Hurricane Katrina

Civil Suit Is Filed For Companion Animals Executed In St. Bernard Parish

~ Lawsuit: Katrina Pets Executed, continued ~
For nearly two years, pet guardians from the low-lying Louisiana parish of St. Bernard have accused sheriff's deputies of having wantonly killed dozens of dogs they forced evacuees to leave behind during Hurricane Katrina in 2005, without regard to the dogs' size or the potential threat they might pose.

One evacuee said her family was forced at gunpoint to leave their dog. Another said residents grew frantic when they overheard a deputy say "once everyone's gone, we're going to have target practice tonight." Court papers claim deputies were under "authorization of superiors and employers."

Two deputies have already been indicted by a New Orleans grand jury on felony aggravated cruelty to animals charges. The Louisiana attorney general's office is investigating and lawyers for a group of [animal guardians] will file a comprehensive complaint in Louisiana federal court seeking class action status for their clients.

For the first time, St. Bernard Parish sheriff's office has acknowledged to ABC News' Law & Justice Unit that an internal investigation is underway. Sal Gutierrez, a sheriff's office rep, defended the department's handling of a difficult evacuation. Gutierrez said shells found in schools didn't necessarily come from weapons issued to deputies. He called orders to kill dogs from superior officers "false" and said if the investigation revealed wrongdoing, the St. Bernard sheriff would take disciplinary action. If false claims have been alleged in the lawsuit, he said he'd consider countercharges of defamation of character. He said that he and the sheriff were animal lovers.

In December, the sheriff's office released a statement that any actions taken were done with "the utmost care, caution and belief of necessity," according to New Orleans City Business newspaper. But Gutierrez told ABC News that until the internal investigation was done, he could not adequately answer charges.

"I can't tell you we don't have a renegade or two," Gutierrez told ABC News. "If you're talking about a rabid dog roaming the streets trying to attack, that's understandable to try and find and euthanize a dog," said plaintiff attorney Randall Smith. But, he said later, "some of them were poodles, miniature dogs, tied up…no way a threat to anybody."

One of the key pieces of evidence in the civil case is expected to be video footage shot by Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer David Leeson Jr., who said he witnessed dogs shot while filming in the area after Katrina for the Dallas Morning News. "They shot the dog I was trying to help right in front of me," he told reporters at the time. On his video gunshots can clearly be heard.

Mike Minton, a former sergeant from the St. Bernard Parish sheriff's office, acknowledges shooting dogs but says it was done for humane reasons. Gutierrez told ABC News that Minton was "let go" from the department and was "no longer an employee." Minton, one of two deputies indicted in December on animal cruelty charges, did not return a call from ABC.

It Was Massacre, A Shooting Gallery

~ Lawsuit: Katrina Pets Executed, continued ~
"It was a massacre. It was a shooting gallery," said Mark Steinway, co-founder of the animal rescue group Pasado's Safe Haven. Steinway was among those who discovered the animals' bodies at three school evacuation centers, gathered evidence and urged the Louisiana State Attorney General's Office to launch an investigation. "We documented as best we could as a crime scene," he said. "It was obvious [the dogs] had been chased. There were so many rounds of ammunition and holes in the walls, so many random shots to body cavities and legs, areas where you know animals were trying to get away from these guys."

Steinway described one harrowing discovery he made in the one of the parish schools that he said exemplified the wantonness with which the animals were killed. "Somebody carefully tied up these two dogs in one of the rooms and shot them, and didn't even shoot them at close range in the head to put them out of their misery," he said. "They backed up and started shooting, with a shotgun started firing. Pellets all over the floor, bullet holes in the wall. It was a slaughter."

Please Do Not Shoot Her

Some said they waited to evacuate for good reason. One woman's daughter had just had a major surgery. Another had medical issues that prevented him from driving and an elderly father too weak to drive. Waters rose rapidly.

On 8/28/05, officials announced St. Bernard's High School as a shelter of last resort. On 8/31, officials moved residents out of school shelters to Algiers Point ferry landing. Before leaving, many desperately scrawled messages on school walls: "There is a very nice dog in there. Please do not shoot her. Her name is Angel," read one message. Another: "Call me please. I want my pets back." And, "In this room are 6 adult dogs and 4 puppies. Please save them! Kit."

Everybody, We're Under Water

Plaintiff John Bozes said his black Labrador, Angel Girl, had saved his family's life. Floodwaters had reached the door top in his home, he told ABC News. "I walked to the door right there, I go to put my hand on the knob to open it, she got between me and that door and nudged me back. Then I saw water coming through the top of the door and I said, 'Oh boy, we're in trouble.'"

"Everybody, we're under water!" he hollered to his family, who climbed through the attic to reach their roof. They were evacuated to St. Bernard's High School, where they were told to evacuate without animals. "It was a mandatory evacuation – we either go to jail or get shot, or we leave our pets behind."

Then, he said, he and other animal guardians heard a deputy say, "Man, once everybody's gone, we're going to have target practice tonight."

"There was so much commotion after that statement," he said. "We stood our ground: We're not leaving them. Next thing you know, we either leave or get shot." Bozes' father, Paul, said he thought about Angel Girl often. "If I see that boy or man who shot her, they better have a lot of people around to keep me from hitting them."

"These are animals," John Bozes said, "but they have brains just like you and I. They have feelings like we have… Tough animals, wonderful animals, lovable animals. And to have somebody shoot for no reason at all, I don't think no animal in that school would have hurt somebody, especially Angel. She was too lovable."

John Bozes and his sister were separated from their three dogs — Angel Girl, a pit bull Honey and a Husky mix Bullet – when they were evacuated. The dogs were taken to Beauregard Middle School and St. Bernard's Parish High School. "Bullet, the Husky mix, was found dead in the corner of Beauregard Middle School," according to the complaint. "The cord from the Venetian blind on the nearest window had been tied to Bullet's collar. Angel Girl and Honey were found together, also in a corner. Angel Girl had been tethered to the Venetian blinds on a nearby window. Honey was not tied, but lay at Angel Girl's side."

Plaintiff Joyce Stubbs was told she couldn't bring dogs Max and Lucky when evacuated from Beauregard High School, so "she poured bottles of water and soft drinks into a large ice chest for her dogs to drink," claim court documents. "She also put out a lot of food where the dogs could readily access it."

"Stubbs and her children spent a long moment saying goodbye to her dogs. A Sheriff's deputy approached them and pointed a shotgun at her son's face and threatened to shoot him if they did not leave the dogs. He also pointed the shotgun at their small dog Lucky," the complaint reads.

Her Name Is Angel

John Bozes, Senate Testimonial
My name is John Bozes. I am a former resident of St. Bernard Parish and I am here to ask you to pass the Pet Evacuation Bill so that when there is another disaster, our pets can travel safely with us to designated shelters and not be left behind to perish because of improper emergency planning.

On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina destroyed Southeast Louisiana, leaving St. Bernard Parish a waterlogged marshland. A very large percentage of residents did not evacuate to shelters outside the parish because we did not want to leave our pets behind and were told we could not evacuate with them.

About my medical situation at the time, I had just been released from the hospital and couldn't drive because of my medical condition. The other occupant of my home, my elderly father, is no longer licensed to drive. I had been disabled for three months and was without the income to even fill my vehicle with gasoline, let alone charter a vehicle to transport my family and pets. Obviously, public transportation was not a pet-friendly option. Later I came to find that although some generous gas companies were offering free fuel, this was not widely known nor broadcast through media. It seems that this was yet another flaw of the emergency broadcast system.

My 2-1/2 year old black lab, Angel Girl, was a hero who saved my family. If she had not woken me from sleep, my family would've drowned. The water was over the roof when she led us out the door. After the levee breach, my father, sister and nephew's girlfriend were boated from the roof of our Violet, LA home thanks to brave residents who took us to St. Bernard High School. My brother-in-law and nephew stayed back with 4 dogs and 8 birds.

That Tuesday night, my brother-in-law Gene and his son Robert Christopher – along with our family's four dogs Angel Girl, Bullet, Daisy, and Honey – were boated to PGT Beauregard Middle School. Gene saw other animals there and thought pets were safe until water went down. On Wednesday, St. Bernard Sheriff's Office Deputies ordered us to leave the school. We were forbidden to take pets. A St. Bernard Sheriff's Office Deputy assured us "your pets will be rescued." I wrote a note on the school wall pleading for Angel's safekeeping. I wrote "she is a good girl." Others wrote similar notes with contact information, hoping that the Deputy's word would be kept.

One week after Hurricane Rita evacuations, my sister Carol, her family, and I were in a hotel. A dear friend searching for Angel advised me to watch CNN that evening at 10:00 pm. We saw Anderson Cooper break a story called Dog Killings at Three St. Bernard Parish Schools. The crew first filmed room 203 at PGT Beauregard Middle School. What we saw was devastating.

The camera trailed rescue teams as they opened the door. The first dog seen was my sister's husky mix, Bullet. Bullet had not been rescued as promised. Bullet was dead. In the next room, the camera showed my Angel Girl and Honey, both shot to death and lying in their own blood.

The next Saturday my sister Carol, her husband Gene Hamm, and I returned to St. Bernard Parish for the first time. We stopped at PGT Beauregard Middle School and went to the room where Gene was forced to leave our dogs. The sight was beyond words, my worst nightmare. When I saw my beloved Angel in a pool of her blood, I knelt beside her, crying. I asked, "Why did this happen and who did it?" On my knees in her blood, I told her I was sorry that I was forced to leave her and couldn't save her. I kissed Angel's forehead. Carol and Gene also spoke to their dead dog Bullet.

I still have nightmares about what happened and I picture this all too often in my head. I still lay awake at night crying because Angel Girl was all I had.

This bill must be passed so that our pets can be rescued alongside their human family members and not murdered by unprepared law enforcement agents or people who do not like animals nor understand our family bonds with them. Also, the bill will ensure that well-meaning rescuers do not misplace our pets in other states where name tags and paperwork have gone missing during the chaos.

Before I close, I would like to call attention to the three empty leashes that I carry today. They represent my family's three dogs, killed in St. Bernard Parish. It is for the love of these dogs that I am here today.