This is an unbelievable story; a tear-jerker; one that will make you cry and smile and have hope once again. And it's because of two selfless and very caring people - Denise, the cat reunion coordinator extradinoire for NALB and Jessica B., a resident of St. Bernard Parish.
This is the story:
Tiger was one of the many thousands of cats lost in the aftermath of Katrina. He lived with his family in the Lexington subdivision in St. Bernard Parish and was never found after Katrina; never showed up on Petfinder or anywhere else. Being a young (6 months old at the time) and declawed cat, there seemed to be little hope for a happy ending.
On May 22, 2007 (!!) Jessica felt the need to get out of the house. Well, out of the FEMA trailer where she's living with her cousin. Her drive took her down Judge Perez, through Violet and to the Lexington subdivision where she drove around. One her way back out she noticed a small cat sitting in an empty lot, and continued to sit there as she approached. She said, "Unlike most animals that have been out there for so long, he didn't run. He let me approach him." Jessica picked up the starved, dehydraded little thing who was covered in sores but still wearing his blue collar, and took him to her mother's house. She decided that she was going to find this guy's owner and get him home.
Tiger was one of the many cats that Denise had helped search for/reunite beginning in 2005, so when Jessica sent her the photos, and told her that he was found in an empty lot just outside the Lexington subdivision, and wearing the blue collar, Denise knew that this must be Tiger and sent the photos to Lisa, Tiger's owner.
Lisa and her daughters drove to Chalmette to meet Jessica and knew that the ragged little cat was in fact their Tiger. They were all overjoyed, but perhaps no one more than Tiger - as soon as was back in the lap of his young companion, he started rubbing his head all over her and hasn't stopped.
He was been seen by a vet and in spite of being very thin and weak, flea-ridden, covered in sores, and with one of his back paws split with raw skin exposed - he was free of diseases and should recover just fine. He is curled up in his new bed and purring away. And probably sleeping deeply and well for the first time in 21 months.
Tiger never wandered far from home, waiting and hoping for his people to come back. He was very much loved before Katrina, and deeply missed for the past 21 months and is finally basking in that love again.
TAMPA — A settlement has been reached in the long-running dispute over the fate of two dogs rescued after being stranded during Hurricane Katrina, according to an attorney for the dogs’ owners.
Steven and Dorreen Couture of St. Bernard Parish, La., have reached an agreement with both the women who adopted their dogs, said Murray Silverstein, who represents the Coutures. The Coutures had gone to court to regain both dogs, which were picked up after the hurricane and brought to Tampa Bay by the Humane Society of Pinellas County.
One dog, a St. Bernard named Master Tank, was adopted by Hillsborough assistant state attorney Pam Bondi, who re-named it Noah. Rhonda Rineker of Dunedin adopted the other dog, a shepherd mix named Nila.
One of the dogs has been returned already and the second is expected to be returned Tuesday, Silverstein said.
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) – A plucky Jack Russell terrier named George saved five children from two marauding pit bulls, but was so severely mauled in the fight that it had to be put down, its owner said Wednesday.
George was playing with the group of children as they returned home from buying sweets at a neighborhood shop in the small North Island town of Manaia last Sunday when the two pit bulls appeared and lunged toward them, Allan Gay said.
"George was brave – he took them on and he's not even a foot high," Gay told The Associated Press. "He jumped in on them, he tried to keep them off.
"If it wasn't for George, those kids would have copped it."
One of the children, Richard Rosewarne, 11, was quoted in the Taranaki Daily News on Wednesday as saying George fought with the pit bulls to keep them off his 4-year-old brother, Darryl.
"George tried to protect us by barking and rushing at them, but they started to bite him – one on the head and the other on the back," Rosewarne said. "We ran off crying and some people saw what was happening and rescued George."
But George was so badly mauled that a veterinarian had to put him down, Gay said. South Taranaki District Council official Graham Young said the two pit bulls had been impounded, and likely would be put down because of the attack.
In New Zealand, owners of dogs judged to be too aggressive can be required to have them neutered and dogs involved in attacks are destroyed.
With rice and corn products now found to be contaminated with melamine, along with the wheat gluten, and this becomes more and more alarming, it now seems as if the only solution is for all of us to make our own pet food, thereby not only keeping our pets safe, but also creating an incidental boycott of all pet food companies. The burden of responsibility needs to be put on them to test and inspect their ingredients much more carefully and be able to assure us of the safety of their products.
There are estimated to be 68 million cats and dogs in the United States. It would not take very long for the economic impact of a boycott, resulting in our collective need to keep our pets safe, to wake up every pet food manufacturer who will in turn demand better quality control from their distributors.
Like everyone else, I can't find the words to express my horror, sadness and outrage at yesterday's events at Virginia Tech. My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone affected by this tragedy - the parents, sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, and friends of the victims; the faculty, students, staff and alumni of Virginia Tech, and the people of Blacksburg.
I heard on NPR this afternoon that Korean-Americans are worried about possible violence against them and their community.
I pray too that this does not happen.
The gunman was a very disturbed young man who just happened to be Korean.
Most of the mass murders and shooting sprees in this country have been by crazy white men yet there are no attacks or threats of violence against them individually or as a group in the aftermaths of any of the other mass horrors.
This brings back very dark memories of the shootings 15 years ago at my beloved University of Iowa. I had spent three years there as a graduate student and was preparing to return. The gunman was a Chinese student who shot six people, killing five including four Physics professors, one of them the husband of a friend of mine. He also left a beautiful young woman paralyzed from the neck down. The Chinese community was not blamed or punished for this nor were Chinese students victims of violence or harassment.
I had one of those wow! moments like in that commercial where all those people look at something amazing and say "wow."
I was out walking my dogs and saw a fox on my neighbor's front lawn across the street. I stopped and stared at it and it stared back. I said out loud to no one (to the dogs?) wow!
The dogs however were oblivious. Which is a good thing because if they had seen the fox they would have started to bark and pull on the leashes and act like the little fools they act like when they see another dog or a cat or a squirrel. Well, at least Murphy. Ruby usually acts more like the dignified old lady she is, but Murphy jumps and whines and acts as if he's never before seen another dog or cat or squirrel.
So this beautiful fox and I just stood there staring at each other, with nothing more than a narrow residential street separating us. It didn't run and it didn't even look scared or nervous. It just stood and watched me as I was watching it (I wasn't close enough to see if it was a male or female but it seemed large for a fox).
Wow !
When the dogs finally let me know it was time to continue our walk (their walk) I felt great sadness thinking about how anyone could hunt and kill these beautiful animals. Sadly I live in an area that has a long history of fox hunting.
Ann Wisham and her 2-yr-old female Border Collie mix Bean drove from California to Louisiana and Mississippi to help after Katrina. This article in the above link has the complete story. Bean was stolen from Ann's truck in Bakersfield CA on January 6, 2007. Bakersfield is in Kern County, California but Bean could be anywhere by now. Bean was recently hit by a car and had hip replacements. If you've seen Bean or have any leads, please call 661-619-5895.
.. This was written by Ann:
I had a large 4 horse trailer and a big truck. My friends had a fund raiser. Raised $800. Bean and I went to Glendale, got donations and drove to Mississippi. I stopped in Arizona and filled the trailer with dog food, bleach and handy wipes. That is what I was told they needed. Bean was my Guard dog all the way there. At night I slept in the trailer and she would growl if any body came near. We helped at the shelter, took a load of surrendered dogs from Houma Louisiana (below New Orleans) back to Gulfport to be shipped (to shelters) all over the USA. Then we went to work for the United Methodist Church taking out dry wall, sanitizing homes, meeting survivors of the storm..... I could not have done the trip without Bean, everyone at the church camp talked about the lady and dog from California. Going to help was the best thing I ever did, it made me feel great to help. As I drive Bean will paw me until I hold hands with her, she loves to have me hold her paw. As we drive I miss her so much.Bean has no microchip. The plates in her hips will show in an x-ray and her collar is so different - long haired beautiful black saddle, tan sides and white feet and collar and 3/4 white face. I never lost a dog before and did not even think it would be probable that any body would steal a broken mutt dog that bites. My big mistake. I should have had her microchipped. When she comes home she will be photographed like mug shots, micro chipped and lo jacked
The following was posted on Craig's List and is one of many similar posts that serves no purpose other than to torment the owners of every male Pomeranian still missing and being searched for from Katrina.
If you have any idea who "adopted" this dog, please post a comment here (anonymously or otherwise) or contact katrinapoms@yahoo.com. Thank you!
8-7-06 I wanted to alert you that your dog is alive and doing well in Rhode Island. My friend and her family adopted him in September last year. While she understands that he was your pet, due to the fact that she has had him in her home with her children for almost a year, she is unable to give him up at this time. She wants you to know that he is well taken care of and she's sorry - but at this time she can't give him up. Last known Address: New Orleans
Authorities are seeking the public’s help finding Freddie Lee Gray Jr., who has been charged with animal cruelty in a nine-count arrest warrant in connection with a puppy found caged and starving in the suspect’s former Wilton home.
The 6-month-old brindle pit bull -- little more than mangy skin and bones -- was euthanized late Friday due to the severity of its medical problems and his pain and suffering, said Delaware SPCA Executive Director John E. Caldwell.
Gray apparently vacated his Wedgefield Court home near the U.S. 13-40 split and moved out everything but the dog, he said.
He may have been left for weeks, and had months-old medical problems, said veterinary technician Sarah Van Aken.
A worker changing locks Tuesday night in the otherwise empty house found the puppy in a cage in a second-floor bedroom, Caldwell said.
The worker called the Delaware SPCA, he said. The nonprofit pet adoption agency also investigates cruelty cases statewide.
The arrest warrant obtained by Delaware SPCA Cruelty Investigator John Saville charges 42-year-old Gray with three counts of cruel neglect for dog abandonment, failure to provide sanitary conditions and failure to provide proper care to prevent the dog’s poor condition and to provide veterinary care for treatment of that condition.
Under state law, animal cruelty is punishable by fines up to $5,000 and five years in prison.
“This is one of the worst cases of cruelty I’ve ever seen,” said Caldwell, who has been the Delaware SPCA’s director for more than 25 years. “He was in extremely critical condition.”
“His gums were pale and he wasn’t moving,” Van Aken said.
He appeared to have survived by eating feces and licking his decaying flesh and scabs, she said.
His initial crisis care topped $1,000 for antibiotics, fluids, liquid nutrition, mite treatment, necrotic flesh removal and pain medication, Caldwell said.
By Thursday, he could walk a little. Van Aken said he drank a little water, but still couldn’t eat.
His joints were swollen, inflamed and misshapen, a condition attributed to calcium deficiency from too little food or poor diet.
He suffered severe malnourishment, dehydration, anemia and mange from a mite infestation, Caldwell said. He weight 22 pounds “when ideal weight would be about 40,” he said.
At that point, the puppy was expected to survive with months of treatment and recovery.
“He’s a sweetheart,” Van Aken said, holding him Thursday. He welcomed petting and during one treatment, she said, “He just curled up in my lap.”
But Friday, “he just went downhill fast,” Caldwell said; his temperature spiked, he grew lethargic and was rushed for emergency veterinary care.
His condition was so poor, the wounds so deep, his pain and suffering so severe, the veterinarian recommended euthanasia for humane reasons, Caldwell said, and by SPCA policy, they were obligated to comply.
Shortly after noon Tuesday, Jenna LaFuentes, who lost her New Orleans home in Hurricane Katrina, was reunited with her cat Elsa, who has been known as Jill at the Dogs & Cats Forever shelter in Port St. Lucie for the past 1 1/2 years.
When she saw the cat in its carrier at the Delta Air Lines counter in OrlandoInternationalAirport, LaFuentes broke into tears.
"It was wonderful," Andrea Nicholson, a volunteer at the no-kill shelter who helped reunite the pet and owner, said at the airport after the reunion. "At the shelter, Jill always ran from strangers; but not today. She acted like she wanted Jenna to pet her. Jenna is convinced that this is her cat, and we're convinced this is her cat."
Nicholson reported that LaFuentes peeked in the carrier and said to Elsa, "How are you, baby? I thought I'd never see you again."
Just before Katrina hit in August 2005, LaFuentes and her 11-year-old daughter, Destiny Taylor, fled their ground-floor apartment in St. Bernard's Parish and left the gray, tiger- striped Elsa in the care of neighbors upstairs.
But the rising water threatened the upstairs apartment, too; and the neighbors were forced to abandon their home and the cats.
After the storm, LaFuentes searched Web sites for animal shelters that took in animals left homeless by Katrina. In October, she saw a photo of "Jill" on the Dogs & Cats Forever site and was convinced it was Elsa.
Once shelter officials were convinced as well, the reunion was arranged thanks to an anonymous donor who paid LaFuentes' airfare from New Orleans to Orlando and back home.
Nicholson and Jay Apicella, the shelter director, drove Jill from Port St. Lucie to Orlando for the rendezvous.
Weather in New Orleans played one more trick Tuesday morning to keep LaFuentes from reuniting with her cat: Fog in The Big Easy delayed her Southwest Airlines flight to Orlando two hours.
The good news: Delta waived the $50 pet fee for the flight back to New Orleans.
Nicholson called the reunion "a storybook ending. I wish all the animals we find abandoned could have this happen to them. ... To see something like this makes us feel that we're doing some good."
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.
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:
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.
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.
Jessica picked up the starved, dehydraded little thing who was covered in sores but still wearing his blue collar, and took him to her mother's house. She decided that she was going to find this guy's owner and get him home.
Tiger was one of the many cats that Denise had helped search for/reunite beginning in 2005, so when Jessica sent her the photos, and told her that he was found in an empty lot just outside the Lexington subdivision, and wearing the blue collar, Denise knew that this must be Tiger and sent the photos to Lisa, Tiger's owner.
