Bandit and Malvin Reunited...Life is Good

See photos of Malvin and Bandit at home earlier tonight here.

Please please help find this 14 year old cat...her owner loves her so much!

This is Mittens.

She is a 14 year-old spayed gray and white tabby. She has a bobtail, and steel blue/gray eyes, gray tiger striped legs with white feet and a white belly. Her facial markings are very soft, more like a lynx point siamese than a tabby.

Mittens was picked up at the Napoleon and St. Charles evacuation site, where Martha, her owner, was forced to leave her. She was then taken to Lamar Dixon with owner contact information. She was in the same cat carrier as Whiskers who was located at Treasure Coast Humane in Florida in October and reunited.

Not a single shelter in the whole country claimed to have this cat. But she is out there somewhere. Someone took her home from Lamar Dixon.

PLEASE Help. Martha had Mittens for 13 years at the time of Katrina and misses her terribly. No questions asked, let's just get Mittens home.

Please cross-post to all cat people, vets, shelters, rescues, anywhere. No questions asked.

Please.

Calling All Angels

Click above. Turn up your volume. View on full screen.

STOP the insane rumor mill already. Please.

Being edited and updated.

Please check back.

How Could You?

Copyright © Jim Willis 2001, all rights reserved

When I was a puppy I entertained you with my antics and made you laugh. You called me your child and despite a number of chewed shoes and a couple of murdered throw pillows, I became your best friend. Whenever I was "bad," you'd shake your finger at me and ask "How could you?" - but then you'd relent and roll me over for a bellyrub.

My housetraining took a little longer than expected, because you were terribly busy, but we worked on that together. I remember those nights of nuzzling you in bed, listening to your confidences and secret dreams, and I believed that life could not be any more perfect. We went for long walks and runs in the park, car rides, stops for ice cream (I only got the cone because "ice cream is bad for dogs," you said), and I took long naps in the sun waiting for you to come home at the end of the day.

Gradually, you began spending more time at work and on your career, and more time searching for a human mate. I waited for you patiently, comforted you through heartbreaks and disappointments, never chided you about bad decisions, and romped with glee at your homecomings, and when you fell in love.

She, now your wife, is not a "dog person" - still I welcomed her into our home, tried to show her affection, and obeyed her. I was happy because you were happy. Then the human babies came along and I shared your excitement. I was fascinated by their pinkness, how they smelled, and I wanted to mother them, too. Only she and you worried that I might hurt them, and I spent most of my time banished to another room, or to a dog crate. Oh, how I wanted to love them, but I became a "prisoner of love."

As they began to grow, I became their friend. They clung to my fur and pulled themselves up on wobbly legs, poked fingers in my eyes, investigated my ears and gave me kisses on my nose. I loved everything about them, especially their touch - because your touch was now so infrequent - and I would have defended them with my life if need be.

I would sneak into their beds and listen to their worries and secret dreams. Together we waited for the sound of your car in the driveway. There had been a time, when others asked you if you had a dog, that you produced a photo of me from your wallet and told them stories about me. These past few years, you just answered "yes" and changed the subject. I had gone from being your dog to "just a dog," and you resented every expenditure on my behalf.

Now you have a new career opportunity in another city and you and they will be moving to an apartment that does not allow pets. You've made the right decision for your "family," but there was a time when I was your only family.

I was excited about the car ride until we arrived at the animal shelter. It smelled of dogs and cats, of fear, of hopelessness. You filled out the paperwork and said "I know you will find a good home for her." They shrugged and gave you a pained look. They understand the realities facing a middle-aged dog or cat, even one with "papers."

You had to pry your son's fingers loose from my collar as he screamed "No, Daddy! Please don't let them take my dog!" And I worried for him and what lessons you had just taught him about friendship and loyalty, about love and responsibility, and about respect for all life. You gave me a goodbye pat on the head, avoided my eyes, and politely refused to take my collar and leash with you. You had a deadline to meet and now I have one, too.

After you left, the two nice ladies said you probably knew about your upcoming move months ago and made no attempt to find me another good home. They shook their heads and asked "How could you?"

They are as attentive to us here in the shelter as their busy schedules allow. They feed us, of course, but I lost my appetite days ago. At first, whenever anyone passed my pen, I rushed to the front, hoping it was you - that you had changed your mind - that this was all a bad dream...or I hoped it would at least be someone who cared, anyone who might save me. When I realized I could not compete with the frolicking for attention of happy puppies, oblivious to their own fate, I retreated to a far corner and waited.

I heard her footsteps as she came for me at the end of the day and I padded along the aisle after her to a separate room. A blissfully quiet room. She placed me on the table, rubbed my ears and told me not to worry. My heart pounded in anticipation of what was to come, but there was also a sense of relief. The prisoner of love had run out of days. As is my nature, I was more concerned about her. The burden which she bears weighs heavily on her and I know that, the same way I knew your every mood.

She gently placed a tourniquet around my foreleg as a tear ran down her cheek. I licked her hand in the same way I used to comfort you so many years ago. She expertly slid the hypodermic needle into my vein. As I felt the sting and the cool liquid coursing through my body, I lay down sleepily, looked into her kind eyes and murmured "How could you?"

Perhaps because she understood my dogspeak, she said "I'm so sorry." She hugged me and hurriedly explained it was her job to make sure I went to a better place, where I wouldn't be ignored or abused or abandoned, or have to fend for myself - a place of love and light so very different from this earthly place. With my last bit of energy, I tried to convey to her with a thump of my tail that my "How could you?" was not meant for her. It was you, My Beloved Master, I was thinking of. I will think of you and wait for you forever.

May everyone in your life continue to show you so much loyalty.

Katrina play opens Sept. 2 in L.A.

I had the pleasure of getting to know Tim last fall, after he spent time volunteering with HSUS in the aftermath of Katrina. While at Lamar Dixon, he became involved with a family's search for their missing dog, and over the next few months, remained devoted to tracking down their dog, who is a major character in the play. Click on the title link for complete details.

A new play by Tim Maddock & Lotti Louise Pharriss

Directed by Emilie Beck

September 2 - 30, 2006
Fridays & Saturdays at 8 pm; Sundays at 3pm

The Lounge Theatre
6201 Santa Monica Blvd. in Hollywood

Reservations 818.786.5834 or visit Theatre Mania

Tickets $20 ($5 off if you bring a photo of your pet)
Discounts available for students and groups.

The story of a man and his dog, together again

HOLDING COURT

Thursday, August 17, 2006

By Lynne Jensen

On a broken chair with a big plywood seat, Henry H. Toney sits as a lumberyard watchman, surrounded by a few simple needs: menthol cigarettes, a cell phone and a bowl of dry cat food for his finicky but faithful dog, Chelsea. She guards her master from beneath the makeshift throne where he holds court, conversing with customers.

Toney, 81, has been working at Riverside Lumber Co., now in eastern New Orleans, for 47 years. He's as much a part of the family-owned business as brothers Rusty and Michael Hayden, who oversee the 86-year-old operation with cousin Bruce Hayden.

"I'm the black sheep of the family," Toney said, contrasting his skin color to the Haydens' and recalling decades of living on the lumberyard grounds, where the Hayden brothers and Toney's daughter, Anita, played side by side.

Michael and Rusty Hayden's father, Bobby, helped pay for child-care and then transportation to and from school for Anita, who was 3 when her mother died of cancer in 1968, Toney said.

"I said I'm going to keep my baby," Toney said. "And Mr. Bobby, he said we're going to help you raise your baby."

Toney, who for years drove the company delivery truck, helped to raise the Hayden boys, they said.

Summers away from school meant riding with Toney on deliveries and stopping for ice cream, Michael Hayden said. They'd stop for ice cream cones that cost 26 cents, he said. "Mr. Toney would bring the quarter and we'd bring the penny," he said.

"When I started working for the company, Rusty and Mike were sucking bottles and wearing diapers," Toney said. "And now they say I'm wearing diapers."

Toney, who described himself as "a country boy from Columbia, Mississippi," is someone "we all love," Rusty Hayden said. "I've been knowing him since I knew myself."

Michael Hayden described tearful days of worrying about Toney, who refused to leave his post at the lumberyard for Hurricane Katrina.

"My brother and I cried like babies," Hayden said. "We thought you were dead," he told Toney.

Rusty Hayden recalled a cell phone conversation with Toney as he and Chelsea rode out the flood that followed the storm. The call ended with a loud noise and Toney saying, "Oh my Lord," Rusty Hayden said.

A "big wave" temporarily knocked Toney and Chelsea from the stack of birch plywood where they had ridden out the flood for five days, Toney said. They'd been sharing soft drinks from cans that floated by.

It would be a few more days before the Haydens learned that Toney was rescued by boat, then plucked by helicopter and eventually taken to San Antonio.

Toney was rescued by George Laird, an area businessman who was picking up people by boat in the area when he heard Chelsea, a black Lab, barking.

Debris made it impossible for Laird to maneuver the boat inside the lumber yard. Toney said he struggled and made his way out, but Chelsea "wouldn't get off the plywood and come to me . . . She doesn't like George at all now because he took me away from her."

After spending some time with National Guard personnel, Chelsea wound up in Arizona. Thanks in part to her implanted microchip, she recently was reunited with Toney.

Together again, Toney and Chelsea spend days at the lumber yard entrance. Nights are spent at Anita's house while the lumberyard is being restocked and its buildings replaced.

"The rest of this stuff you can rebuild, but you can't get another Mr. Toney," Michael Hayden said.

"They said I got a home here as long as I live," Toney said about the Haydens. "I take care of the place as if it was mine."

Chedder Homecoming Video

Even though Chedder was one of the dogs I helped to reunite a long time ago, I just saw the full video again of his homecoming,and it made me remember why I have been doing this. Thanks again to Scot Haisley at WARL for fighting with us, rather than against us,to get Chedder back to Renee and her son. This is the original post about Chedder/Chat.

Click here to see the video of Chedder's homecoming.

Rescued: Saving Animals from Disaster Available Aug. 28th

From Publishers Weekly
In this mix of heartrending personal stories and practical information, the Andersons (Angel Animals) explore why, out of 16,000 animals rescued in Louisiana after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, only 3,000 were reunited with their families (many were adopted or taken into foster homes), and find the reasons in the loss of records, the chaotic conditions evacuees faced and euthanizing of unclaimed pets by some shelters. Directed to leave their pets behind when Katrina was bearing down and denied entry to Red Cross shelters with their animals, many residents waited out the storm at home rather than abandon their pets. The authors focus on three major organizations (the ASPCA, the American Humane Association and the Humane Society of the U.S.) that, buttressed by volunteers from all over the country, played a key role in saving animal lives. Believing that domesticated pets are family members and that by helping them one is also helping people, the Andersons detail what has been learned from Katrina and provide instructions for readers in the event that they face an evacuation. The authors stress that owners must take primar responsibility for their pets and that rescue volunteers should be properly
trained. The Andersons can be saccharine, but their advice is well taken. 16
pages of color photos. (Sept.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed
Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Book Description
The inspiration for Rescued was the tragic situation with pets during the Katrina disaster — thousands refusing to leave without their pets, and many animals dying due to official indifference to these “disposable” creatures. Extensively trained in animal rescues, Allen and Linda Anderson interviewed hundreds of volunteers, hurricane survivors, and government officials for this book. Rescued offers both hope and practical suggestions, as well as the latest information on official policy and how to help in future catastrophes. It goes beyond the recent tragedies to talk about the various rescue and sanctuary operations, what volunteers and staff do, and how to help. Using a dramatic structure and photos, the book presents the before, during, and after journeys of people separated from their animals. Rescued puts attention on an unheralded world of animal shelters, organizations, and brave individuals who made a difference during the largest animal disaster in American history.

Why does this dog look so sad?

Probably because he is stuck living with Cruella de Ville.

This male yellow lab mix (PF63333) is one more dog separated from his owners because someone decided to play God. The person who rescued and/or adopted him obviously knows that he belongs to someone else and yet has made no effort to find the owner(s). Anyone can see in this dog's eyes that he is sad. He's probably thinking about the people he loves.

This is what is written in the description on Petfinder:
This pet was rescued from the disaster area, however contact and location information are not available. This pet is in the database to provide closure so that, if at some later date it is identified by its original owner, they will know it was rescued and cared for. He is happy, healthy, and loved in his new surroundings. This pet is no longer being tracked.

Problem is that the dog was never tracked. This Petfinder Found record was posted on August 11, 2006 - almost a year after Katrina. And the email address that Cruella provided in the Petfinder record - to make sure that his owner(s) have no way to ever contact her - is noemail@given.com. I guess Cruella, like so many of the evacuees, also didn't have a computer or internet access all year.

Sheriff Eddie "Big Bubba" Cathey awaits his bigger and better gas chamber

Here are some of the comments from residents of NC posted along with the 3000+ signatures on the petition against this gas chamber. Read and sign the petition here.

(my original post follows the comments)

I knew a guy once who had been inside a vintage gas chamber somewhere over in East Germany. He said that the claw marks in stone made from human fingernails and bone while trying to escape from excruciating pain was a true testament to the evolution of human compassion. Calling an animal processing facility that uses a gas chamber to cheaply, yet painfully, eliminate its unwanted numbers a shelter is like calling Hitler's concentration camps refugee sanctuaries. I have a couple other ideas Union County can use to promote its growth into the 18th century. Possibly juvenile delinquents sentenced to community service hours by the courts can take on the responsibility of the euthanization of these animals by simply using a hammer or other blunt object. That should save the county a few more bucks. Maybe the county should institute MANDATORY I. Q. testing for all legal adults in Union County, and any with an I. Q. less than 65 are immediately processed to a human spay and neuter clinic to help keep unwanted human population down. As I sit here with my rescued black lab mix nudging me with a toy she wants to play with, I can only feel sorry for those individuals who feel that this is a humane and acceptable manner with which to handle animal population. It is merely the cheap and lazy solution. No wonder so many people hate americans. I'm going to go play with my dog now. I hope all of you other animal lovers have a great day!

I am a volunteer at the local SPCA shelter and I am speechless. I cannot believe that these types of people are in charge of our country. I am in tears just thinking about the dogs and cats that are dying and don't need to be. Can you not hear their screams? How can you sleep at night? DO NOT BUILD A GAS CHAMBER!!! These are innocent animals. They didn't ask to be born, what did they do that deserves death?

Please don't spend my tax dollars on a Gas Chamber

As I sit here typing with my dogs head in my lap, I cannot stress enough the importance of these terrific creatures of ours called ANIMALS! They cannot speak up so we will do it for them!!

Please remember that these are beautiful, innocent little creatures that deserve a better way. Take compassion on these animals that bring joy to people's lives, for some they are like children.

In the year 2006, how could you even think of a gas chamber, it maybe cheaper than IV injections but money isn't everything...these animals SHOULD not have to pay for humans stupidity, just because we don't spay and neuter. WE are 20 yrs behind some states in their treatment of these animals> its past time we thought of these animals before they are birthed......where is the luxury taxes to pay for spay-neuter programs........

If the gas chamber is not humane enough for rapists and murderers, why would you use it on innocent animals who have done nothing wrong? Please reconsider.

PLEASE STOP THIS HIDEOUS PRACTICE!

It is bad enough that it is society's fault these animals are even in the situation of being in shelters. We can at least allow them to have dignity in death since we are the cause of it. I think it is time we look at the reasons these animals are in the shelters and solve that. These animlas deserve to have a peaceful death. We give humans that right and I know there are plenty that we have put to death with lethal injection that have committed crimes beyond belief. What crimes have many of these animals committed that are in the shelters? It is really our crimes that they are being punished for! Give them the chance to have a more peaceful end of life.

As a Union County resident I hate to think that my tax dollars are going towards an inhumane method of putting animals to death! If we have to kill them let's at least show as much compasion as possible.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sheriff Eddie Cathey of Union County, NC seems a little too happy about the arrival of his new gas chamber for the animal shelter - larger than the current one he demonstrated for the TV cameras.

I especially like his it's my way or the highway style. Real nice.

Here are some of Sheriff Eddie's quotes:

In this new, pro-active role, we, as the members of the Sheriff's Office, will work diligently to improve the quality of life for the citizens of Union County.
hey, Sheriff Eddie, why not improve the quality of life for the animals as well as quality of death by allowing them at least the more humane death from lethal injection?

We seek to be more accountable by allowing more public input into the ways in which our services are planned and provided.
Sure doesn't look like you want any public input on this. How you euthanize the unwanted pets of Union County is a servce you plan and provide, and everyone within Union County and around the country is objecting to your new gas chamber. I'd say that counts as public input.

We seek to be more resourceful, imaginative, and aggressive in our approach to crime.
Why not start with being more resourceful and imaginative about how your euthanize your unwanted animals?

To the people of Union County: keep an eye on your pets; repair your fences, keep your pets' tags on them and up to date. And if you find a stray, take it in and try to find the owner, or take it anywhere but here.

To think that an animal shelter would actually replace an old gas chamber with a newer and bigger model in the year 2006 is beyond belief.

Brandy & the Pets Alive Sanctuary in NY

Just an Old Golden Retriever
By Sara Whalen

I grew up in your average middle-class Jewish home where pets were not available. I never had a pet. There was a lot of plastic on the furniture. Basically, pets were considered dirty, unwanted things. Animals were not part of my experience, so I had not conscience about them.

I got married in 1968, and in 1970 I had a baby. When he was 18 months old, we were living in a bungalow colony in upstate New York while waiting for our home to be built. An elderly woman and her old golden retriever lived next door. I used to see them together when the woman was outside gardening. My son liked the dog, and she was a friendly animal, but that was all as far as I was concerned.

When the woman died, her relatives came up, and they emptied her house of her treasures, her clothing, anything they thought of value. They contacted a real estate agent who put out a For Sale sign on her property. Then they locked the dog out and drove away.

Because I’d grown up with no conscience about animals, it didn’t even cross my mind to say, "Wait a minute. Someone should be taking care of this dog" or "who is going to be responsible for her?" It just didn’t. I was not responsible for the dog.

Some of the neighbors mentioned that they’d feed her occasionally, but the dog mostly stayed near the house where she’d lived, where her owner had died. When the dog would come over to play with my son, Adam, he would feed her cookies; once in a while I would give her some leftovers.

One afternoon I went to get Adam, who’d been outside playing in our yard—a safe, level grassy area—and he was gone. Just gone. I was frantic. I looked for him, and then neighbors helped me look for him. We called the police. For three hours the police looked for him, then they called the state police. The state police brought in helicopters. My husband rushed home form the city. I was hysterical. We could not find Adam. We didn’t know if he’d been abducted. We didn’t know if he was alive. We could not find him.

The search had been going on for six hours when a neighbor, who’d just returned home, said, "Where’s Brandy?"

Brandy? The dog? Why was he asking about the dog?

Someone else said, "Maybe he’s with Adam."

What did I know about animals? I said, "Why would she be with Adam? What does that mean?"

One of the troopers recalled that he’d heard a dog barking deep in the woods when they were doing the foot search. And suddenly everybody started to yell "Brandy!" including me.

We heard faint barking and followed the sound.

We found my 18-month-old son, standing up, fast asleep, pressed against the trunk of a tree. Brandy was holding him there with one shoulder. One of her legs was hanging over a 35-foot drop to a stream below.

She must have followed Adam when he wandered off, just as a dog will with a child, and she saw danger. She was a better mother than I; she’d pushed him out of harm’s way – and held him there. This was an old dog. Adam was an 18-month-old child. He struggled, I’m sure, but she’d held him there for all those hours. When I picked him up, she collapsed.

As the trooper carried my son back home, I, sobbing with relief, carried Brandy. I knew in that instant that she was coming home with me, too. Brandy spent the rest of her life with us, and I loved her completely; she lived to be 17 years old.

From then on, I made it a point to learn everything I could about animals. My focus at the time was old golden retrievers. Obviously, I thought they were the smartest, the best, and there was nothing like them. I started the first golden retriever rescue and have had as many as 35 of them in the house at a time, and it mushroomed from there.

Because of Brandy, I have a calling. I have a reason to get up in the morning. Because of Brandy, thousands of unwanted animals have been given safe lives. I can’t save them all, but I can make a difference. We now have 300 animals—all kinds, including birds and pot-bellied pigs—and are a well-recognized humane animal sanctuary. We take the animals that other shelters won’t take—the ones my mother would have said were dirty; the old ones who are incontinent, the blind, the ugly ones; they’re all beautiful to me. So many organizations feel it’s easier to euthanize these animals. I don’t agree. How could I? If someone had put an abandoned 11-year-old golden retriever to sleep 29 years ago, I would not have a child. I wouldn’t have a son who is the light of my life.

Pets Alive is a life-affirming memorial to Brandy.

Click on the title link above or the permanant link to the right for more information or to make a donation.

REUNION: The OTHER dog from Doylestown arrives in New Orleans

Click on the above link or here to see a short video clip of Rose arriving in New Orleans yesterday and reuniting Mojo with his family.

Click here to read a local (PA) newspaper story.

Click here to see Rose, her son, a family friend, and Mojo take off for New Orleans.

Thanks again Rose for all you did - have a safe drive back home.

Funny stuff here (not for the easily offended)

and just up the road from Doylestown....

By JOHN ANASTASI
The Intelligencer

New Orleans' Earle Bryant III is suing a Montgomery County kennel for allowing a local resident to adopt a German shepherd that Bryant left behind when he evacuated his home to escape from Hurricane Katrina last summer.

Ragnar, the dog, ended up at Molly's Country Kennels in Worcester in September after the shelter took on some animals that were being housed at a temporary rescue area in Louisiana.

The suit, filed this month in Montgomery County Court, claims Molly's kennel did not give Bryant enough time to claim the animal before allowing someone to adopt it. He has been trying to get the 2-year-old dog back since January.

“The fact is, I'm very, very close to my animals, and I see them as part of the family,” Bryant said last week. “I won't give up. I'm disgusted. This really makes me upset. I can't even express how angry this has made me.”

His is the latest case of a pet owner from the Gulf Coast trying to reclaim a dog that made its way to the Philadelphia suburbs following Hurricane Katrina.

Lynne and Joseph Welsh of Doylestown adopted a dog named Rocket whose owner has come forward and asked for her pet's return. The Welshes have said, through their attorney, that they don't want to return the dog to its owner unless she comes to Pennsylvania.

A happier outcome has been reached by a New Orleans family and the Reith family of Doylestown Township. The Reiths have plans to return Mojo, a 9-year-old blond terrier-chow mix, to the McNeils of New Orleans later this week.

Bryant, who is now home in New Orleans, said the dog initially belonged to his mother, but he was taking care of it. When the hurricane hit in late August, Bryant packed up his belongings and loaded them and his own three dogs into his 1995 Chevrolet Blazer.

Bryant said there was simply no room for Ragnar, especially since one of the other dogs was very aggressive. So, he gave Ragnar plenty of food and water, attached tags bearing the owner's name and telephone number and left for Oklahoma.

“That I was unable to take him was a painful choice,” said Bryant, who got Ragnar at a Mississippi rescue agency. “He's not an aggressive dog. He's a very submissive, altered male. He's a pure-bred German shepherd who was very well taken care of.”

Bryant contacted Louisiana's Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the Humane Society of the United States to request that the dog be rescued and provided them with his cell phone number.

Once he returned to Louisiana in October, he tried to track the dog down with no luck. In December, Bryant contacted an animal rescue organization that helped him post a “lost” notice on www.petfinder.com.

On Dec., 31, an organization representative realized that Molly's Country Kennels had posted a notice about the dog on the same site in September but deactivated the posting in early October, the suit claims.

That notice indicated that all Katrina adoptions from Molly's would be final on Jan. 1, the suit said.

On Jan. 1, Bryant sent an e-mail to Molly's representatives to claim the dog and learned it had already been adopted. Molly's has refused to provide Bryant with the name, address and phone number of the person who adopted the dog.

“This is unacceptable if you ask me,” Bryant said of the pre-Jan. 1 adoption.

Colorado Springs attorney Mark Francis represented Molly's in discussions with Bryant's lawyer earlier this spring. Reached Friday, Francis said he has since advised Molly's officials to obtain local counsel.

A phone call to the kennel business for comment was not immediately returned.

Oh, look - here is a video of all the dogs arriving at Molly's Country Kennels!
Go to page 25 and then click on the video dated 10/18: Finding Homes for Stranded Pets

And here are dogs that were brought back to Last Chance Ranch in PA!

Story is also on MSNBC

ATTENTION: owners of Katrina Kitties

I've been in contact recently with a woman from Waveland who I first met in September, helping to locate her three dogs. She told me that she found the remains of one - a 17 year old Chow-Shepherd mix. She also found and was reunited with one of her cats, who tragically died six months later from heartworms. Heartworms are rare in cats, and cats are not usually tested. She had an autopsy done on her cat who was fine one minute and dead the next.

If your cat was rescued after Katrina, or if you adopted a Katrina kitty that had been wondering around for some time before being trapped, consult with your vet about having them checked for heartworms.

Videos and photos of Katrina dogs brought to PA

http://kyw.com/video/?id=16115@kyw.dayport.com

http://kyw.com/video/?id=16080@kyw.dayport.com

http://kyw.com/video/?id=15727@kyw.dayport.com

Here are most of the dogs brought to Mollys on this awesome Flickr Site
Be sure to click on both pages of photos.

PA dog trainer charged with animal cruelty

SHOHOLA - State police have charged a Birchwood Lakes woman with four misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty.

Pike County Humane Society Supervisor Barry Heim reported he answered a call from neighbors in Birchwood Lake on May 24. He found nine animals dead and three still living at the residence.

Danielle Assante, the homeowner, a professional trainer of show dogs is alleged to have left her home for three weeks, leaving the pets without food or water.

The dead animals were a five month-old Border Collie, three Staffordshire Bull Terriers, three cats, a rabbit, and a cockatiel.

Still alive but severely emaciated were three other dogs, two Rotweillers and a Sheltie Collie, which were taken to the animal shelter and are recovering. One of the surviving Rotweilers, which was just 59 pounds, is now back at 95 pounds.

Assante was interviewed by Trooper McCarthy at the Blooming Grove State Police barracks and arrested. She was charged with Animal Cruelty, a misdemeanor and four summary charges of neglect and unsanitary conditions as reported by Heim.

“She’ll get fined and serve minimal jail time. The state does not crack down hard enough on people like this,” said Heim.

Assante is scheduled to appear before Magistrate Steve McBride of District Court in Dingmans Ferry on August 8 for a preliminary hearing regarding the charges.

Sharon Gorski's open letter to the rescuers

Have you seen the movie "Eight Below?" If not you have to watch that movie, as it should explain something very important to you.

It sends a message to every single animal lover on this earth. We saw this same determination with the rescues who made their way down to ground zero, and with the rescuers that followed them.

In the very beginning when the small guys went past Lamar-Dixon, and said we can do better than them. We said we will work together to save the animals. We actually went our seperate ways, but we accomplished much. But the real reason you went down there, was because you wanted to save the pets and return them to their owners.

Yes, some did get back to their owners, but there are still a lot of them who did not, and you know what, a lot of their owners have now lost large chunk of their heart, and it is for them that I write this. Because when you lose a piece of your heart, you are never whole until you find that piece and return it to it's rightful place.

This is what we should ALL be working towards, to return those pets that were saved, brought to safety, and taken care of by their guardian angels, but they need to go home to the ones who are missing them, missing that piece of themselves, and their pet is the only thing that will help live thru the rest of this terrible ordeal.

You came together in December to help these people find their loved and lost pets, why can you not open your hearts, and once again help these people find their pets, you are the only hope they have, and most of you are shutting the doors in their faces. It has been almost one year, won't you consider another chance to help them find their pets.

I do not care what ya'll think of me, I am an animal lover, and I have compassion for all humans, and with those two virtues, I am rich, when in reality I am poor.

I lost my home and a couple of pets to a house fire a few years back, so I know the feeling that these pet owners go thru. I cannot get my pets they are gone forever, but these people they know these pets were rescued, and alive somewhere, that gives them hope.

I will not ceast and desist, I have nothing to sue for except my voice. And this voice will not quit until, you have at least tried one more time to help the pet owners of the pets you helped to rescue.

I am speaking to the founders of these rescues, prove to me and the rest of the world that you really are the animal lovers you say you are. Prove it to these owners. If you do not at least try, then we will know that you are not what you say you are, you are not animal lovers and you do not have human compassion.

Sharon Gorski
"Possecop"

Reward Offered for Abuser of Chihuahua

Severely Injured Chihuahua in Guarded Condition

Charlotte on day of rescue - July 27, 2006

Charlotte recovering - July 31, 2006

The Humane Society of Missouri is offering a $2,500 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or person(s) who severely abused a one-year-old, reddish brown, female Chihuahua.

When brought to Humane Society headquarters, the dog had a hard plastic zip tie tightly attached to her neck. Her head was grotesquely swollen to the size of a grapefruit and she was unable to swallow. The dog, staff have named Charlotte, also is very skinny.

A St. Louis city resident found the dog on her front porch and brought her to Humane Society of Missouri headquarters. Humane Society staff immediately transported the dog to the Animal Emergency Center where the zip tie was removed and emergency treatment administered. This morning the Chihuahua was brought back to the Humane Society of Missouri. Treatment will continue under the direction of Humane Society veterinarians.

Dr. Melinda Fleming, Assistant Director of the Humane Society’s Veterinary Clinics, says the dog is in guarded condition. “We are monitoring her closely and giving her time to stabilize before we perform further examinations and diagnostics. She is receiving medication and is now able to eat and drink in small amounts.”

Report information about this incident or report animal abuse: 314-647-4400
Make a donation to help care for Charlotte: 314-951-1542