Battle over Hurricane Katrina dog's custody

We have a case just like this going on here, it's all over the local news and the local humane society is getting sued. They're supposed to give the dog back to the original owner.
Honestly ... I don't think this should happen! I may make somebody mad by saying this and this is just my opinion (and yes I've been lucky enough and never had to go through something as dramatic as a hurricane) but this was not a Tornado or bad unpredictable thunderstorm. Everybody KNEW that this was coming. I would NEVER under any circumstances leave Joey behind. If you have an animal you are completely 100% responsible for it's well-being. If you can't step up to the plate and make sure that your pet is taken care of (in this case bring it with you!) the pet may be better off with somebody else ...

We adopted Odin from a shelter 4 months ago. He came in as a stray, was in the shelter for 5 days before he was adoptable (as they temperment tested him and tried to find his family), and then it was about 2 weeks before we picked him up. After we brought him home, we received two phone calls from the area we picked him up in (about 2-3 hours from us). They didn't leave messages. But when I saw the missed call, my heart dropped. I thought "what if this is his family trying to find him." I had no idea what I would have done. Of course, I'd be devastated to lose a pet and would want them back, but at that point, Odin was our little boy and I don't think I could've given him up. Luckily, we never had to deal with that. But what are you supposed to do in a situation like that?

Some family were even seperated, mothers from childen and such. If people could be lost this easy it would be just as easy for pets to get seperated. I'm shure the family wishes they could have taken the dog with them. There were buses that took people out of places like that and did not allow pets to ride in the busses. Some families had no choice but to leave ther pets behind.

I think the mother should be glad that her dog found a safe home. It could have been killed, starved or anything just as bad. Now that she is rebuilding I don't really see how it's possible to also care for the dog, or maybe they are at the point where they are ready to have a dog back in their life. I'm not going to choose sides or even try to say who's right or wrong but it's just sad this kind of thing happens.

Sorry if I sound harsh but if the lady has money for an attorney to try to reclaim the dog than she has the money to go up there and retrieve the dog.  If she is not willing to make that little of a sacrifice so that the adoptive family can see how they interact and be assured Rusty is going home to a loving family who can see to his needs the she doesn't need that dog.  IF she has money for an attorney then she has money to adopt another one from a kill-shelter locally and two lives would have been saved by the unfortunate turn of events.  [sm=2cents.gif]

Very sad situation. 

I agree, Xebby. That was such a devastating situation. Even though it was predicted in advance, they didn't know how bad everything was going to get. And by the time a lot of people realized it, it was too late to get out of the city. People were stranded without food or water for days. When the rescue teams came by in boats, they wouldn't allow pets on board. The buses transporting people out of town wouldn't allow pets. I've heard stories of people who left their pets with a bag of food thinking they'd get back to them in just a couple of days. Months later, they are trying to find their pets.
 
It's hard to say in this situation if the dog belongs with the original owner or in the new home. I would have a hard time giving up my new family pet, but losing a pet (along with the rest of your belongings) would be equally difficult.

I did go through the evacuation of Hurricane Rita. My animals were packed in the  car with me. 1 cat and a dog in one car and another cat and dog in  the other car.  Cats were in their crates and the dogs were in the seats.  we had their food  and water for them.  I know that they could not take animals on the buses but some people would not leave without their animals.  Also they knew it was coming and should have evacuated, taking their animals.  Since she  is rebuilding, I don't think this is the time to reclaim the dog. Alot of the Katrina evacuees come to Houston and I met alot of them that came with their dogs and cats.  Yes, I would want my dog back. However, I would not have left without my dog.  At one point, they were rescueing people  and their animals , if the animals were in crates. 

DHs family went to Houston and we decided to stay here with my family. 

The night of the storm at 4am the power went out and did not return for 24 days.  For the first two weeks we had the military bringing us food, water, and ice to our house and for the remaining time we had to go to one of their stations and pick it up.  The first gas station opened about 18 days after the storm and was THE ONLY thing open from here to Baton Rouge and to get gas meant waiting in line for at least 6 hours... Some people slept in their car for a day and a half waiting in the line for a new gas truck to refill the tanks.... pushing their cars to it.  Police were stationed there to stop the insanity and fights over gas going on.  They were wiped bare of any and all food.  If you drove for two hours you may find a gas station but the shelves were bare, it was the most amazing thing Ive ever seen. 

Had we needed to be rescued and they wouldnt have taken Kayla I swear with everything in me I would have said fine leave us here, DH said the same.. so the both of us completely agreed on that we would have just stayed there with her for better or worse. 

All that being said - we should have evacuated. Yes.  But, we had no idea of what was coming.  The main reason I think we should have gone somehwere else even for those last 3 weeks with no power was for vet care.

If we had an emergency with the dog we were helpless... same with us for medical care.  There were no phones, no cell hones, NOTHING.  We are in St. Tammany Parish and were the last to have communication resored.  All we had from that night at 4am was an AM radio with one station covering the hurricane and all they really talked about was the superdome.

I dont know whos got the right to keep that dog... we didnt know what was coming and after it did a whole lot was out of our hands.  BUT... its been almost a year and to just now be locating the dog seems like too long, then again, imagine how hard it must have been to locate it.  I think it depends on WHY she left the dog.  All too many people left their animals, yeah thinking they would be right back.. .but the logic in insane.  If its not safe for you, so your leaving... but the dog will be fine and well be right back... then why are you leaving?  Crazy. 

Just want to add while Im rambling my head off... the gulf temperatures are in the 90s already... anything enetering there is going to supercharge. 

I posted this already but had this tree fallen in the opposite direction it would have went right through our bedroom.  We got VERY lucky.  Our roof was leaking the whole time though after a bunch of loud bangs kept hitting it.  The neighbors fence came off and broke one of our windows.  Another tree in our front yard smashed the neighbors car.  Crazy stuff.

We saw little tornados go through the yard.  Walking around after it was over and seeing the destruction was unbelievable.  Unbelievable.

Interesting that I haven't seen this story, as i'm pretty close to Doylestown. **** rich people in Doylestown. I doubt the other lady has the money to hire a lawyer, but I wouldn't doubt that the lady who has the dog now does have the money. 

I read that 80% of Katrina dogs have heartworm.  I wonder if this dog has heartworm.  I think this statistic shows that A) people can't afford to vet their pets B) they are ignorant about heartworm.
 
So, if the dog had heartworm and was not nuetered, I'd say the original owner was a negligent owner.  Maybe not, since the dog had tags.
 
This dog was only with the first family 1 year and almost 1 year at the second's.  If I were the original owner, I'd make the trip and see if the dog even came to me.  If the dog is overjoyed, then yes, He should go back home. If the dog shows no interest or fear and wants to be with the adopters , then they should get him. Let the dog decide.  

i dont think that it was unreasonable that ms. welsh asked ms. combs to personally come to pick up the dog. while ms. combs may not be able to afford a plane ticket, the drive from new orleans to pennsylvania would not be an unreasonable distance. i would not want to turn the dog over to just anyone she could coax into going by the welsh house.[sm=2cents.gif]

To be fair... a lot of those dogs were unable to get their heartwrom meds... which is monthly.  So a ton of them could have been due soon and not been able to get it.  With all the standing water.. Im not surprised they had a lot of heartworm cases.

I actually just saw that there are multiple cases like this going on.