Max: Lost in the system - Capital City Free Press

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Volume 5, Issue 12, December 2006

Max:
Lost in the system

Kristin Thomas
Washington Bureau Chief
Capital City Free Press

Like so many others living on the Gulf Coast, Glenda Smith originally planned on riding out Hurricane Katrina at home. The day before Katrina came ashore and with the weather rapidly deteriorating, the Smith family reevaluated the situation and decided against staying. All five members of the family cobbled together enough supplies for a few days away from home, packed their car and headed for Alabama.

As was the case so many times before, Glenda believed that once the hurricane had passed she could and would return home. Since there was no room left in the car and it would be difficult if not impossible to find a hotel (let alone a pet friendly one), Glenda was forced to leave her dogs, Zak and Max, behind. Her neighbors, who had decided to weather the storm at home, had agreed to keep watch over Glenda’s dogs in their absence. When Glenda left, both Max and Zak had identification tags affixed to their collars.

After eight hours of driving a route that should have taken about half that, Glenda’s family arrived in Mobile, Ala. - exhausted, hungry and rain-soaked. Luckily, the family was able to secure the last available hotel room at the Drury Inn.

Even though they were being cared for, Zak and Max were “rescued” from Glenda’s home and taken to Lamar Dixon, a Humane Society run staging area for pets that were rescued after Hurricane Katrina. Max’s collar had been removed and discarded on the living room floor of Glenda’s home.

As soon as the roads were passable and Glenda was able to travel, she drove down to collect her pets. Realizing that both pets had been removed from her home by the ASPCA, she went to Lamar Dixon in search of Max and Zak. Zak, a large mixed breed dog, was at Lamar Dixon when Glenda arrived.. Max, however, had vanished. Glenda was told to check back frequently, which she did, but Max never turned up.

Glenda knows Max was taken to Lamar Dixon in the aftermath of Katrina. He was photographed in his crate at Lamar Dixon while he awaited transport. While she was there, she even found his paperwork – discarded on the floor and wet from being in a puddle of water. Although Glenda has paper evidence that Max was at Lamar Dixon, she has been unable to obtain paperwork detailing where he was transported to.

According to Glenda, her repeated requests petitioning the Humane Society of the United States for information have gone unanswered and she has received no help from the institution that promised to reunite these owners with their lost pets.
Glenda started searching for Max as soon as was humanly possible and has been searching ever since. As the days go by and the refusals for information or even comment from those in charge of Lamar Dixon, her search becomes more frustrating.

Recently, Max’s brother Zak was diagnosed with an illness and his lifespan is now limited. It is Glenda’s goal to bring Max home and reunite him with Zak before Zak looses his battle, but her struggle against the Humane Society has only become more difficult as people continue to stonewall her efforts to gather the necessary information.

The website Glenda made for Max has been hacked and an attempt to crash the server where the site was housed was made. Randy Covey was the Humane Society representative responsible for all of the animals staged at Lamar Dixon and was in charge of the way this staging area was run. Covey is also one man who could potentially help Glenda, yet repeated requests to his office for such aid have gone unanswered.

Glenda says that she has also repeatedly contacted Wayne Pacelle, President and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), in an effort to solicit his aid - to no avail. According to Glenda, Pacelle, who visited Lamar Dixon at least once, was photographed at Lamar Dixon during the time Max and Zak were staying at the shelter and was even pictured loading animals on a chartered plane. From the information Glenda has been able to obtain from various volunteers, she believes this could be the very same flight that took Max.

More than a year after Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast region and in her efforts to locate Max, Glenda has almost exhausted all options left to her. Much like all of the stories featured in this section, she is in desperate need of community support and help. She also believes that she will require the help of a litigator to force the HSUS to talk with her or turn over any information related to her dog.

There is something our readers can do. Public outrage seems to be an increasingly effective tool and politely, writing and calling both Randy Covey and Wayne Pacelle on Glenda’s behalf would add much needed pressure. Likewise, any litigator interested in helping Glenda maneuver the court system in an effort to obtain records related to the disappearance of Max from the HSUS can contact the author of this article: Kthomas@capcityfreepress.com or Glenda directly at glenda.smith@cox.net.
Max’s description: Max is a 7-year-old male Jack Russell Terrier. Although he was intact at the time, all animals that went through the HSUS system were fixed and has most likely suffered the same fate. His coloring is white and brown with a brown face and ears. A thin, white line runs down center of his face, and a patch of white is on his upper left muzzle. He has a half brown saddle on the right shoulder, a full brown saddle mid-back, large brown spot on his butt and a tail colored white and has been cropped. His legs are short and coat is slick.

For more information, please visit the following websites: http://www.myspace.com/helpbringmaxhome
http://www.lostkatrinapets.com/maxjrt/
index.html http://lostkatrinadog.mosaicglobe.com/
page/1643

If you know Max’s whereabouts or if you have information that might help reunite Glenda and Max, please contact the author of this article at Kthomas@capcityfreepress.com or Glenda at glenda.smith@cox.net.