All Things Dog - September 1, 2008

A Tampa man flew to Canada last month to help his distraught daughter search for her lost dog. Sugar, a Maltese/Poodle mix had escaped from a yard and was missing seven days. Her journey home involved being hit by a car, and saved by a kind bystander who performed mouth to mouth resuscitation on the dog after it stopped breathing. You can read the rest of this story at the Durham Region News site. The owner's father, Gene Costain, wrote a lovely column about this experience, which was featured in the Trib's commentary section Monday, but I haven't been able to find it online.

With Gustav barreling towards Louisiana, I wondered how that state had prepared for the evacuation of pets during disasters. I looked at their Humane Society and SPCA websites for information and wasn't disappointed. Shelters will be set up throughout the state with animal shelters being adjacent to human housing. Buses began evacuating the elderly and sick, as well as those without transportation over the weekend. Animals in carriers were accepted on the buses. The state's animal shelters were in full swing, with outside assistance called in and on the way. My thoughts and prayers are with those folks.

Here in Tampa, the Tampa Tribune reports that Cinder and Powder, two Labrador Retrievers assigned to Tampa Fire Rescue handlers who do Fire Rescue work, are also on call with FEMA. They have trained several days a week in search and rescue work for over two years with their handlers, Lt.'s Brian Smithey and Roger Picard. Picard and Smithey are watching Hurricane Gustav and Tropical Storm Hanna, and are ready to leave as soon as the call comes in that their help is needed.

On tbo.com last week, it was reported that Charlotte Mathews-Nelson, a Dover woman was arrested and charged with animal cruelty, after ten skeletal like dogs were found living in rusty vehicles on her property. Among the dogs was a lab mix puppy, a pit bull and several terriers, including one who was nursing three puppies. She told officers that she did not have money to feed the animals. From the woman's picture, she looks like someone who is suffering herself. Animals who belong to people with too many problems of their own, are likely to suffer even more than their owners.