Family Sues To Get Back Dog Lost In Katrina

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2sisters said:
http://www.wdsu.com/family/10034629/detail.html
I have a feeling she left the dog and evacuated, if the dog is that important she wouldn't have lost it to begin with.
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I don't think the family had a choice in leaving their dog behind. They were not allowed to take their pets with them. Families were being split up and during that time, and could not even find their children. People were moved to other states. A lot of the animals were rescued by organizations after the families were evacuated. How were they to know where their dog ended up. Apparently they do love their dog to take the time to track it down. The whole Katrina thing was a clusterf**k.
 
many motels allow animals and a whole lot of pepole evacuated with animals, all of my family and friends that evacuated took animals. Some left their animals to drown. i know of a person who put their dog in a cage on the kitchen counter, their house held 9 feet of water I don't need to tell you what happened to the poor dog, along with many other stories of people who out of laziness left animals. i don't know the whole story on this woman, like I said, it was just a feeling I had about her, i may be wrong.
 
SadieMae said:
I don't think the family had a choice in leaving their dog behind. They were not allowed to take their pets with them. Families were being split up and during that time, and could not even find their children. People were moved to other states. A lot of the animals were rescued by organizations after the families were evacuated. How were they to know where their dog ended up. Apparently they do love their dog to take the time to track it down. The whole Katrina thing was a clusterf**k.
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I think that the people who evacuated earlier on, voluntarilly, took the pets, but the people who were forced to evacuate at the final hour had no choice to leave their pets behind. I agree with you SadieMae.
 
How sad. I feel terrible for the people who had to evacuate and leave their pets behind. I also feel terrible for the family who took this dog in and gave him a home and I'm sure love him very much now.

I'm glad I'm not the judge who has to deal with this case. I'm not sure how I could tell either family they have to give the dog up.
 
Everyone can call bs on me and maybe I'm just screwed up from life experiences but I can tell you one thing. I would not have left my animals no matter what. Even without having been in that situation personally, I can tell you without a doubt I would not have left my animals behind. (I'm not condemning anyone's decision; I'm just telling my thoughts.) My animals have never done a wrong thing to me ever and that's more than I can say for 100% of the human race I've come into contact with.

Maybe the judge should tell them that they will cut the dog in half and give each family half? *thinking of the biblical story* Find out who truly wants the dog that way... it worked in the Bible. :D Maybe even just let the families have a showdown and see what owner the dog goes to, honestly.
 
I can't find the thread right now, but there was a story about a little boy who could not take his dog on the bus with him and had to leave it on a bridge. It was a cute white fluffy dog, and the child was heartbroken. I do think that the dog was rescued and reunited with the child. I remember seeing pictures of animals tied to the bridge, with food left behind for them. Animals were not allowed on the buses evacuating people. As I recall a lot of folks had to check shelters and organization web pages from all over the country to try to locate their pets.
 
Melisinde said:
Everyone can call bs on me and maybe I'm just screwed up from life experiences but I can tell you one thing. I would not have left my animals no matter what. Even without having been in that situation personally, I can tell you without a doubt I would not have left my animals behind. (I'm not condemning anyone's decision; I'm just telling my thoughts.) My animals have never done a wrong thing to me ever and that's more than I can say for 100% of the human race I've come into contact with.

Maybe the judge should tell them that they will cut the dog in half and give each family half? *thinking of the biblical story* Find out who truly wants the dog that way... it worked in the Bible. :D Maybe even just let the families have a showdown and see what owner the dog goes to, honestly.
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Maybe some of the people who stayed so long felt the same way. I know it would have to be a hopeless situation before I'd ever leave my dogs behind. They didn't want to leave their pets no matter what, which is why so many stayed...but they were forced to leave and leave their furbabies behind.

ETA: I have mine all microchipped in case they are lost to make it easy to find me if I can't find them.
 
I agree with SadieMae that we shouldn't assume the original owners of the dog did anything wrong in leaving it behind.

Nonetheless, the noble course here would be gratitude that the dog survived and found a good family. And then get another dog. (I know, I know. We treat our cat as if he were our human son. I'm not saying it would be easy; just that it's the right thing to do.)

Suing a family for being gracious enough to take in your homeless dog just stinks.
 
Nova said:
I agree with SadieMae that we shouldn't assume the original owners of the dog did anything wrong in leaving it behind.

Nonetheless, the noble course here would be gratitude that the dog survived and found a good family. And then get another dog. (I know, I know. We treat our cat as if he were our human son. I'm not saying it would be easy; just that it's the right thing to do.)

Suing a family for being gracious enough to take in your homeless dog just stinks.
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You're right. I think it is taking it a bit far to sue. What if they just let the dog decide? One family on one side of the room and the other on the opposite side, bring the dog in and whichever side he goes to first, gets the dog.
 
Melisinde said:
Everyone can call bs on me and maybe I'm just screwed up from life experiences but I can tell you one thing. I would not have left my animals no matter what. Even without having been in that situation personally, I can tell you without a doubt I would not have left my animals behind. (I'm not condemning anyone's decision; I'm just telling my thoughts.) My animals have never done a wrong thing to me ever and that's more than I can say for 100% of the human race I've come into contact with.

Maybe the judge should tell them that they will cut the dog in half and give each family half? *thinking of the biblical story* Find out who truly wants the dog that way... it worked in the Bible. :D Maybe even just let the families have a showdown and see what owner the dog goes to, honestly.
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many people barely escaped with their childrens lives let alone their pets. I believe you would chose saving your children above the lives of your pets. Saying no matter what when you havent been faced with those decisions is an impossibility.
 
SadieMae said:
You're right. I think it is taking it a bit far to sue. What if they just let the dog decide? One family on one side of the room and the other on the opposite side, bring the dog in and whichever side he goes to first, gets the dog.
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I am in the process of adopting a Chocolate Lab right now. Its owner was in the Reserves and has been called up and deployed to Iraq. It is costing me nearly $300 to adopt the animal with shots, spaying and heart worm testing. If this soldier comes home next year looking for his dog, it will break my heart but I wont deny him his pet.
 
tybee204 said:
many people barely escaped with their childrens lives let alone their pets. I believe you would chose saving your children above the lives of your pets. Saying no matter what when you havent been faced with those decisions is an impossibility.
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I'm not trying to argue but... I don't have kids and I will never have kids. Therefore, my pets = my kids. In my particular situation, I would not have left my pets. I didn't mean to come off that what they did was wrong. I'm just saying if it were me, it wouldn't have happened no matter what.
 
tybee204 said:
I am in the process of adopting a Chocolate Lab right now. Its owner was in the Reserves and has been called up and deployed to Iraq. It is costing me nearly $300 to adopt the animal with shots, spaying and heart worm testing. If this soldier comes home next year looking for his dog, it will break my heart but I wont deny him his pet.
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If the soldier voluntarily gave up his animal, I don't see it being right for him to want to reclaim it. $300!!! wow, that's a lot. I have to post pics of my new pound puppy. I got a new Harlequin Great Dane 14 mo old "puppy" (130#). My other 2 Danes, Sadie (5/20) and Kong (8/31), died 3 months of each other. They are posted on the Who's your Baby Pet thread. http://websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=33350
Apache cost me only $25.00, he was already neutered, I just had get his shots. I love that big boy to the end already!!!!
 
Melisinde said:
I'm not trying to argue but... I don't have kids and I will never have kids. Therefore, my pets = my kids. In my particular situation, I would not have left my pets. I didn't mean to come off that what they did was wrong. I'm just saying if it were me, it wouldn't have happened no matter what.
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Meli, I feel exactly the same way about my cat. But in fairness, neither one of us has actually been faced with the awful choice of surviving without our pets v. perishing with them.
 
Melisinde said:
Everyone can call bs on me and maybe I'm just screwed up from life experiences but I can tell you one thing. I would not have left my animals no matter what. Even without having been in that situation personally, I can tell you without a doubt I would not have left my animals behind. (I'm not condemning anyone's decision; I'm just telling my thoughts.) My animals have never done a wrong thing to me ever and that's more than I can say for 100% of the human race I've come into contact with.

Maybe the judge should tell them that they will cut the dog in half and give each family half? *thinking of the biblical story* Find out who truly wants the dog that way... it worked in the Bible. :D Maybe even just let the families have a showdown and see what owner the dog goes to, honestly.
Click to expand...
First off many did not evacuate because of Katrina, they evacuated (or fled) when the levies broke.
many of them did not even have time to take food or provisions.

Have you ever had to evacuate? THe priority MUST be Human life.
That is the type of decisions you have to make and usually very quickly.
Hotels may very well take pets but I can tell you shelters do not.
Not everyone has the space to pack their families and the provisions needed and their pets.
And not everyone can forgo the provisions and just buy them later.
the majority live hand to mouth paycheck to paycheck.

That all being said your pets are lucky that you don't have to make those decisions.
The National weather service sends out a book every year.
It does make consideration for pets that must be left behind and even makes suggestions on the safest way to do that.

When I evacuate I take 4 kids 2 100+ lb dogs, a ferret, a guinea pig, a bearded dragon and a cat.
It is not easy since usually there is a great chance that where I evacuate to may also be hit. Living in Florida more often then not half the state is under a warning so sometimes its hard to gage how far we have to go and how long we will be away.
I have in the past actually evacuated to a place that was hit much harder then my house was.
With all the pets with me.

I just think its very hard to judge other people in an emergency situation.
I am 100% positive it broke those peoples hearts to leave their pets behind.
I am just as positive that as nice as it was for the new family to give the dog a home it is disgusting to deny the real owners.
These are people who lost everything. It should be good enough for the new family to know they helped and took care of the dog.
They should be ashamed of themselves and the Judge should not have to think twice about it.
 
Nova said:
Meli, I feel exactly the same way about my cat. But in fairness, neither one of us has actually been faced with the awful choice of surviving without our pets v. perishing with them.
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*shrug* I know I haven't been faced with it. I'm merely just sharing my... personal opinion, if I were in the situation. I think people think I'm a crazy animal person now or something... or that I'm saying that animals should be valued above people. I'm just saying for me, if I were in the same situation, my pets = my kids. I do not have kids, do not want kids, and will never have kids. So again, my pets = my kids. Leaving behind my pets would be the same to me as someone leaving behind their kids. I guess I should have just never said anything at all... or at least included MOO or something. :(
 
Amraann said:
First off many did not evacuate because of Katrina, they evacuated (or fled) when the levies broke.
many of them did not even have time to take food or provisions.

Have you ever had to evacuate? THe priority MUST be Human life.
That is the type of decisions you have to make and usually very quickly.
Hotels may very well take pets but I can tell you shelters do not.
Not everyone has the space to pack their families and the provisions needed and their pets.
And not everyone can forgo the provisions and just buy them later.
the majority live hand to mouth paycheck to paycheck.

That all being said your pets are lucky that you don't have to make those decisions.
The National weather service sends out a book every year.
It does make consideration for pets that must be left behind and even makes suggestions on the safest way to do that.

When I evacuate I take 4 kids 2 100+ lb dogs, a ferret, a guinea pig, a bearded dragon and a cat.
It is not easy since usually there is a great chance that where I evacuate to may also be hit. Living in Florida more often then not half the state is under a warning so sometimes its hard to gage how far we have to go and how long we will be away.
I have in the past actually evacuated to a place that was hit much harder then my house was.
With all the pets with me.

I just think its very hard to judge other people in an emergency situation.
I am 100% positive it broke those peoples hearts to leave their pets behind.
I am just as positive that as nice as it was for the new family to give the dog a home it is disgusting to deny the real owners.
These are people who lost everything. It should be good enough for the new family to know they helped and took care of the dog.
They should be ashamed of themselves and the Judge should not have to think twice about it.
Click to expand...
Brava:clap: You took the words right out of my mouth Ams.
 
Amraann said:
First off many did not evacuate because of Katrina, they evacuated (or fled) when the levies broke.
many of them did not even have time to take food or provisions.

Have you ever had to evacuate? THe priority MUST be Human life.
That is the type of decisions you have to make and usually very quickly.
Hotels may very well take pets but I can tell you shelters do not.
Not everyone has the space to pack their families and the provisions needed and their pets.
And not everyone can forgo the provisions and just buy them later.
the majority live hand to mouth paycheck to paycheck.

That all being said your pets are lucky that you don't have to make those decisions.
The National weather service sends out a book every year.
It does make consideration for pets that must be left behind and even makes suggestions on the safest way to do that.

When I evacuate I take 4 kids 2 100+ lb dogs, a ferret, a guinea pig, a bearded dragon and a cat.
It is not easy since usually there is a great chance that where I evacuate to may also be hit. Living in Florida more often then not half the state is under a warning so sometimes its hard to gage how far we have to go and how long we will be away.
I have in the past actually evacuated to a place that was hit much harder then my house was.
With all the pets with me.

I just think its very hard to judge other people in an emergency situation.
I am 100% positive it broke those peoples hearts to leave their pets behind.
I am just as positive that as nice as it was for the new family to give the dog a home it is disgusting to deny the real owners.
These are people who lost everything. It should be good enough for the new family to know they helped and took care of the dog.
They should be ashamed of themselves and the Judge should not have to think twice about it.
Click to expand...
Wow, I'm really sorry. Apparently MY opinion about MY situation/circumstances/viewpoint is very offensive to people. I'm sorry what you and others have gone through. Truly, I am. I am telling you that if it were me, I would stay with my pets or take them with me. There is no way no matter what that I would leave my pets and save myself. I'm sure it wasn't an easy decision for people to make. I'm just saying I can tell you right now what MY decision would have been. Jeez, it's just my opinion.... Seriously, why can't I have it?
 
Melisinde said:
*shrug* I know I haven't been faced with it. I'm merely just sharing my... personal opinion, if I were in the situation. I think people think I'm a crazy animal person now or something... or that I'm saying that animals should be valued above people. I'm just saying for me, if I were in the same situation, my pets = my kids. I do not have kids, do not want kids, and will never have kids. So again, my pets = my kids. Leaving behind my pets would be the same to me as someone leaving behind their kids. I guess I should have just never said anything at all... or at least included MOO or something. :(
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I can understand what you are saying. I have kids and pets. I value them both. But if faced with the choice, my kids or my pets, it would be my kids first without question. I can always get another Great Dane, but not another son. And if faced with the decision, me or my kids, then yes I would perish with my kids.
 
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