Animal Writings

Thank you for acknowledging the important human-animal bond. It makes our hearts bigger. I am the webmaster of Lost Katrina Pets, a task I thought I would be doing until maybe the end of December. Sadly this work is continuing -- heartbroken people are still aching to have that part of their heart, their beloved pet, returned to them.

There are many tragic stories here, some told, some kept private. But the ones I find most difficult to comprehend and that truly, deeply, challenge my faith in humanity are the ones where the animals were "rescued" and adopted out and no amount of pleading from the animal's true owner will convince the adopter or adopting agency to return the animal to their original family. The selfishness and hard-heartedness is not something I expected to encounter in the animal rescue/animal rights community. There are several cases of this nature at Lost Katrina Pets. The most recently-posted one is that of Chico, the little maltese mix.

And in the case of Gideon, it took a visit from the sheriff's deputies to get a beloved dog back. Why must this be so difficult?

The human-animal bond should be honored and respected. If adopters think the bond between them and their new pet is strong, they should consider what it would have been like for the family that lived with that animal for years and years--even stronger. And the pain of being told "no you can't have him/her back" is acute. Who has the right to inflict that pain on another person?

We wouldn't do it if it were a rescued child, we shouldn't do it if it's a rescued pet.

Thank you for listening.