Hurricane Katrina

Molly, A Katrina Pony, Gets A Prosthetic Leg

5/12/06 The Advocate Baton Rouge, By Kristin Grant  ~  An LSU School Of Veterinary Medicine team amputated a pony's front limb and attached an artificial leg. The rare surgery was a success, school officials said. Rustin M. Moore, LSU Equine Health Studies Director and board certified veterinary surgeon, operated on a Pony of the Americas, a crossbreed of Shetland pony and Appaloosa.

Pre-surgery, the pony named Molly was stranded for two and a half weeks in a partially collapsed barn near St. Rose in St. Charles Parish after Hurricane Katrina. St. Rose resident Kaye Harris moved Molly to her nearby farm with several more animals rescued after Katrina. At the farm, Molly was attacked by a rescued pit bull terrier. As she lay down, the pit bull lunged at her, Harris said during a return visit to LSU with Molly. "As I got closer, I could see the dog had latched on to her jaw and had begun to rip her jaw off. I just leapt in and got the dog off of her."

Molly sustained injuries to all four legs, her belly and jaw, Harris said. Raw bone was exposed from the her mangled right, front leg. A school official said horses who lose front-leg use are normally killed. Adult horses are not adept at life on three legs, Moore said. The leg opposite the missing leg often fails. Still, Harris persuaded Molly's local veterinarian, Allison Barca, to pursue amputation. With amputation nearly unheard of in equine medicine, Barca turned to LSU, where experts assessed factors from Molly's size, behavior, and attitude to how to fund such a surgery.

After hours of consultation, conferring with experts nationwide, Moore and his LSU colleagues agreed to perform the surgery. "There was a fair bit of skepticism," Moore said "and I admit I had a degree of cautious skepticism, but that was before I met Molly. It was basically her attitude, her personality, and her drive that showed me she was the right patient. It became evident just watching her that if there was ever an ideal candidate, and if you could find the money to do it, then she was the one."

So on Jan. 16, while most businesses were closed for Martin Luther King Day, students, surgery residents, anesthesiologists, and scrub nurses gathered with Moore in the operating room in the Large Animal Clinic at LSU. Moore amputated Molly's leg just below the knee. Moore said that when Molly recovered from the anesthesia, she immediately began using her temporary prosthesis. She was able to walk and even lie down using this long, stiff leg, which she couldn't bend.

Four months later, now fitted with a custom-made prosthesis, Molly trots around her pasture and functions normally. "I don't know that she ever has to come back here unless she has a problem," Moore said. "We'd like her to come back, not for medical reasons but just to visit because we like her."

The success of Molly's rare surgery offers hope for other horses with similar conditions. "I wouldn't hesitate to do it on another one, even a full-size horse, if everything was right," Moore said. He asserted that a critical factor in ensuring a horse meets the criteria for such a procedure does not involve the horse at all. If you don't have a committed [guardian] who's willing to comply with what's needed, like taking off the prosthesis twice a day for the rest of the horse's life, it will not work.

Kaye Harris is that person. Harris' commitment to saving Molly has had a ripple effect. Since the surgery, Molly has worked with children with disabilities, demonstrating how she thrives with her own prosthetic limb, Harris said. "The medical part is one thing, and yes, you learn things from that," Moore added. "But it taught me how much one little pony can impact so many people."

Molly's [guardian] said she's inspired to start a retirement foundation for ponies, Pony Paradise. As for Molly, her turbulent life may have taken a turn for the better. "Molly has a whole new future, she's always happy as a clam, she has a really good life," Harris said. "And you know what? I think she knows it."

New Orleans Judges Order Return Of Katrina Dogs

6/21/06, Contact Donna Thomas, Stealth Volunteers, 504-305-8638  ~  Judges in New Orleans and St. Bernard ordered two Texas animal shelters to return two dogs rescued after Katrina. Army First Lieutenant Japheth (Jay) Johnson of New Orleans, Iraq war veteran, brought suit against Texas SPCA. Stealth Volunteers, with LA attorneys Sal Gutierrez and Mary Hand, and Massachusetts attorney Steven M. Wise, said Lt. Johnson received an injunction requiring return of his dog Missy. They also announced that Linda Charles, a NOLA resident in similar circumstances, got an injunction from a St. Bernard judge ordering Humane Society of North Texas to return her dog Precious.

Missy is one of many companion animals rescued in the wake of Hurricane Katrina whom shelters now withhold from their [guardians]. Attorneys Sal Gutierrez and Mary Hand and animal rights attorney, Steven M. Wise are filing suit on behalf of Lt. Johnson and Linda Charles. When Hurricane Katrina hit, Lt. Johnson was serving his country in Iraq. He'd left Missy in the care of his mother at their Ninth Ward home. Ms. Johnson was forced to leave Missy behind under mandatory evacuation orders. Two weeks later, Missy was rescued near the Johnson's home and brought to the Lamar Dixon emergency animal shelter in Gonzales, LA.

The next day Missy, who had an embedded ID (AVID) chip that identified her [guardian's] name, address, and phone, was transported by truck to the Texas animal shelter. On Sep 15 Lt. Johnson returned from Iraq and began to search for his dog, with no clear idea of where to begin amidst the chaos left by Katrina. Eventually HSUS helped him to place a "lost" report on Petfinder.com. Soon after, a Stealth Volunteer identified Missy from the "found" report. Another Stealth Volunteer confirmed from AVID registered phone number data that this was, indeed, Lt. Johnson's dog, Missy.

The Texas shelter has been contacted several times by Lt. Johnson, his mother, and by Stealth Volunteers, but the shelter has refused to return Missy or give Lt. Johnson information that would bring his little dog back home. "The plight of Lt. Johnson and Missy is emblematic of a number of cases where shelters throughout the country temporarily provided aid to rescued Katrina companion animals, then refused to return them to their original families, who remain stymied in their attempts to rebuild their lives," stated Wise.

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Rescue Group Voicemail

Author Unknown  ~  You have reached 123-4567, Tender Hearts Rescue. Due to our high volume of calls, please listen closely to the following options and choose one that best describes your situation:

Press 1 if you think we are veterinarians and want free medical advice.

Press 2 if you know we are a rescue group but want to save money with free, untrained medical advice.

Press 3 if you make $200,000 a year but still want us to pay to spay the "stray" in your yard.

Press 4 if you have a 10-year-old dog or cat and your 15-year-old son has suddenly become allergic and you need to find the dog a new home right away.

Press 5 if you have dogs or cats, had a baby and want to get rid of your dogs/cats because you are the only person in the world to have a baby and dogs or cats at the same time.

Press 6 if your sick dog or cat needs a vet but you need the money for your vacation.

Press 7 if you just got a brand new puppy or kitten and need to get rid of your old dog or cat right away.

Press 8 if your grown puppy or kitten and is no longer small and cute and you want a new model.

Press 9 if you are elderly and want to adopt a cute but inactive puppy or kitten who will outlive you.

Press 10 if your relative died and you don't want their elderly dog or cat because they don't fit your lifestyle.

Press 11 if you are moving and need to immediately place your 150-pound, 8-year-old dog or 10-year-old declawed, never-seen-a-vet cat with dental problems.

Press 12 if you want an unpaid volunteer to come to your home and pick up a dog or cat you no longer want.

Press 13 if you're moving and determine the "stray" you've fed and caregiven for three years is not yours.

Press 14 if you are calling at 6:00am to ensure you wake me up to dump a dog or cat off on your way to work.

Press 15 to leave us an anonymous garbled message, alerting us to the dog/cat left in our yard in the middle of January (which is better than leaving the dog/cat with no message).

Press 16 if you will get outraged when we won't take the dog or cat you've had for 15 years because care and compassion for your elderly animal is not our responsibility.

Press 17 if you'll threaten to have your 10-year-old dog or cat "put down" because we won't take them.

Press 18 if you'll be angry that our staff had the audacity to go on vacation and leave the rescue in care of trusted volunteers who are not authorized to take your personal pet.

Press 19 if you want to select from our multitude of trained, housebroken, kid-cat-friendly purebred tiny dogs.

Press 20 if you want us to take your slightly aggressive dog, i.e. has bitten people and killed cats.

Press 21 if you know we don't take personal surrenders, but thought you'd get a different answer.

Press 22 if you want us to board your dog while on vacation (for free) in space that would've gone to a stray.

Press 23 if it is Christmas Eve or Easter morning and you want me to deliver an 8-week-old puppy or kitten to your home by 6:30am before the kids awaken.

Press 24 if you bought your kids a darling Easter duckling, chick or bunny who is not darling by Christmas.

Press 25 if you want us to take your female dog or cat who has already had 10 litters, but you can't spay her because she is pregnant again and it is against your religion.

Press 26 if you hope to guilt-trip a younger volunteer into taking your pet off your hands.

Press 27 if you're unwilling to accept that your declawed cat now bites and goes outside the litter box as a direct result of the mutilation surgery (declawing) you forced her to endure to protect your nice furniture.

Press 28 if your male dog, 2, marks your house but you haven't had a chance to get him neutered.

Press 29 if your outdoor-only dog or cat is suddenly pregnant.

Press 30 if you've tried "everything" to housebreak your dog except crating, it's "cruel".

Press 31 if you didn't listen to our request for an evening phone number and instead left your workplace number (though our volunteers are also at work) and you're angry that no one returned your call.

Press 32 if you need a puppy or kitten without delay because today is your daughter's birthday and you forgot when she was born.

Press 33 if you seek a different color/breed animal because your current one doesn't match new furniture.

Press 34 if your new love doesn't like your dog or cat and you're too stupid to get rid of the new friend (who'll dump you in the next month anyway).

Press 35 if you listened to all menu options but didn't hear enough. This will connect you to the tears and sobs of a volunteer with your discarded old dog or cat in her arms as the vet mercifully frees him or her from the horrible grief of missing you.