From the STEALTH VOLUNTEERS
Do you have photos of animals from Katrina in local shelters, on transport or being cared for in any temporary shelters in the disaster area?
We are interested in seeing these photos because there are still people looking for their pets. If no attempt was made to find the family of the animal -- the family may still have a legal right to their cat or dog. We are not looking for the owners of any animals, but do know of a few people who never gave up looking. They know their animals were rescued but never registered as found.
Send us the photo or the URL or check to see if any of the animals on these websites:
| Owners are still looking for the animals above | ||
|---|---|---|
I am particularly interested in any photos from plane transports, Pinellas shelter, Marin county shelter, PETA rescue or shelter, Noah's Wish or MuttShack. They all did good work and rescued a lot of animals. We are only trying here to get the animals all the way home. Thank you.
Did you lose your dog in Katrina? |
|
|---|---|
KATRINA PET RESCUE DOCUMENTARIES |
Donate to ARNO, Animal Rescue New Orleans They continue to feed and care for the many strays of New Orleans including the kittens and puppies born since Katrina. |
"There were sections of New Orleans that were very low income and wiped out when the levee broke. I think a lot of these rescue groups were making assumptions that these people weren't fit to care for these animals. And that's just wrong."
~Attorney Scott Hendler
"There is no such thing as a good-faith adoption when you have knowledge of the owner who can't be reached because he has no phone and his home is destroyed."
~Attorney Murray Silverstein"It's almost entirely a movement of animals from poor blacks to middle-class whites."
~Attorney Steven Wise
Here is the civil code governing our actions. Contact marilyn at marilynlitt . com for more information.
Louisiana's assistant attorney general Mimi Hunley has said that the state's missing animals are considered lost, not abandoned, property, and owners have three years to claim them under state law if the animal was posted as found. (If no good faith attempt was made to find the owners, the three years may not have started yet.)
Read my guest column on Eric's Dog Blog!
LOST CAUSE Jay Johnson, a Katrina evacuee and two tour Iraq vet wanted his microchipped, registered little dog returned. His house was gone and the SPCA of Texas (McKinney) would not return his beloved "Missy."
June 21, 2006: “New Orleans Judge Orders Return Of Iraq Veteran’s Katrina Dog” (Unfortunately the case stalled for lack of an attorney. It is probably too late for a pro-bono attorney to step up.)
- Here is a press release (More below under TX)
FL Legal hotshot takes on fight for the dogs
- Humane Society of Pinellas negligently turned over Master Tank the St. Bernard to Bondi and Nila, a shepherd mix, to Rhonda Rineker of Dunedin, who won't return them.
Ceily Trog, manager of St. Bernard Parish Animal Control, also disputes that the dog was dying from heartworms or was near death when brought to the shelter. "If he had been as close to death as Ms. Bondi claims, he would never have been placed on a transport that would take (on a good day) over 10 hours to get to the destination."
“I’m not a rich man; I’m just a carpenter,” he said. “But this isn’t about money; it’s about getting the dogs back. I’ll get the money somehow.”
The Pinellas Humane Society's former director signed a document agreeing to hold dogs rescued after Hurricane Katrina until Nov. 1 last year, society officials said Wednesday. Mr. Tank and Nila were "adopted" in October. - ed.
“Everyone knows the reason for the HS (Humane Society) of Pinellas County’s grandstanding,” . . . . “It is the donation dollars that rolled in off the backs of our residents’ suffering. The St. Bernard ‘rescued’ from St. Bernard Parish was the hottest property around. The whole of St. Bernard Parish had been wiped out; our residents lost everything and here there were several rescue groups fighting over Master Tank because they all knew how valuable he was to their bottom line. It was like the HS of Pinellas County won the lottery when they were the lucky ones to get Master Tank.” " . . .if the society really cared about the 4-year-old dogs which had been together since they were puppies, it would have kept them together “as rescue groups are required to do,” instead of separating them.
- Ceily Trog, Manager, St. Bernard Parish Animal ControlFlorida Women Who Adopted 2 Dogs Lost After Hurricane Agree To Give Them Back After Custody Dispute
Mad about Max or Pinellas Strikes Again
- ". . . , he found that the humane society was uncooperative, refusing to return phone calls or provide him with information about his dog. Then he found that Max had been adopted out to a new owner, despite the fact that he was microchipped and wearing St. Bernard Parish rabies tags.
According to Marino, he has spoken to Max’s new custodian, who has renamed him Joey, and she refused to return him, commenting that she fell “in love at first sight” and that the dog helped to fill a void inside of her." [--At LAST, an honest adopter! I don't think any of them believe their own high-minded blather about abuse. This is the real reason. The adopter is attached and does not want to return what is not theirs! Ed.]
IL Katrina Victim Wants Dog Back
- Salvati said original owners have prevailed in the cases he's read during his brief amount of research. Barry said it will be new territory for the courts.
- REPLEVIN In a motion to dismiss Marks’ civil lawsuit, the Humane Society says it no longer has possession of Goldie and argues it should not have to divulge who adopted the dog.
MD Carpetbagging is Expensive!
- IT IS FURTHER HEREBY ORDERED that you each shall be sanctioned in the sum of $1,000.00 per day for each day that you fail to comply with this order [to return Belinda Sumrall's animals]
NC “They have absolutely no right to keep the dog,” Reppy, the Duke professor, said of post-Katrina owners. “You can’t lose your ownership in an emergency when the state of mind is so clear. It’s just preposterous.”
NJ Katrina Great Dane Going Back to the Bayou
- Ending a tug-of -war over the pet, Judge Rosemarie Williams ruled the black Great Dane would go back to Annabelle Arguello of Louisiana , the original owner who was separated from her pet in the chaotic aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
Katrina Family Finally Reunited - Plenty of Help Needed for Golden Retriever to Get to Columbus
- "Two deputies showed up, which is all it took to have Gideon turned over to Taylor, the Ventura County sheriff’s office said."
- Janet Taylor, a Palos Verdes, Calif., resident who works with Stealth Volunteers, remembers the convoy of 40 dogs from Louisiana that arrived on Oct. 7 in Los Angeles. Gideon was among them and was turned over to A Dog’s Life Rescue for care.
Meanwhile, Taylor made it her mission to find his owners.Dogfight escalates over Katrina pet"
Sheila Combs, a New Orleans woman who lost virtually everything she owned in the hurricane, said she wants nothing more than to have Rocket, her 10-year-old son's chow-Finnish spitz mix, returned home.
TX Attorney receives injunctions for return of Katrina animals.
- Nationally known animal rights attorney Steven Wise announced today that Army First Lieutenant Japeth Johnson and New Orleans resident Linda Charles have both received preliminary injunctions requiring the return of their dogs from humane societies in Texas . These injunctions will be reviewed at hearings next month.
- “The people that have the dog now are sympathetic to this individual,” Bias said. “She's even said if it were reversed and she was trying to get her dog back, they would go through that same process but she also feels like her dog is at home now and being cared for and loved and she would like that to continue.” [ --They are sympathetic?? I am ashamed they are Texans. ed.]
- "There's a spot on Army Lt. Jay Johnson's bed that is heavy with emptiness, he says, and it can only be filled with his beloved Missy."
Read about the Culture War pitting insensitive adopters against bereft evacuees
"They think the dog would be better off with them because they're richer," said Kathleen P. Makowski, lawyer for Combs, a program manager at a nonprofit organization who lived in the Lakeview district of New Orleans.
Feb. 22, 2006: Katrina Kitty Cupcake goes Home
Stealth Volunteers helped make the match on the rabies tags.
Jan. 29, 2006: Jump(er) Into Mommy's Arms
"Wee started with a non-published number and no family name...but the tag did say "Jumper." Hours on the computer and dozens of calls to everyone in the State of Louisiana with the same last name (thank you Stealth volunteers), and we finally made the connection. There were perhaps a dozen Best Friends and Stealth volunteers who made this reunion possible. We dubbed ourselves "Jumper's aunties."
Dec. 06, 2005: Bill Sasser on Stealth
"Litt has developed a case management and audit system and oversees the efforts of more than 700 Stealth sleuths around the clock. Supported only by the determination of individual volunteers with no government oversight or big corporate budget, the group has perhaps the highest reunification rate among rescue organizations."
Our Friends
"Saul credits the hard work of 500 Stealth Volunteers for half of the reunions. These volunteers collect clues and then comb search engines and databases to try to track down owners."
"Thank you to all the dedicated Stealth and other wonderful volunteers from around the world that have helped our residents find their lost pets"
~Ceily Trogg, St. Bernard Parish Animal Control
State of Louisiana Civil Code
Art. 3419. Lost things
One who finds a corporeal movable that has been lost is bound to make a diligent effort to locate its owner or possessor and to return the thing to him.If a diligent effort is made and the owner is not found within three years, the finder acquires ownership.Acts 1982, No. 187, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1983.
Online Resources for Attorneys Researching Pet Law
"You shall not see your kinsman's ox or sheep driven astray without showing concern about it;
see to it that it is returned to your kinsman.
If this kinsman does not live near you, or you do not know who he may be,
take it to your own place and keep it with you until he claims it;
then give it back to him."
Deuteronomy 22: 1-2
Does this make you mad??
From a New Hampshire shelter director:
" . . . the sad fact of the matter is that the majority of the dogs that came out are better off up here"
To Our Great Sorrow, Stealth has Lost Two of Their Own
We will always Remember our Dear Friends Beth Petronis and Shannon Moore
Katrina Animal Rescue Books