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2005 Hurricane
Dog Updates
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To all of
you....Thank you. Two small words to express so much gratitude! And
thank you to all those that have donated food, crates and money to the
animal rescue efforts in LA, MS and AL.
And again thank you to all that
have donated to Tampa Bay GSD Rescue. You have been so generous with
your assistance to our local effort, with your help getting these dogs
to FL and with offers to help with their ongoing care. Thank you
all so very much!
If you haven't yet
donated to our efforts and are thinking about it...now would be an
excellent time as our resources are being stretched to their
limits. (Read Katrina's story below.) Please consider
helping in whatever capacity you can. Thank you.
Executive Director, Tampa Bay German Shepherd Rescue
Southeast Regional Coordinator, American German Shepherd Rescue
Association
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HURRICANE
NEWS
Good News on the Hurricane Front
Hurricane Season 2005 is over and Ming the GSD that was lost for 3 months has been
found! Ming's owner was forced to evacuate New Orleans without her 2 beloved senior shepherds. Ming (age 9) and Sweetie (age 12) were rescued together once animal rescue groups were allowed in the city. Still the owner could not locate them until September, when Sweetie was located in a foster home. The owners continued to call shelters daily in efforts to locate their beloved Ming. Finally at the end of November, Ming has been found and is safe at home with Sweetie!
We brought back 7.5
dogs from our trip to LSU and Lamar Dixon Center in
Louisiana. (Ok 8 dogs...One is a Field Spaniel
that came out of a house with a GSD.) While in LA we also
assisted in in the placement of 7 more GSDs into long term
foster homes where they could remain close to their owners. We
were surprised to learn that 6 out of the 8 we brought back are
heartworm positive.
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 SUE
has been ADOPTED by a family with 4 cats and someone home most of the time. She is enjoying the attention and will be starting more obedience classes soon with her new mom. Sue is a Hurricane Katrina survivor that needed someone to love. She is a 4 to 5 year old small dark black & tan female housedog that after 8 months in foster care finally found her forever home. Sue tested positive for heartworm in Oct but has now been treated for it and is on monthly heartworm preventative.
Her foster mom writes, "Sue is such a beautiful girl though I am convinced she's not had much socialization. We worked on that while she was here. I understand that a lot of animals have gone through a very stressful situation for the weeks after the hurricanes, so we tried to give her some time to settle into her new environment as well as giving her some basic training. She has completed her 2nd 8 week session of obedience and is doing great. She does get excited but is really enjoying the attention even if she has to sit and stay sometimes. She loves to play ball and we give her Kongs to keep her busy. She whines when she isn't getting enough attention. She is such a great dog.... very sweet."
Sue has been in a foster home since the beginning of Oct waiting for her owner to take her back. They did not make any arrangements and signed her over in Jan 2006 to LSU and rescue. Sue was in her foster home with a male dog and cats and liked to chase them when they ran but if they did not run she would play with them and even groom them.
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 TIGER
has been ADOPTED after 8 months in the shelter at LSU and foster homes here in FL. He has gone to a family in Fort Meyers that have had several Spaniels and have an active lifestyle with hiking and camping. Tiger is a Field bred Cocker Spaniel that thinks he's a GSD. He came in with Snowball, his white GSD housemate. Tiger is very well behaved male Spaniel that is just a dream to handle.
After a long and hard decision the family of Snowball and Tiger have signed them over to rescue for adoption. The owners were taken to several shelters and are currently living in multiple locations, mom and the 2 youngest kids are in AZ; others with the in-laws in LA and the oldest with her paternal grandfather and father so she can stay in the same high school for her senior year. The family does not expect to be back together again in their home until NEXT Christmas (2006) and feel it is best for the dogs to have a stable life as they are unable to care for them.
Tiger was picked up with his housemate Snowball a few days after Hurricane Katrina. His family (11 family members) were rescued by boat from the second story balcony with 12' of water several days after the Hurricane but not allowed to take the dogs with them. Tiger and Snowball were left with food and water in the upstairs. Snowball was adopted by his foster family.
KATRINA
has been ADOPTED ...woooohoooo! 
Katrina is a beautiful 4 to 5 year old
sable female
that
has gone through surgery to
remove a large tumor. She
is such a nice girl and we hope to get her though all her health
issues. Katrina is very happy with any attention & seems good
with kids & unconcerned with cats. She has been
adopted by a couple with prior GSD experience that had been following her updates since Oct when she went up on
our website but they had an elderly GSD until a few weeks ago.
It is a match made in heaven!
She
had never been claimed by her original owner so we
went ahead & made the decision to start her medical treatment for a massive mammary gland tumor. We went to University of Florida Veterinary School in Gainesville to determine if she would even be a candidate for surgery. She got a complete physical, blood work,
chest
& abdominal x-ray, & ultrasound to see if the tumor had metastasized.
After several hours of being taken from department to department
& being examined by several specialists we got great news, the heart and lungs look good (even though she is a heavy heartworm positive), no other tumors were found,
& the blood work  looks good. We received a go on surgery from the internist
& the oncologist. We were very encouraged. Then came the bad news. The surgery, after the $800 in tests today, would be another $1600 to $2000; much more than Tampa Bay German Shepherd Rescue could afford on one dog
that still had to be spayed & undergo heartworm treatment.
After talking with the Surgeon and his student about waiting several weeks to see if we would be able to come up with some donations he told me to wait until
 he spoke with several other Doctors that would be involved with her surgery. He came back with great news, the spay would also be included with the surgery
& several of the others had agreed to cut their cost & the vet school discounted the total bill by 20%. With all the reductions
& discounts the cost went from approximately $2800 to $1300. Tampa Bay German Shepherd Rescue does not have these kind of funds. To ensure the operation will proceed I placed the costs on my personal
& already badly abused credit card... the same card that covered the trip to
LSU.
UPDATE
10/12 Katrina came through surgery with flying colors.
She was spayed, had a cyst on an ovary which will be biopsied,
had the tumor removed & that will also be biopsied.
The teat on the right side had an enlarged nodule so it was also
removed and will be biopsied. She has a very large incision and
will need to be kept confined with only gentle walking for 4 to
5 days and limited activity for another week to 10 days.
She will be crated in a spare bedroom here at our facility until the right
foster home comes along.
UPDATE
10/14 Katrina came home from surgery and is full of
herself but does not understand why she has to live in the crate
most of the day. She had her back shaved to give her a caudal
epidural for pain, had 2 teats removed with the tumor & had
the teat on the right side with a nodule also removed.
While under anesthesia she was also spayed. Katrina will be
going to her foster home on Sunday and getting the TLC that she
needs. Once she builds up her strength (about 4 to 6 weeks) she
will start her heartworm treatment which will take another 8
weeks of rest.
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Katrina with her foster brother. Her life has definitely
taken a turn for the better.
Tampa Bay German Shepherd Rescue
needs sponsors to help us cover Katrina's medical
expenses. We feel she is a special dog that deserves the chance to live a normal happy life. Any
donations for this sweet girl we've named Katrina will be greatly appreciated.
Please note FOR KATRINA on your check.
Tampa
Bay GSD Rescue
11904 Mc Mullen Loop
Riverview, FL 33569 |
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 BELLE whom
we nicknamed "Wiggle Butt", has been adopted by a GSD family with a retired male GSD working dog. She will get lots of attention as her new owners work different shifts so someone will be home most of the time.
She is a small black & tan 18 month old female. She was
rescued after Hurricane Katrina with Chase (who has been adopted
in FL) and another female (adopted in LA) and reunited with
their owner; then turned loose by the owners who did not want
them any longer. When picked up the 2nd time they were in worse
shape than after the hurricane. Belle was very dependent upon
Chase considering their ordeal but has developed confidence with
training and consistent attention from her foster home and is
now a happy girl that loves people. She has had her tail removed at an emergency shelter due to a severe wound and infection they could not get cleared up. Her whole backend now wiggles when she wags her stump and
how we happened to nickname her "Wiggle Butt".
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 PANZER
has been adopted and his new family writes,"Panzer has adapted very
quickly! It's as though he's been with us forever. His first trip to obedience class did not go as well as I had hoped as he is aggressive towards other dogs,
but that may have come from months in the boarding kennel. He does well with our dog Brandy, and is great with the grandchildren. He is very strong willed so needs an extra reminder at times, but I wouldn't trade him for the world because he's already stolen our hearts. He has a few tricks, such as lifting the toilet seat for water instead of drinking from the bowl, opening the patio door to let himself out & can let himself back in, also loves to sleep on the couch with a pillow for his head."
Panzer is a 7 yr old OFA certified (free of hip dysplasia) black & tan male that was turned into rescue by his widowed owner due to the loss of her home to Hurricane Wilma. He is a very nicely trained housedog that was raised with grandkids and foster kids from infants up. He loves to play ball and is nicely obedience trained on both voice and hand signals. He has lived with several other GSD's and a cat.
Since the hurricane, all the pets were in a boarding kennel while
their owner tried to find a home that she could afford and would
allow pets. She is delighted that Panzer has a safe happy
home now.
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REMY
& MARTIN
(BOTH HAVE BEEN ADOPTED)
are 2
male GSD housedogs from the same owner who brought them to the
temporary shelter at LSU as they had nowhere to keep them.
The family had excessive damage to their home and may never to be able to get back into it.
Giving their dogs up was not an easy decision but with such an
uncertain future they felt it best for the dogs. We've promised
to find them loving forever homes. Both are heartworm negative.
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 MARTIN
is
4 years old, black & cream, easy going & enjoys all attention. Raised with Remy as a housedog , he is sweet but does need some obedience. He
has a tendency to jump on people for attention. While at LSU for 4 weeks, the
volunteers who walked him wrote comments like "really nice boy, loves attention, easy to handle, loves cookies."
Poor fella was depressed after the owners were there to visit. He has been a good boy
here & has handled all the changes well.
REMY
has been adopted as a working dog for security with a handler at
malls, business and events and will also be trained for
Narcotics.
Congratulations Remy! He is a 2 year old dark black & tan male. Raised as a housedog with
Martin, he is a typical young GSD, energetic & full of exuberance.
He needs work on his obedience, with consistency in his
training. He will beg for attention & will jump on you. He was at LSU for 5 weeks getting walked by the volunteers
& they wrote comments like
" nice boy, loves attention, took me for a walk, loves cookies
& to play with the toys." He was neutered on Oct
11th.
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Remy
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NIKKY
has been adopted and is a beautiful girl who's owner left her with friends when his house was flooding. She was then left in
the friends' house when it too started to flood but their son went back in a boat to get her. She is a very nice house dog that
has settled in very quickly with her foster family and their male GSD that was adopted from Tampa Bay GSD Rescue and a mix breed male. Nikky is heartworm positive and
has undergone heartworm treatment and is now living
happily-ever-after in her new forever home.
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 SNOWBALL
(whom the volunteers at LSU were calling EDDY), has been adopted by his foster
family. Snowball is a 2 year old white GSD/Husky mix that was picked up with his housemate Tiger (Zoe) a few days after Hurricane Katrina.
Tiger and Snowball were left with food and water in the upstairs.
After a long
and hard decision the family of Snowball and Tiger have
signed them over to rescue for adoption. The owners were
taken to several shelters and are currently living in
multiple locations, mom and the 2 youngest kids are in
AZ; others with the in-laws in LA and the oldest with
her paternal grandfather and father so she can stay in
the same high school for her senior year. The family
does not expect to be back together again in their home
until NEXT Christmas (2006) and feel it is best for the
dogs to have a stable life as they are unable to care
for them.
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HURRICANE
UPDATE - 10/1/05
I can't express enough gratitude to all of you that have offered to foster the
German Shepherd Dogs displaced by the hurricanes. If
you are still willing to foster one of these dogs, please
contact us so we can discuss the specific requirements and
conditions.
Louisiana
State University Veterinary School contacted us to pick up the
GSDs that have not been taken by their owners yet. Everyone must
be aware that these dogs are not available for adoption. They
are not strays. The owners of these dogs are not in a position
to take or care for their dogs due to their living conditions.
These dogs will be fostered for 90 days or until the owners can
care for their dogs again. If the owner cannot take the dog back
by the end of the year, they will be made available for adoption
or on a case by case agreement with the foster home and the
owner. Our normal practice is to offer the fostering family
first chance to adopt the dog.
These
dogs have been in the care of Louisiana State University
Veterinary School. When we take possession of the dogs the
German Shepherd Rescue is responsible for their care and
feeding. We provide the foster homes with crates, food,
heartworm preventative and any medications or health care the
dogs may need. The foster homes will provide the love and
stability these dogs have been missing for the last few weeks.
Again, if you
are still willing to foster one of these dogs, please
contact us so we can discuss the specific requirements and
conditions.
HURRICANE
UPDATE - 9/20/05
Shelters in LA, MS, and AL will begin releasing unclaimed dogs
to long term foster after 30 days. The animals that have not yet
been re-united with their owners will soon be available to all
those that have graciously offered to foster. Happily, we have
been able to match some dogs with their families. Others have
claimed their beloved pets but are homeless themselves and will
be unable to care for them for some time. These dogs are now
settled into good foster homes and will be given lots of TLC
until the displaced family can be reunited. Rescue organizations
working in the hurricane zone are understandably attempting to
keep as many "owner identified" dogs fostered as close
to home as possible to make it easier for families to visit with
their pets.
With the FL
hurricanes of 2004 we had the last long term foster go home
after 10 1/2 months. Coincidentally, that foster home was one of
the 1st to volunteer.
And again, to
all of you....Thank you. Two small words to express so much
gratitude! And thank you to all those that have donated food,
crates and money to the animal rescue efforts in LA, MS and AL.
Thank you to
all that have donated to Tampa Bay GSD Rescue. You have been so
generous with your assistance to our local effort, with your
help getting these dogs to FL and with offers to help with their
ongoing care. Thank you all so very much!
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2007
update on a Hurricane Katrina Dog
~ Schatzi loves her new family! ~
 After
many months of discussion, our family decided to rescue a German
Shepherd Dog. We'd been wanting a family dog for a very long
time. We desired a GSD based on my childhood experience being
raised with them; this and it being an excellent breed.
We
loved the fact that we've saved a life! She is considered a
Hurricane Katrina dog as she was displaced after her original
family was kicked out of a 
FEMA trailer. Since then, she'd been bounced around many
shelters.
Though her original name was Allie, we've
renamed her Schatzi ( German for " Sweetheart").
From the moment we brought her home, she instantly bonded with
all of us. Regan, Andrew, Martin and I have loved every moment
with her. She seems to be happy and is starting to be more
playful. The kids love her. The cats are skeptical, but are all
doing fine. She is a wonderful fit for our family.
Thank
you so much! A family with animals is a true family at
heart. - Schatzi's new momma Heidi
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