70123
Voicemail: 504-571-1900

One of the good guys

10/17/2005 - Imagine How You Would Feel . . .
Posted From Animal Ark Shelter - Minnesota
Posted by Mike F

Imagine how you would feel if you had been evacuated from your home by force and you were not allowed to take your pets with you. Then, imagine that the people who came in to "save" your pets either "euthanized" them, or almost immediately adopted them to another family, without giving you a chance to find them.

That is exactly what some organizations are doing. I am frankly angry, dumbfounded and stunned at the willful disregard for the families of lost pets and for the animals who must certainly be missing their families.

Think about this: Animal Ark has already found the families of about 7% of the animals rescued from Katrina that we have taken in. And, we are getting more leads on other families all the time. The families we are dealing with have moved mountains to try to find their pets; so why would shelters adopt them without giving them a chance to be reunited with their families?

Concern that some shelters would try to capitalize on the headlines about recent disasters and try to move animals too quickly caused several national organizations to send out press releases asking shelters with animals rescued from Katrina to hold them for longer periods of time to give their families time to look for them.

So, why are our area's wealthiest shelters (i.e. those best prepared to house them longer) already adopting "Katrina Pets" into new homes? Your guess is as good as mine.

Today, I personally answered countless emails from shelters across the country that are outraged. Unfortunately, there is little I can do about it. If shelters do not want to follow nationally recognized standards or practices, there is no way to make them. Likewise, there is no way to make them report how many local animals they may have "euthanized" in order to take in and adopt out their "hurricanines".

LOST in Gretna: 13 year old, partially deaf, 3-legged JRT mix

He went missing on January 30th from Gretna Blvd. & Linda Ct. behind Home Depot and ArchBishop Blenk High School.

He is 13 years old; partially deaf; is missing his right hind leg and is easily disoriented due to his age.

He is very much loved and missed; the son is heartbroken.

Please be on the lookout for this little guy; he weighs only around 10 lbs. His name is Hit.

Open letter from an Animal Control Officer

WARNING: CONTAINS OBJECTIONABLE LANGUAGE

Well, this one has been several years in the making.

Hello kids. I'm your friendly neighborhood Animal Control Officer, and I'd like to officially tell you all to bite my ass. Before I ride off into the sunset, however - here are some parting words...

1) To all the jackasses who ask me if I don't have something better to do than giving them a ticket for no license/dog off leash/being a douchebag. The answer is no. No, I have nothing better than to take my precious time and taxpayer dollars to write you a COMPLETELY LAME ticket for not doing what was your responsibility to do in the first place. I love nothing more than babysitting grown adults who seem incapable of wiping their own ass without law enforcement present. Thanks, dirtbags.

2) To all the jackasses who ask me why I'm not rounding up all the killer pitbulls. Where...WHERE!? Where are all the killer pitbulls that are roaming the streets and attacking your women and children. My god, the city should just issue you all SHOTGUNS to fend off these land sharks. In other news, THERE IS NO VICIOUS PITBULL EPIDEMIC. Let's all hold hands and say it together folks, the only epidemic is misinformation, ignorance and animal neglect. Thanks, please drive through to the second window and receive a punch in the face.

3) To all the jackasses who refuse to spay/neuter, or who think they're "breeders" because they put fido and fifi together and produced a litter of mongrels who will all likely end up in a barrel behind the shelter by the time they reach sexual maturity:Die. Diediediediedie. I wish to god that there was a mandatory spay/neuter law and that the penalty for breaking it was to be forced to spend a day working in the euthanasia room. Seriously. It's simple fucking math, people. Every dog or cat you carelessly add into this world takes away a home for a dog or cat that is already here. So breeding means killing...so have a good day, executioners! I hope the 50 bucks you made off that puppy sure feels good.

4) There is no goddamn thing as "No Kill". I hate to burst your collective bubble, but when you call and ask if our shelter is "no kill", don't treat me like a kitten murderer when I tell you NO. There are simply not enough resources or homes available to find every pet a home and that is NOT MY FAULT. Quite simply, there is no "dog whisperer" in the world who can save your eight year old Rottweiler that spent his entire life chained to a tree in your backyard. Sorry, buster - but this one's on you. And the places that claim to be "No Kill"? They simply send the unplaceable pets across the street to Animal Control who do the killing for them. WAKE. UP. Until mandatory spay/neuter becomes law, killing is going to happen.

5) You know what's fun? Being told that I must "really hate dogs" because I'm an Animal Control Officer. Yessir. I put up with retards like you, the abysmally low pay, and this fabulously flattering uniform just so I can take all my bitterness out on your dog. That's also why I foster animals, paying for their care out of my own pocket and using up my precious little free time to do it. Yeah, that's it. Now how's about you shut your mouth and put a leash on your dog you asshole, so I don't have to peel him off the street later.

6) LEASHES, PEOPLE. They're not just for the "bad dogs". Quite frankly, dogs are carnivores - predators, if you will. When they see something furry and running fast, like a squirrel or a cat- they tend to chase after it. Next thing you know, I'm scooping up Scooby with a plastic bag...not fun. Or, how about the person who does not in fact, like dogs and has to be accosted by your poochie when they walk down the street? Or, what about the dog-aggressive dog being walked safely and in control on a leash until your unleashed dog comes up and just wants to say "hi"? Dog fights are pretty ugly, and NO ONE seems to anticipate them until it's too late. So don't piss and moan when I give you a verbal warning for having your dog off leash...because that leads me to:

7) Your mouth will write you a ticket. Oh yeah, no kidding. I hate writing tickets. They're a pain in the ass. I have to deal with your melt down, then I have to go back to the office and write a report about it. Next, I have to show up in court because you want to contest the ticket, even though 60% of the time YOU NEVER SHOW UP YOU CHICKENSHIT BASTARDS. So, the deal is this - if you're nice and not eggregiously breaking the law, I'm probably just going to warn you and then go about my day. As soon as you break out the lip however, I'm breaking out the ticket book. Press hard, there's four copies.

In conclusion. I quit! Actually, you dipshits broke me a while back and it's been months of therapy before I could write this little missive. I still shudder when I see a pair of testicles on a dog though, so watch out.

Have a Heart for Chained Dogs Week

Do you know of a dog that spends its life chained outside? If so, please send the addresses to Dogs Deserve Better for Have a Heart for Chained Dogs Week. DDB strives to raise awareness for chained and penned dogs in a positive way, by delivering a Valentine, an informative brochure and a treat coupon to owners of dogs living outside. They hope to send at least 8000 Valentines this year.

The owner of the dog above refused an offer from DDB of a better home.

This little dog lived outside on a chain for 13 years!

These dogs chains are tangled and they have very little room to move around.

Send the addresses to info@dogsdeservebetter.org
or call 877.636.1408 to report addresses.

You remain anonymous!
Addresses must be received by February 7th.

Update on Ginger & Freckles

They've been saved and are now being boarded at a vet's office. By late this afternoon we had identyified three different rescue organizations willing to take them in and place them in a great new home. And as of now it seems that they will become Canadian citizens.

HUGE thanks to the staff and volunteers at Tangipahoa Parish Animal Control who kept hope alive and kept them alive against many odds.

There are many other dogs and cats there in need of a loving home, others that are also indirect victims of Katrina. Or victims of indifference, cruelty, or one of the hundred other reasons that wonderful animals end up in shelters.

Please look to see if your new best friend is there waiting for you. And if you don't live close to Hammond, LA, you can save the life of one of the hundreds of thousands of other homeless dogs and cats in shelters all over the country. Look on Petfinder or 1-800-Save-a-Pet

Are you waiting for two new best friends?

Ginger and Freckles were brought to the Hammond animal shelter in Hammond, LA (Tangipahoa Parish Animal Control) after their owner, who lost his home in Katrina, could no longer care for them. So they've waited at the shelter a long time for him to come back for them. Given the stats at this shelter, they would have been euthanized by now, but because everyone there adores these sweet dogs, they've been "held over." The shelter is now very over-crowded, including an astounding 25 litters of puppies!

Ginger and Freckles been held over for a long time and are now in real danger of being euthanized immediately unless a wonderful new home can be found.

They love people and also love each other so they need and deserve to stay together.

If you can adopt these two and give them a loving secure home for the rest of their lives, please email Karen immediately. She may even be able to help arrange transport.

This is the link to the dogs at Hammond.

Director of Marin Humane Society resigns

Edited: PETA cat & dog murderers on trial

Well well well....the general public will finally be exposed to the deceit, hypocrisy and revolting behavior of PETA. Click on above link to read the full article in a NC newspaper.

Please cross-post widely.

The defendants, Andrew Benjamin Cook and Adria Joy Hinkle, each face 22 counts of Cruelty to Animals and 3 counts of Obtaining Property By False Pretenses. If convicted, they could face between 25 and 30 months in prison for each Cruelty to Animals count.

On June 15, 2005, police in Ahoskie, North Carolina witnessed Hinkle and Cook throwing trash bags -- containing the bodies of 18 dead pets -- into a shopping-center dumpster. After arresting them, police recovered 13 additional dead animals from the PETA-owned van in which the two were traveling. Witnesses from the Ahoskie Animal Hospital and the Bertie County Animal Shelter later confirmed that Hinkle and Cook had collected the animals, including puppies and kittens, earlier that day on the promise that PETA would find them adoptive homes.

Government records from the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services show that in 2005, the Norfolk-based PETA killed 90 percent of the animals it took in for adoption. By comparison, the nearby Norfolk SPCA killed less than 4 percent of its animals in that same year. The state average was 43 percent. Since 1998, PETA has put down over 14,400 dogs and cats. PETA's 2006 numbers will be made public by the end of January.

The previous/original version of this post linked to the website of the Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF), a lobbying organization that is even more reprehensible to me than PETA; a watchdog group funded by the fast food, meat and tobacco industries to name a few. In addition to their campaign against PETA, they have also campaigned against the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), and Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. I didn't take time to check my sources which I usually do. A friend alerted me to this error, thus the edited version of this post. Thanks S!

In today's New York Times

Caption: A dog was the only sign of life Friday on a street of empty homes in New Orleans (possibly 7th Ward).

Photograph by Cheryl Gerber for the New York Times.

Barkus 2007 - A Street Dog Named Desire

Thinking of breeding your dog so your kids can experience the miracle of birth?

Order: THE MIRACLE OF BIRTH VIDEOTAPE

Intended for all those who want to breed little Fluffy in order to let children experience the miracle of birth. This real-time videotape set can either substitute for home breeding or guide you in making the most of your breeding decision. You will experience the joys of seeing a live puppy pop effortlessly from the mothers body. See her consume the bloody afterbirth (Most children squeal with delight seeing this for the first time). Many children make a life-long commitment to celibacy then and there. Enjoy watching the frantic efforts of a breeder trying to resuscitate a stillborn puppy. See the hilarious actions of a bitch that searches for the puppy she thinks she just dropped but which was quickly tossed into the wastebasket because it was only a blackened, half-developed fetus.

Reserve a full 36 hours to see the entire set of tapes in one sitting.

Really, share the drama, boredom, and exhaustion of the breeder as she struggles to help her bitch in extended labor. Watch as a breeder tries to recruit helpers to carry her dying bitch to the car for transport to the nearest animal hospital in a futile attempt at saving the beloved family pet. Seeing the children crying and asking what is happening is half the fun. Follow the fun as a breeder and his wife alternate bottle feedings duties, during a full month of every 4-hour feedings, with a puppy fading and trying to keep 6 others dry and healthy.

Share the hilariously hopeless task of keeping the home odor free while 7 pups deposit hourly stools and urine on mountains of newspapers provided through weekly neighborhood garbage can raids. Thrill to the dazzling sound effects on this tape - you will be amazed at the noise created by 7 pups all screaming at once - especially in the hush of the wee morning hours. Chuckle at the breeders increasingly frantic anxiety as the litter grows up, and no one comes to buy them.

And, as an extra added attraction: Laugh with us at the madcap antics of a typical shelter worker as she accepts new animals keeping a straight face as mom and dad tell little Kevin that the nice lady will take VERY GOOD care of 8 year old Fluffy. Enjoy the pathos as she later shoves unwanted puppies and adult dogs into a gas chamber as she chokes back tears and goes home to try and explain to her children just what she does at work. Yes, if you, or a friend, are considering breeding Fluffy to show your children the miracle of birth, be sure to get this video and show the miracle of death at the same time.

Copyright 1996, John A. McCormick, President and CEO, Nocturnal Aviation Videos. Reproduction and distribution of this advertisement in its entirety strongly encouraged. Telephone, e-mail, or postal orders NOT accepted. This tape is sold ONLY in person because I REALLY want to meet you.

Recognize these dogs? Roaming in Lakeview

Both dogs are living in the garage and under 5549 Woodlawn Place in Lakeview. The Rottie is a female wearing a choke chain collar, and looks as if she may have puppies hidden somewhere. The dog under the house is a male.

Philly, Jan. 12-14: BEN-efit For The Bayou

If you live in or near Philly, ya got to attend next Saturday night's benefit at the Franklin Institute to help rebuild the Audubon Nature Institute in New Orleans.

A $35 ticket gets you the Dr. John concert and the IMAX film, Hurricane on the Bayou along with tasty New Orleans food.

January 13th, 5pm-11 p.m.; Concert time 8-9:30pm (over 21 only)

Or for those with kids, the Bayou Family Festival going on the rest of the weekend.

Click on above link for full details.

Lost Katrina Pets site on Newsday

Katrina pets online
Monday, January 1, 2007
NEWSDAY

They're still out there, and their owners are not giving up. Some animals displaced and lost during Hurricane Katrina are finding their way back to their original homes, but it's an arduous process that requires more than a bit of luck. And for all the reunions posted on http://www.lostkatrinapets.com/, there are still far too many entries labeled "missing.

Urgent plea for help for Break Heart Ranch

Val & John Hinderlider and their beloved horses at Break Heart Ranch in Minden, Nebraska have lost power due to the devastating ice storm that struck the western plains. They are in need of hay and monetary donations of any size.

The electricity for Break Heart Ranch may not be on for 3 to 4 weeks. They are currently using two generators to heat water for the horses and other necessities.

(web photo of ice damage in Nebraska)

Check out their website and read about the incredible work they do to rescue, rehabilitate and adopt horses and please donate whatever you can.

Tax-deductible donations (501c3 ) can be mailed to:
Break Heart Ranch Horse Rescue
2141 J. Road
Minden, NE 68959

Please cross-post