Katrina comes to our house
When my I was a young girl, living at home with the family, we had a wall of books in our living room. It was filled with encyclopedias, books of Mexican folk art, map books, dictionaries, and books like the letters of Vincent Van Gogh to his brother, Theo, and the Conquest of Mexico.
My brother, who was 6 years older than I, and very much my role model and guide to most things cultural, could frequently be found on the floor in front of the bookcase reading. He would open the encyclopedia looking for one thing, and end up reading the next 3 or 4 pages.
Well, about 3 weeks ago, I was looking at Craig’s list pet section in search of chickens when my eye wandered, much like my brother Chris’s eye used to, and I came across this heading: URGENT: homes needed for rescued Katrina dogs. My curiosity got the better of me and I looked at the posting.
It stated that dogs were currently being rescued in Louisiana and brought to N. CA and were in need of either being adopted or fostered until they could be adopted. It also stated that the dogs being brought out were: lab puppies, beagles, Australian Shepards and several other kinds. Farmer Jeff and I have been idly talking about getting a yellow lab male somewhere down the road. So I called.
I talked to a very lovely woman named Natalie. She was, in turn, working with a woman that was funding the rescue of the dogs from a “kill shelter” in Lafayette, Louisiana, the last stop for many Hurricane dogs. That area is dealing with the fallout from 3 different hurricanes: Katrina, Rita and Wilma. Many of the dogs that were not rescued have now mated and are having puppies. These particular dogs that were coming out of LA were puppies when the hurricane hit.
The dogs were scheduled to be gassed on Monday, February 7th, but with the help of many different organizations and with the perseverance of Saskia Achilles of Marin County, the dogs were taken out of the kill shelter, put into a transport van and driven away. The first driver was a man that, with his own money, flew from Salt Lake City to Lafayette to drive the dogs to Las Vegas, Nevada. Natalie flew from N. CA to Las Vegas and drove them to Saskia’s property in Marin. It took Natalie 2 days to drive because she stopped every 2 hours and let all of the pups out to stretch and pee! That would take 1 ½ hours!
Natalie called me when she got back to town to let me know the dogs had arrived, and that there was a little yellow lab puppy! She also told me that he most likely would need surgery as he had a birth defect. His leg has a defective bone: it isn’t the correct size for the bone it leans on and surgery is required. She also told me that there was a darling mink-brown dog that we HAD to look at!
The dogs arrived at Saskia’s on Saturday, were seen and vaccinated by Dr. Amy Allen, a vet that volunteered her time and money to the cause. We arranged with Saskia to go and see the dogs on Sunday. Farmer Jeff and I wanted to get a male dog and to see if they had a dog that a friend of ours would want, as they too were in the market for a pup!
We arrived at Saskia’s compound and I think Farmer Jeff was a bit surprised by the living conditions. I told him, just before we arrived, that it was a commune. I don’t think he understood what that meant. I explained that it was simply a place where people came together, purchased a piece of land together and owned all of the structures as a group, not individuals. The only commune I have been on was in Humboldt county, and those folks were basically poor. Well…Saskia’s place looked like it was built out of whatever could be found.
The dogs were up on the hillside next to her house. All kinds of dogs. The first one she brought to us was the little yellow lab puppy with the funky leg. We knew we were in trouble when we heard his name was “Big Mouth”!!! He was so full of energy but we knew that we would have vet bills ahead of us that we just couldn’t afford. Not with all of the other mouths we feed right now.
We looked next at a little male mixed breed of: Doberman pinscher or Rottweiler and something else, maybe German Shepard. He was a little darling. We ran through the reasons to get him or not get him and remembered that we once lost our home insurance because they thought our chocolate lab was a Rottweiler. Oh Dear. So we passed on him.
Next we saw the old beagle. BOW WOWWWWWING for the world to hear. Beagles do make cool dogs if they are the only dog, not if they are going to play second or third fiddle to any other dogs.
Then there were 2 SWEET female Australian Blue Heelers/Cattle dogs. SO SWEET, but we were looking for a male. NEXT…
The only dogs left to see were in Saskia imposed quarantine. When they left the kill shelter, they were seen by a vet that diagnosed them with an upper respiratory infection. I asked to look at them, still looking for the dog that Natalie had mentioned.
The first dog out of the carrier was….drum roll, please…OUR BOY!!! This little guy is a cutie!!! He is a mix of Australian cattle dog and Cattahoula aka Louisiana Leopard dog! He even has webbed feet! He is a little guy, just 29 pounds! Farmer Jeff and I immediately fell in love. We were goners!
Then we wanted to see who else was in the crates. Our pops a little beagle hound girl that just wants LOVE!!! She is in my lap, in Farmer Jeff’s lap, licking, bouncing and just so happy to be getting ANY attention/affection!
Then I get the sad puppy eyes…from FARMER JEFF!!! HON, he says, can’t we take them both home? She would be perfect for our friend with kids! Please HON???
Oh heavens, I can’t say no…and off we drive in the car with 2 pups. That car didn’t drive home, it floated home. We were all SO HAPPPY!!!
I promise to post the “getting to know you” pictures next!
My brother, who was 6 years older than I, and very much my role model and guide to most things cultural, could frequently be found on the floor in front of the bookcase reading. He would open the encyclopedia looking for one thing, and end up reading the next 3 or 4 pages.
Well, about 3 weeks ago, I was looking at Craig’s list pet section in search of chickens when my eye wandered, much like my brother Chris’s eye used to, and I came across this heading: URGENT: homes needed for rescued Katrina dogs. My curiosity got the better of me and I looked at the posting.
It stated that dogs were currently being rescued in Louisiana and brought to N. CA and were in need of either being adopted or fostered until they could be adopted. It also stated that the dogs being brought out were: lab puppies, beagles, Australian Shepards and several other kinds. Farmer Jeff and I have been idly talking about getting a yellow lab male somewhere down the road. So I called.
I talked to a very lovely woman named Natalie. She was, in turn, working with a woman that was funding the rescue of the dogs from a “kill shelter” in Lafayette, Louisiana, the last stop for many Hurricane dogs. That area is dealing with the fallout from 3 different hurricanes: Katrina, Rita and Wilma. Many of the dogs that were not rescued have now mated and are having puppies. These particular dogs that were coming out of LA were puppies when the hurricane hit.
The dogs were scheduled to be gassed on Monday, February 7th, but with the help of many different organizations and with the perseverance of Saskia Achilles of Marin County, the dogs were taken out of the kill shelter, put into a transport van and driven away. The first driver was a man that, with his own money, flew from Salt Lake City to Lafayette to drive the dogs to Las Vegas, Nevada. Natalie flew from N. CA to Las Vegas and drove them to Saskia’s property in Marin. It took Natalie 2 days to drive because she stopped every 2 hours and let all of the pups out to stretch and pee! That would take 1 ½ hours!
Natalie called me when she got back to town to let me know the dogs had arrived, and that there was a little yellow lab puppy! She also told me that he most likely would need surgery as he had a birth defect. His leg has a defective bone: it isn’t the correct size for the bone it leans on and surgery is required. She also told me that there was a darling mink-brown dog that we HAD to look at!
The dogs arrived at Saskia’s on Saturday, were seen and vaccinated by Dr. Amy Allen, a vet that volunteered her time and money to the cause. We arranged with Saskia to go and see the dogs on Sunday. Farmer Jeff and I wanted to get a male dog and to see if they had a dog that a friend of ours would want, as they too were in the market for a pup!We arrived at Saskia’s compound and I think Farmer Jeff was a bit surprised by the living conditions. I told him, just before we arrived, that it was a commune. I don’t think he understood what that meant. I explained that it was simply a place where people came together, purchased a piece of land together and owned all of the structures as a group, not individuals. The only commune I have been on was in Humboldt county, and those folks were basically poor. Well…Saskia’s place looked like it was built out of whatever could be found.
The dogs were up on the hillside next to her house. All kinds of dogs. The first one she brought to us was the little yellow lab puppy with the funky leg. We knew we were in trouble when we heard his name was “Big Mouth”!!! He was so full of energy but we knew that we would have vet bills ahead of us that we just couldn’t afford. Not with all of the other mouths we feed right now.
We looked next at a little male mixed breed of: Doberman pinscher or Rottweiler and something else, maybe German Shepard. He was a little darling. We ran through the reasons to get him or not get him and remembered that we once lost our home insurance because they thought our chocolate lab was a Rottweiler. Oh Dear. So we passed on him.
Next we saw the old beagle. BOW WOWWWWWING for the world to hear. Beagles do make cool dogs if they are the only dog, not if they are going to play second or third fiddle to any other dogs.
Then there were 2 SWEET female Australian Blue Heelers/Cattle dogs. SO SWEET, but we were looking for a male. NEXT…
The only dogs left to see were in Saskia imposed quarantine. When they left the kill shelter, they were seen by a vet that diagnosed them with an upper respiratory infection. I asked to look at them, still looking for the dog that Natalie had mentioned.
The first dog out of the carrier was….drum roll, please…OUR BOY!!! This little guy is a cutie!!! He is a mix of Australian cattle dog and Cattahoula aka Louisiana Leopard dog! He even has webbed feet! He is a little guy, just 29 pounds! Farmer Jeff and I immediately fell in love. We were goners!
Then we wanted to see who else was in the crates. Our pops a little beagle hound girl that just wants LOVE!!! She is in my lap, in Farmer Jeff’s lap, licking, bouncing and just so happy to be getting ANY attention/affection!
Then I get the sad puppy eyes…from FARMER JEFF!!! HON, he says, can’t we take them both home? She would be perfect for our friend with kids! Please HON???
Oh heavens, I can’t say no…and off we drive in the car with 2 pups. That car didn’t drive home, it floated home. We were all SO HAPPPY!!!
I promise to post the “getting to know you” pictures next!
posted by Chicken Mama at 11:20 PM
1 Comments:
Sure glad to see that someone has recognized the great contribution Saskia made to rescuing Katrina dogs. She is now trying to reach out to the overcrowded shelters of Los Angeles and save some of those poor, doomed dogs. Hopefully, the L.A. rescue community will embrace this Rescue Angel and make every effort to help her get these dogs to safety.
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