Posted on 10/06/2005 11:13:24 AM PDT by green pastures
Tahlequah has quite a few celebrity canines who've made the pages of the Daily Press.
Just a few examples are Ruby the Redbone hound, who starred in the remake of "Where the Red Fern Grows"; Coach, the Labrador retriever who helped find victims of 9/11 World Trade Center attacks; Baden, the waving Collie; and Chica, the three-legged Rat Terrier who has her own chauffeur.
Now we have Tanya the poodle, who comes to Tahlequah from New Orleans, via Dallas.
Tanya's human companions are Lloyd and Rosemary Griffin, New Orleanians who recently moved to Tahlequah from the evacuee center at Camp Gruber.
The Griffins have been Tahlequonians for a week or so, but Tanya just caught up to them Saturday. She'd been hanging around the Dallas area for almost a month, but the Griffins had no idea where she was, and didn't really expect to ever see her again.
That would've been unfortunate, considering what Tanya did for them when Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans and flooded the entire city.
"We both would've been dead if it hadn't been for Tanya," said Rosemary.
"That's right," added Lloyd. "That dog woke us up. When I got up, the water was up to my knees, and she was swimming around. The next time I looked, my sofa in the living room was floating, and she was up on the sofa."
Rosemary was a bit surprised, but thankful, to see Tanya dogpaddling - literally - around their bedroom.
"I didn't know she could swim," she said. "But Lloyd told me all dogs can swim."
"That's right," Lloyd agreed. "That's God's gift to dogs. They ain't gonna drown!"
Of course, once a dog saves your life, you can't just leave her behind - even if she is a good swimmer. So the Griffins picked up their soggy poodle and headed to the Super Dome, where now-homeless New Orleanians were sheltering from the rain and floodwaters.
For a week, Tanya stayed with the Griffins in the Super Dome, but when it came time to board the bus for Texas, evacuees who had pets with them were instructed to leave them behind.
"There were some beautiful dogs in the Super Dome," said Lloyd. "There were some dogs I would've loved to have had, but they said all dogs had to stay there."
But, as mentioned before, when a dog saves your life, it's kind of hard not to feel like you owe her one. So the Griffins found a box that was just big enough for Tanya, covered her up with a blanket, and boarded the bus for Houston - which ended up going to Dallas instead.
"When we got to Dallas, the dog had been in the Super Dome in a box for a week, and had rode on the bus to Dallas," said Lloyd. "The dog wasn't looking so good. I delivered her when she was born, and she'd never lived on the street. She'd go outside to take care of business and come back in again, and that's the only time she ever went outside. Rather than let her suffer, I decided to give her up to the SPCA [Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals]."
Rosemary said the separation was so emotional, people who didn't even know Tanya were crying when Lloyd took her to the SPCA representative.
"He said, 'What do you want to do before I take her? Do you want to kiss her?' and I said, 'No, I'm gonna just close my eyes and you take her.'"
"[The SPCA representative] grabbed the dog and was gone," said Lloyd. "I thought I'd never see that dog again. That dog was deep in Texas!"
While the Griffins made their way to Camp Gruber in Muskogee County, Tanya was doing some traveling of her own.
Her first stop was the Mesquite, Texas, animal control department. From there, she was taken to the K9 Rescue and Referral organization that is working to reunite displaced New Orleanians with their pets.
K9 Rescue and Referral Director Allison Becker took Tanya home with her, and began looking for her owners.
Lloyd had told the story of Tanya to Tom Cornish, a volunteer at Gruber, who got on the Internet and discovered that, lo and behold, Tanya had her very own page on the K9 Rescue and Referral Web site!
Cornish got the Griffins in contact with Becker, who delivered Tanya to her new home in Tahlequah on Saturday. Becker also volunteered to pay for cataract surgery for the 10-year-old Tanya, who in dog years is well into senior citizenry.
"She [Becker] almost spoiled her," said Lloyd, and then thought about that statement for a moment. "She did spoil her! The dog came riding up in a big ol' air-conditioned Cadillac, sitting on a pillow."
Tanya may not cruise around Tahlequah in a Caddy, but she doesn't seem to mind. She's obviously having no trouble readjusting to life with her folks.
"She's a bunch of love," said Lloyd. "She gets grouchy sometimes, but she's 10 years old - that's old for a dog."
Rosemary said Tanya's gotten back into her routine - sleeping, and occasionally going to the door to let the Griffins know she has some business to take care of. She pretty much has the run of the house, with one exception.
"You can't let her sleep with you - she sleeps flat on her back with her legs up in the air, and she snores," said Rosemary. "But I got my baby back, and I am so happy. I just thank God I got her back."
OMG, what cute pix! Are all the buff/orange&white the same cat?
He's beautiful! (I'm a sucker for male buff/orange&white - by experience, they've been the best cats!)
You can find out more about the search for Snowball and the Oily dog here:
http://www.katrinafoundpets.com/
and also some info on the oily dog at www.oilydog.org
Neither have been found yet.
There are rewards for each.
Love the pic! Thanks for posting it!
:-)
There was also a happy ending for a poodle named Max. He has been found and is to be reuinited with his family. Here is the family's story, from Katrina-Pets-Rescue-Info:
"Please read their story below - and know that I cried when Dianne called today to say that Max had been found!
This family has lost everything - their landlord in New Orleans called to tell them that the house they had rented had burned to the ground - with their car in the driveway.
Dianne tells us that none of that matters to them - they are all safe tonight - including Max.
#####################################################################
Original Post of 9/30/05:
We received the most heartbreaking call anyone can imagine. Diane Brown, a Louisiana resident, called us after seeing our group listed as one who received a Katrina poodle in the hopes that it was her dog. She told the horror story of how she, her husband and their young daughter were stuck on the freeway and the buses were sent in to rescue people. The national guard and police were shoving people on the bus with no concern for families beings separated and of course not allowing pets. They passed up the first couple of buses not wishing to risk being separated from each other and desparately wanting to take their 8 year old poodle.
Max was a rescue from a shelter a couple of years earlier when they lived in Michagan. They sold everything they had and moved to Louisiana in May!
They spent the night on the wet grass on the side of the freeway with many other stranded people) and she told of how Max protected them all night and would bark anytime someone came near them.
That morning another bus came and she pleaded with the driver to let them take their small poodle on. He consented and the family got on the bus with Max in her husband's arms behind her. She walked past a national guardsman down the aisle and as her husband got on the bus, he said "I'm not giving up my seat for that dog!" He refused to let the husband on with the dog. When Diane tried to get off the bus with her daughter they refused to let her off and while standing in the doorway of the bus with other people crowded behind him, the husband had to make the onerous choice between his wife and child and his beloved Max. A man standing behind him said, "hand him to me." Feeling he had no choice, he handed over Max and got on the bus. That was the last they saw of him.
Max was wearing Michigan tags still and is an apricot neutered poodle about 8 years old with cloudy eyes. He was shaved pretty short unlike this picture when they first got him. She has been searching through thousands of pics in an attempt to find him and they are now back in MI staying temporarily until allowed back to their home which is most likely completely destroyed.
Hearing her story and the anguish in her voice AND the recounting of the callous treatment they received ripped my heart out. I stillcan't stop crying every time I think about. It's one thing to read all the stories and to know hers is but one of a thousand similar tragedies....it's another to talk to a person and feel that kinship.
When I told her with tears in my voice that I was SO VERY SORRY for all she lost, she said quite simply that all they wanted was their dog back - everything else can be replaced, but not Max. She told me her husband feels horrible and is terribly depressed because he let Max down. He had promised him that night on the wet grass that they would get through this.
Please, help her find out if Max is alive somewhere. She knows about Petfinder database and mentioned another. What are all the sources that she can look to? Attached is a flyer she made with the picture. Can this be posted ...... where?? Please tell me how to get the word out EVERYWHERE and I'll help this person in any way I can.
Bichons and Buddies will make all arrangements to fly Max to his family in Michigan
#################################################################
Posted 10/5/2005
Max travelled to Houston with the young man who promised to take him to safety - this young man certainly kept his word. He never let go of Max until he arrived at the Red Cross shelter in Houston - where Animal Control was set up to log in each arriving animal.
Max is currently living in a foster home in Houston - Bichons and Buddies is arranging to fly to Houston to get Max, and then continue on to Kalamazoo, Michigan where Max's family is now staying.
Dianne and Rob lost EVERYTHING in Katrina - except for Max - thanks to a good Samaritan.
#####################################################################
Good suggestions! I have no idea why they don't like each other. They will tolerate each other most of time, but if one gets into the "space" of the other one----well, not fun. My husband thinks it's a game between them, maybe he's right. In fact I've caught one of them hiding around the corner laying in wait for the other one to show up. I've also caught one of them sitting on the floor about 12" away, staring at the other one who is sound asleep waiting for him to wake up.
As far as keeping them active, since they're indoor/outdoor cats they're gone most of the times prowling the neighborhood, so most of this happens at night when they've come in for dinner and bedtime.
I won't even mention the RD MALE cat that my neighbor dumped on all of us in the neighborhood after she move away and left him. Guess who's taking care of him also. This one though I can look after in our office which is away from the main house, so not quite so bad.
Gee, all I ever wanted was a sweet, funny lovable cat who'll play with me, and all I've gotten are 3 males who don't particularly like being fussed over by me, and as an added bonus don't even like each other. Lucky, lucky me :-)
that is how it seems to go. I have MANY outdoor cats that are drop offs. varying degrees of friendliness.. but they are strays & would NOT let me touch them,yet alone pick them up & cuddle.
My indoor/outdoor population grows by leaps & bounds. I have many friendly cuddly ones & they are a joy. My cali(see profile page) is now on my lap & struggles to sit on keyboard. Have had her since 1988 & she is a sweet. loving cat.. but I have had many males that are much warmer & cuddly.
your male cats sound like a typical male dominance/territory thing.
Thanks Green Pastures, not sure I want to read about them, though. I can't even look at his picture without tearing up. I had heard that the photographer who took the picture of oily dog was going back and try to find him. I just pray someone found him and just hasn't written about it.
The photographer did go back, and claimed to have found him. A Dallas newspaper printed a big story of how they found him and rescued him. But the picture of the second dog didn't match up.
A number of people pointed out that those were NOT the same dog, and the paper had to print a retraction.
The photographer stands by his story and says the only difference was the first time he photographed the dog, the dog did not have tags. The second time he photographed it, the dog had tags.
(No explanation provided as to how *that* might have happened.)
There are many, many people working to find Oily dog and Snowball. And there are some prospects showing up online in various found pets/shelter photos just now getting posted, so there is still hope.
Thanks again, green pastures. Don't know when a pet has touched me that much so really appreciate the potentially positive outcome.
Kazoo is not far from me
Yup - those are all my same kitty.... he is cool. And I've also found that there is something about the orange tom that is mellower and easier going than other types. I think it's too coincidental to be just coincidence. ;~D
Hadn't seen that one mupcat. That's so sad.
Thanks so much green pastures. Hope they're (especially Snowball) reunited with their families.
I take it that you've now seen the picture. I swear when I saw his little upturned oily face and those little squinty eyes I just lost it. Dear God I hope he was saved!
Me too! I have a soft spot in my heart for critters of all kinds especially dogies.
Usually two of the same neutered gender don't get along as well as if they were opposites. Two females might even be little more problematic than two males. My personal experience is limited, though.
Well, since the existing cat is a male, I figured two littermates that are female would be best - if there is a best :~D
Sounds great but WI is a long trek. Good luck finding homes for them though ;~D
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.