An Honest Mistake?

I emailed these to a few people and to a person, they asked me if this was a "JOKE."
It is not a joke.

These are real and recent pictures found on PetHarbor Posted by the LASPCA for animals they recently rescued off the streets. I'd be embarrassed if I was them? Like everything else I am sure that they have a reason? I sat on these for a while wanting to be fair..and then it dawned on me how totally unfair it is to the owners of these animals (2000 of whom showed up at the "FIND YOUR PET" event two weeks ago) to be so inept as to have these pictures up for nearly a month before VOLUNTEERS and not the LASPCA themselves noticed. And unfair to the animals themselves as the LASPCA IS euthanizing (and maybe more than they are letting on but I hope not) Quality control anyone? If I did this at work I would be reprimanded.

"If The South Would Have Won..."

Note: Please put your email in the form to right and submit so I can keep in touch! Is this your first time here? Be sure to go to the bottom of this post and see some great links, video and pics about Katrina animal rescue.

This state has huge animal welfare issues and from first hand experience I have seen how the government treated the issues associated with animals. Why would we expect more of the local or state government of LA? They have shown how much they care about animals and returning them to owners. Maybe one state official could have shown up to the Best Friends Lost Pet Weekend where over 800 LA residents showed up desperate to find lost pets?


CLICK PICTURE TO ENLARGE
More Cartoons Coming Soon

HOW TO TREAT A GUEST IN YOUR STATE:

This is the letter to me after I had written Mrs. Littlefield a total of just 6 emails. None of which was in any way harassing or out of line. You can see the last one I sent in the COMMENTS to this post. In my only phone call to Mrs. Littlfield (the call was even set up by an official from HomeLand Security) I inquired as why animals were being shipped all over the world with NO TRACKING. Mrs. Littlefield very unpolitely told me "that is not true, I have been to Lamar Dixon and they have a sophisticated tracking system." We all know how that turned out.

Then this lawyer letter from a governmental official. She might know how to run a State Ag department, but I think we can all see that State Vets have no business and no knowledge of running disaster animal rescue first response, recovery and long term animal welfare operations during and after crisis.

This one cracks me up, I hope you find it amusing as well:
**************
FROM: Marvin Montgomery
General Counsel
La. Dept. Ag. & Forestry
225-922-1234

PRIVILEGED & CONFIDENTIAL COMMUNICATION:


November 2, 2005

Mr. Eric Rice
General Manager, Bulkregister
Via e-mail only
erice@XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Re: Communications with Dr. Martha Littlefield

Dear Mr. Rice:

Your e-mails directed to Dr. Martha Littlefield, assistant State Veterinarian with this Department have been forwarded to me for review because of the number of e-mails you have been sending to her. Please be assured that this Department and Dr. Littlefield are as concerned with animal welfare as you. However, repeated e-mails over a situation that none of us have any control over uses up time and resources that can be put to better use.

After Hurricane Katrina this Department cooperated with public and private agencies to assist in the coordination of rescue and shelter operations for animals abandoned or lost as a result of Hurricane Katrina. Dr. Littlefield served as this Department’s liaison with this team of agencies. However, under Louisiana law, neither this Department nor Dr. Littlefield regulates the SPCA or the rescue and sheltering of animals in New Orleans. These functions are regulated by the SPCA in New Orleans in conjunction with the New Orleans city government.

The destruction in New Orleans is beyond comprehension. What one sees on television cannot begin to show the extent of the devastation. It is safe to say that only a minority of businesses and agencies that were in New Orleans prior to Hurricane Katrina are currently operations. We have no idea when such businesses and agencies, including the SPCA will be fully functional again. The fact that SPCA does not have telephone communications or someone to answer the telephone is not a matter that this Department can control. It is therefore, unnecessary, to keep sending an e-mail to Dr. Littlefield regarding this situation.

It is unnecessary to continue e-mailing Dr. Littlefield regarding the situation in New Orleans or to send her e-mails regarding rescue efforts in New Orleans. Therefore I, on behalf of Dr. Littlefield and the Department of Agriculture and Forestry ask you to remove Dr. Littlefield’s name and this Department’s name from your e-mail distribution list and to cease e-mailing or attempting to contact Dr. Littlefield about any matter. If you have complaints regarding Dr. Littlefield or this Department you may send them by U. S mail to my attention, but we will not respond to any e-mails from you.

Future attempts to e-mail this Department or Dr. Littlefield will be blocked and any attempt to contact Dr. Littlefield in any other way will be reviewed for possible harassment with referral of the matter to the proper law enforcement authorities, if necessary.


Sincerely,

J. Marvin Montgomery
General Counsel, LDAF





My favorite must see blog stuff:

1. My own favorite Post: Click here
2. Best video footage: Click here
3. This blog has the BEST PICTURES so far of Katrina Animals. It is all pics and good ones Click here
4. And this is one of our groups blogs --
Click here
6. Most amazing photography: I mean must see: Click here
7. To reunite pets with owners: Click here
8. Watch a Pitbull video Click Here

INSANITY! THAT COULD HAVE BEEN AVOIDED

Scroll down to see: INSANITY! THAT COULD HAVE BEEN AVOIDED

Note: Please put your email in the form to right and submit so I can keep in touch!

My favorite must see blog stuff:

1. My own favorite Post: Click here
2. Best video footage: Click here
3. This blog has the BEST PICTURES so far of Katrina Animals. It is all pics and good ones Click here Warning pics of dead animals.
4. School shooting story WITHOUT ANY GORY PICS -- and ton of other great pics Click here
5. And this is one of our groups blogs --
Click here
6. Most amazing photography: I mean must see: Click here
7. To reunite pets with owners: Click here
8. Watch a Pitbull video Click Here
9. Chat makes it home after being dognapped by Brew Beagle for 8 weeks http://booknote.blogspot.com/ (nov 23 blog entry)
10. Vermillion Parish Needs Help http://vermillionanimalaid.blogspot.com/

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INSANITY! THAT COULD HAVE BEEN AVOIDED
THIS WAS STORY SENT TO ME THIS MORNING. Forward www.ericsdogblog.com to all our your local and state officials so they can see what Redcross and FEMA policies do to people with Pets. Be aware a disaster like this could be coming to any of our areas just as easily. What if 9/11 had been a "dirty bomb" and they had made 2 million people leave pets on the bridges as they walked out of NYC? Read on --

Eric, perhaps you could do a reasons to reunite post on your blog since so many COLD hearted people don't seem to see the need? Here is a piece you could lead with:

10/26/2005 - To David and Goldie, aka Tiny
Posted From Animal Ark Shelter - Minnesota
Posted by Mike F

This morning, I started my day by talking with Goldie's mom. It was one of the most difficult phone conversations I have had in my life. But, being on the phone was nothing compared to the horror she and her family are living.

Her son, David, had been Goldie's "dad". David loved Goldie, and two other dogs that lived with Goldie, whose real name turned out to be Tiny. Tiny is a Pomeranian/Chihuahua mix who came to live at my house in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Of the hundreds of animals we have rescued, his is also the first story that I know in it's entirety, thanks to the time spent talking to David's mom on the phone this morning. David, I am sure, would have told me the story, but he is no longer alive to tell his or Tiny's tale. I feel comfortable in "knowing" this, because after hearing his story, I feel bonded to him, and I feel like I know him. Our lives are connected through the life of a little dog that we both love. . .

David lived in St. Bernard Parish, a neighborhood in New Orleans that was hit very hard when the levy broke during the storm. He shared his home with his daughters and his three dogs. The dogs were spoiled and even slept in bed with him at night.

When the levy broke, he and the daughters were home. They survived by climbing the stairs in their home, going to the second floor, and ultimately, into the attic. As water engulfed the interior of their home, they raced to save each other and the dogs.

Trapped in the attic, their only route to safety was to dig a hole in the roof of the home from the inside. They lived on top of the house with the three dogs for days awaiting rescue.

Eventually, a small boat came by. With it came good news, a larger boat was coming to the levy wall to pick people up and take them to safety. So the family and the dogs boarded the boat and headed for the levy. They lived on the levy with several other people and some other pets for days with no food or shelter. They watched helplessly as some of the other humans and pets died in the heat. Eventually, a boat did come, but the news was not good. Tiny and the other pets were not allowed.

In desperation, David took a small row boat into St. Bernard Parish and found an apartment building where he could leave the dogs. The third floor apartment had nearly three feet of water in it. By piling furniture and mattresses in the living room, he created a dry island the dogs could survive on. He left them with food and water; then he and his daughters evacuated to safety.

Tiny and his canine friends were rescued 10 days later and taken to Tylertown, Mississippi. Tiny eventually found his way to my home in Minnesota.

But, life for David was not as happy. He and his family searched night and day to locate his lost pets. Struggling with the loss of his home and property, and unable to locate his beloved dogs, he hanged himself from an oak tree at his mother's house. His mom swears that had David been allowed to evacuate with his dogs, he would be alive today. Following his death, his mother continued the search for the missing dogs. With the help of Best Friends Animal Society, we were connected to Tiny and David's mom and the story is complete.

I thanked David's mom for sharing his story. I asked her to give Tiny a big hug and kiss for me. I hung up the phone. . . and I cried, not just for David and Tiny, but for all the families and all of the pets that were put through unnecessary hell due to crazy FEMA and Red Cross policies. Hurricane Katrina was a natural disaster - but the real devastation inflicted on these families came about because of human choices. If we are to call ourselves a civilized nation, we must swear to never do anything like this again.

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IF YOU HAVE A FOSTER DOG OR IF YOU ARE A SHELTER THAT HAS NOT PUT PETS ON PETFINDER AND THINK THAT YOU ARE DOING THE WORLD A FAVOR, RESCUERS ON THE GROUND WILL TELL YOU A DIFFERENT STORY OF HOW THESE PEOPLE LOST THESE PETS. THEY ARE NOT ALL BAD PET OWNERS AS YOU LIKE TO THINK. NOT EVEN CLOSE. I MET HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE WHO SLEPT ON ROOFTOPS AND IN LITTLE BOATS 5-8 MILES FROM DRY LAND. THEY DID THIS FOR 5-8 DAYS WITH NO FOOD AND WATER. THEN THEY WERE TOLD NOT THE BRING THEIR PETS. ITS PURE INSANITY FOR YOU TO STEAL THESE ANIMALS AND NOT DO THE WORK TO TRY TO RETURN THEM TO OWNERS. Eric

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SNOW DOGS!!!!

On a more positive note I just realized that many Katrina Dogs are just now seeing snow for the first time ever. What a ball they must be having. I think my dogs like winter more than any other season cause of the snow they get to play in. So I am looking for pictures of Katrina Dogs and Cats having fun in the snow. Email to ericrice3@comcast.net I will post after I get a bunch.

Here is my dog Quincy in the Snow.


He passed away over the summer but he loved the snow more than anything. He would put his shoulder on the ground and plow through the snow for 100 yards at a time. He was well versed in giving himself snow massages which results in perfect dog snow angel designs. Quincy lived at a ski resort and got to do things like follow me up the chairlift then chase me down the hill. You ever see a dog run as fast as they can down a steep hill? After a few hundred yards the back usually goes over the front end and they roll down the hill about a hundred more yards.



This is Quincy and Brooke when the heat went out at my house for a week last year. They would not move from those blankets for 12-14 hours at a time for fear that they could not get themselves all wrapped back up in them. It was cold.

Oily Dog Loses Slickness: Escapes Us No More

Note: Please put your email in the form to right and submit so I can keep in touch!

Oily Dog Loses Slickness: Escapes Us No More and Is Found

I just got off the phone with Don Rorschach (Texas), who was so incensed at the
Dallas Reporter that took the original pictures of the Oily Dog and didn’t pick up the dog that he started a national awareness campaign and reward.

You Must see the Original Video of Oily as he begs to be picked up from the oil:
Click Here For Video

Oily Dogs Previous Story and the Reporter that did nothing to help:
Click Here For Story

The Infamous Picture that started the Search:


OILY HAS BEEN LOCATED AND TURNED OVER TO DON R.
Lisa Wilson, Austin, Texas, was instrumental in the search since she created the Oily Dog website that received so much attention. Carolyn Spence created flyers and spread the word all over the place.






Tribute to Orli-By Judy Gagnon 12/8/2005; See Poem In Comments


New Name: Orli-Slick

Seems like mine, Lisa Wilson's www.oilydog.org and dozens of others hard work finally paid off. Oily has been located.

Long ago I was contacted by Don R who wanted me to go to the actual site of the infamous picture of Oily Dog was taken and look for him. I suggested the bigger step of Don fedexing me 100 Laminated Reward Flyers to put up. I was pretty sure the dog had been rescued. I couldn’t in my wildest dreams imagine workers and others in the area really just leaving the dog to fend for himself. If one or two people were despicable enough to do so I was sure that someone equally as compassionate had come along and rescued Oily.

I had my team put flyers all around the area near where the original picture was taken. You could not get into Chalmette without seeing an Oily Reward poster. I have to admit it almost didn’t happen because of the sheer volume of calls we were getting to do rescues. But after a few days I just put it on the schedule like a rescue assignment and sent Joe and Jennifer over to put the Posters out (they were nice flyers that Don R fedexed and he even sent some big nails so I am sure they hung around for a long time)

Where Has Oily Been?

Just several days after the original picture was taken a local worker picked the dog up and delivered it to a friend of a friend named Angela Robert who is in animal control in St. Rose, LA. Angela had seen the flyers and heard of the Oily Dog on the Internet but was worried that Don R. was trying to get small dogs for various “bad” reasons or to resell.

She had someone to adopt the dog so she just went that route. However, the woman who adopted Oily turned the dog back in because she could not get it potty trained. This time Angela decided to call Don R and see what he was all about. She quickly understood that she probably had a real good guy. The bottom line is she finally approved of sending the dog to Don R. Don drove all the way to LA when no transport could be arranged. He has the dog safe in his house. Angela Robert would not accept the $2,000.00 reward for the little dog and immediately endorsed the checks to the St. Charles Humane Society in Saint Rose, Louisiana.

The Times- Pacayune will also be doing a story and may fill in some things I left out. I could have an item wrong as I got it all from Don R. Regardless a lot of people made this possible and the dog is safe and many thousands of people around the country can get that image out of their heads.

I have said all along that “guerrilla tactics” will work to locate dog and locate owners. I can’t tell you the success we have had with these types of flyers and notes.. These are not unconquerable challenges. What IF every animal WAS on Petfinder.com AND every owner who had lost a pet knew to look on it? We would have huge reunion rates.