Katrina pets reunited with families
Published: March 21, 2006
Girl, Sam and Nairobi didn’t just survive Hurricane Katrina.
Unlike thousands of pets that died or were separated from their owners forever, the Chihuahua and the two black cats were rescued, sheltered and soon will be returned home.
They were among two dozen pets taken to safety after Katrina ravaged New Orleans and the Gulf Coast last August by Rachael Croley and her mother, Connie, who both work as veterinary technicians at Oakland Veterinary Referral Services in Bloomfield Hills.
“If somebody had my dog, I hope they would be looking for me instead of deciding that they would keep it themselves,” Rachael Croley told The Oakland Press of Pontiac last week.
Jarred by media images of Katrina’s devastation, the Croleys and a family friend who is a veterinarian headed for Louisiana in a motor home in late September. They spent 10 days providing medical care for animals.
They returned to Michigan with Girl, 15 other dogs, Sam, Nairobi, four other cats, a parrot and an iguana.
Connie Croley put photos of the animals on Web sites such as Petfinder.com, where people can check for missing pets. Most of the owners who contacted her said they were no longer able to care for their pets and asked that they be adopted out.
Sam and Nairobi lived for months with Robyn Gawel. But they weren’t getting along with the other cats in Gawel’s home. The cats’ names were on vaccination papers tucked in the carrier in which rescuers brought them to the supermarket. Gawel typed their names into one of the pet Web sites and came up with a match: Renea Henry, who had to leave them behind when she left New Orleans before Katrina made landfall.
Three weeks later, Henry returned to her home. Henry checked local shelters for Sam and Nairobi without result. She later put information about the cats on pet Web sites. Henry heard this month from Croley, who planned to take the cats to Henry’s new home.
Croley’s thoughts then turned to Girl, whom she had chased down near the Louisiana Superdome. About two weeks ago, Croley found a notice for Girl online and contacted the person who posted it - a friend of James and Elaine Lee, who had been rescued by a boat and taken to the Superdome with their dog. When Elaine took Girl outside to go to the bathroom, an Army officer told her the dog would have to be tied up outside. After Elaine went back inside, the Chihuahua disappeared.
The Lees now live in a trailer near their ruined New Orleans house. They asked a friend to put information about Girl online. When they heard from Croley, “I don’t think the trailer was big enough for me to be jumping like I was,” Elaine Lee said.
Croley is trying to raise money so James Lee, 46, can fly to Michigan to get Girl. “It was like they found my kid again,” he said.
If you enjoyed this good news Subscribe to Good News Blog
If you like this, you'll love Good Animal News:
Share this
To share this simply copy and paste one of the below URL's: