Posted on 10/26/2005 9:04:43 AM PDT by WestTexasWend
Foxy licked Tanya Richard's nose, then snuggled close as the tearful woman held and hugged her dog tightly. At long last, Foxy the feisty Pomeranian had found her family.
"She'll be happy now," Clyde Scott III said, talking as much about Richard as about Foxy, who was reunited Wednesday with the New Orleans couple who has resettled in Lubbock.
Before the emotional reunion at Lubbock Preston Smith International Airport, Richard and Scott last saw Foxy on Sept. 4 when they were evacuated from flooded New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
"They just told us to grab our stuff and come on, we've got to get out," Scott said. The couple, both 48, had only enough time to fill a gumbo pot with water and leave enough dog food to last Foxy one month.
"I was hoping we wouldn't be gone that long," Scott said.
Fifty-two days later, Foxy was back in the arms of the relieved Richard.
"I worried about her all the time, and I couldn't rest," she said.
Scott said the couple beat long odds in finding Foxy, whom they consider a member of their family.
"One in a million," he said of the odds. "We got lucky."
The transplanted couple got plenty of help after being evacuated to Lubbock. Red Cross first responder Jill Grant met the couple while they were staying in a shelter at Reese Technology Center and listened to their story about Foxy.
The dog had been a gift from Scott to Richard five years ago and quickly became family to the couple.
She'd tug at their pants when she wanted something. She often alerted Richard, who has a hearing impairment, when someone was at the door of their New Orleans home.
"Everywhere I'd go, she'd follow me," Richard said. "She's the only dog I wanted."
Foxy had been rescued by Small Animal Rescue, a non-profit organization that saved many pets following the hurricane.
The dog spent some time at the Lamar-Dixon Expo Center temporary animal shelter in Gonzales, La., before being placed in the foster home of Lisa Head in St. Gabriel, La.
Grant began searching the Internet for clues to Foxy's whereabouts and followed up dozens of leads about female Pomeranian dogs found in New Orleans.
"It was like a big, big haystack with a small needle," said Grant, who found Foxy with the help of Small Animal Rescue officials.
A positive identification was possible because Foxy is missing half of her right rear paw.
Grant told Richard and Scott on Oct. 10 that Foxy had been found and then enlisted the help of Danette Castle of Lubbock Regional MHMR in getting the dog to Lubbock.
Castle had worked with Continental Airlines officials in making travel arrangements for Hurricane Katrina survivors and contacted Lisa Durham, Continental station supervisor in Lubbock.
Continental officials eagerly helped with the project, and Durham flew round trip from Lubbock to Baton Rouge, La., on Wednesday to bring Foxy to her family.
Continental officials made sure Foxy had a ticket for the flight from Baton Rouge to Houston and on to Lubbock, eliminating the possibility of her being bumped if she had flown standby.
Finally, there was nothing left to do except hug Foxy, who seemed a little dazed by the attention.
A teary Richard, who couldn't keep from smiling, held the small, golden brown dog close. Scott was all smiles, too, as were Grant and Castle.
"Thank you," Richard said several times.
Foxy, who had cautiously crept into Richard's arms, finally licked her nose and nuzzled close. She was home.
So where's the photo?
No, I refuse to "register" to read newspapers on line.
My "stuff" includes my dog! I'd never, ever leave her - not under any circumstances.
dogs, don't leave home without em.
I wouldn't - ever, ever, ever.
Sorry...it's at the link, and I haven't a clue as to how to post pics.
Also, my dogs weigh 45 lbs to 99 lbs each and I wouldn't leave without them.
A pom would fit in your back pocket, geez.
My dog goes with me,too. No way I would leave her. On a related matter, I was at a Pet Expo this past weekend and one of the local humane shelters had a poster of Katrina dogs they had found adoptive families for. One 10 year old small black pooch was going to have to live out the rest of her life with the vet who had the booth due to the poor dog having tested positive for heartworm. She was there and got lots of attention.
Neither would I and my cat.
Another example of the need to provide for the evacuation of people AND pets. Pets are part of the family, and they deserve to be rescued right along with everybody else.
Try 'Bug me not' and get a login.
We are fostering a German Shepherd from Katrina. The rescue organization said that about 80% of the animals tested positive for heartworm. The problem was that, compared to the rest of the country, a greater numbr of dogs in LA are treated more like backyard property than a member of the family. They are never given regular heartworm preventatives.
I cannot believe how many irresponsible pet owners there are.
I have been amazed by the fact that people who thought it was important enough to evacuate themslves would leave theur animals behind. It is absolutely unthinkable to me.
Where's Snowball?
Yes, I know, and I can tell by your name!!!
My order of importance: the husband, the dogs and then me.
Husband's order of importance: me, the dogs then him.
(we have no human children just fur-children)
In all probability, the Snowball story was a fabrication. There's a mountain of circumstantial evidence pointing to it being a fabrication. And zero information forthcoming from the AP reporter, Mary Foster, who wrote the story. With all that publicity, and the reward money (still open, at $3000 to whoever finds the dog and $10,000 to the family), no one has come forward even pretending to be the family in question. And the woman who is administering the reward fund hasn't even been able to learn the race of the boy who allegedly had the dog confiscated from him, despite many attempts to communicate with the AP reporter and other AP staff. How does a reporter watch a little boy having his dog snatched from him, and then crying so hard that he vomited, without being able to identify the boy's race? And if she can identify it, why won't she tell the people who are trying to reunite the boy and dog? If AP/Foster want to clear their reputations, they need to come forward and explain some things. Until they do, I'm assuming the whole thing was fabricated.
Thank you Demkicker!
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