Katrina: A dog's life for pets
2005-09-06 15:21
New Orleans - Among the thousands of crushing moments from last week's deadly hurricane, one image brought the anguish home to many: a tearful little boy torn from his dog while being shuttled to safety.
It tugged at the heartstrings, prompting an outpouring from around the country of people on the hunt for both the boy and his dog Snowball in hopes of a reunion.
They've been scouring shelters, posting notes on the internet and making phone calls to track them down. One woman set up a website to help people pair up pets with their owners.
Little boy's anguish over pet
The boy was among the thousands who ended up sheltered at the Superdome after the hurricane. But when he went to board a bus to be evacuated to Houston, a police officer took the dog away. The boy cried out -"Snowball! Snowball!" - then vomited in distress. Authorities say they don't know where the boy or his family ended up.
Jean Jones from Florida, runs puppymillrescue.com and launched another site, katrinafoundpets.com, to help pair Snowball and other lost pets with their owners. She also started a reward fund - which hit $1 775 as of Monday - hoping money might persuade people to help out.
Ray of hope
Late Monday, there was a ray of hope. The United Animal Nations said Snowball was safe, citing news from the state veterinarian's office. However, the information could not be immediately verified.
If the boy and his dog are indeed safe, they have beaten long odds.
Many of the animals - dogs, cats, ferrets and birds - that police collected at the Superdome were herded into a stairwell until the human evacuation was complete. Of the 50 animals rescued from the Superdome on Sunday, not all of them survived.
In Texas, refugees unable to care for their dogs and cats are handing them over to animal shelters already crowded with animals evacuated before the hurricane.
Survival of the fittest
More than 600 displaced pets remain in Houston. Shelters try to arrange foster homes for pets, and many families have volunteered.
"I've been doing this type of work for 26 years and I've never seen this type of outpouring," said Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) of Texas president James Bias, who shuttled 30 cats in his van from Houston to Dallas last week.
In Mississippi, many pets were either left to fend for themselves in the powerful winds or trapped in flooding cages as owners fled. Many animals dog-paddled for hours until the mix of mud and sewage receded. Some animals survived, only to die after days without food and water.
Assistant director of the Humane Society, Julie Parks, said: "We had dogs that swam the entire time in 1.2m of water and survived," said Parks. "Even cats were in about 20cm to 23cm of water in the upper cages and they swam and survived, too. Just like everybody else, they're survivors."
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Pet Finder: http://www.petfinder.com
Pet site: http://katrinafoundpets.com
- AP