Lost but still loved: Owners still looking for Katrina displaced pets

Volume 5, Issue 10, October 2006

Lost but still loved:
Owners still looking for Katrina displaced pets

(Your response goes here.)

Write a letter to the editor: Holler@capcityfreepress.com Just include your full name, and city/county, state and/or country from which you are writing. (Your email address will NOT be posted with your letter.)

Kristin M. Thomas
Senior Writer
Capital City Free Press

Over a year after the storm that ravaged the Gulf Coast came ashore, most of those affected by Hurricane Katrina are still feeling its wrath. They are slowly clearing the debris from what had been their lives, looking for lost loved ones and building back what had been taken away from them that fateful day in August 2005. It is a daunting task and one that will take years to recover from.

As an outpouring of support and aid flooded into the South from around our country, many who lost everything were evacuated then welcomed into communities throughout the nation. Family pets, lost in the chaos, were rescued and filtered through the ASPCA and humane societies. Every day, Americans opened their hearts and homes to these four legged friends, vowing to provide foster care sheltering and love to their furry guests.

Many of these family pets have been located and reunited with their Southern families. Hundreds, if not thousands. though, are still missing and their owners continue to look for them. But they don't have to be alone in their plight. We can help.

One group, Stealth Volunteers, has come to their aid and have located nearly 500 displaced animals, reuniting them with their original owners.

Their stories are heart-wrenching, and these feelings are compounded by the unhelpful, even detrimental actions of some shelters and their personnel. Reports of destroying Katrina animals to make room for the continuous flood of four-legged beasts in need of safe harbor, as well as an urgency to adopt displaced animals without any attempt to locate their original owners and even removing people charged with locating these lost pets from shelters by force have filtered in from humane societies all over the country. Some of these pets did have tags with contact information or a microchip implant were still "lost in the system" and located by independent volunteers after they had been adopted. Currently there are at least 20 such cases in litigation.

Before I close this column, I feel compelled to include at least a few of the cases that have been brought to my attention in hopes that someone among the Capital City Free Press audience recognizes an animal and contacts their owner.

Buster: Chow Chow, German Shepherd Dog Mix (http://disaster.petfinder.com/emergency/rescue/report
Detail.cgi?id=60144)

DESCRIPTION: Owner is still searching. Buster is neutered, has a little white spot on the neck and a little white on the feet. He has very short legs. Was not wearing a collar. When the water rose the dogs were moved upstairs to 1818 Desire. The owner returned home after Katrina and the dogs were not there. No posting indicated the dogs were picked up by rescue. Buster was at Lamar, ID LA1615, and is currently lost in the system.

OWNER'S STORY: She has five kids and was living in the 9th ward. She had three dogs which she would not leave. The National Guard found out they were hiding in the house, approached her front door and threatened to shoot her down in front of all her kids unless she left. She had no choice, so she grabbed a waterproof camera and took what she thought (and maybe was right) the last picture of her beloved Buster as she had to leave him on the porch.

Nemo: http://www.lostkatrinapets.com/nemo/index.html

Milo: http://www.lostkatrinapets.com/milo/index.html

Lucky: http://www.lostkatrinapets.com/lucky/index.html

Max: http://www.lostkatrinapets.com/maxjrt/index.html
and http://helpbringmaxhome.bravehost.com

Please take a moment to follow the links below. If you have seen any of these animals, please use the information provided to contact their owner:

http://lostdogsofkatrina.info

http://lostcatsofkatrina.info

http://disaster.petfinder.com/emergency/

Buster

Lucky

Max

Milo

Nemo