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Dogs should be reunited with original owners

By DIANE STEINLE
Published July 16, 2006

Few stories inspire an emotional outpouring like the one about two dogs that were taken from flooded New Orleans and given to new owners, but now their former owners are fighting to get them back.

A St. Bernard named Master Tank and a shepherd mix named Nila lived with Steve and Dorreen Couture of St. Bernard Parish, La., and their two grandchildren, 4-year-old Steven and 7-year-old Cassidy. Then Hurricane Katrina hit, the levees broke, and the family and the pets were separated in the mayhem that followed the flood.

Three weeks after the flood, the two dogs were picked up by the Humane Society of Pinellas, which rescued 288 Katrina animals. About a month later, the Humane Society adopted out Tank to Pam Bondi, a prosecutor in the Hillsborough State Attorney's Office who had already fostered the dog for a month. Nila went to a Dunedin woman, Rhonda Rineker.

The Coutures assert that those adoptions were inappropriate. Since they can't get the new owners to give back the dogs, they have sued.

That brief retelling of the much-reported story doesn't begin to reflect the raw emotions involved. The losses the Coutures suffered because of Katrina were only the latest; one of their sons died in 1989 at age 13 from diabetes, and another son and their grandchildren's mother both died in a tragic incident in 2004. Pam Bondi had been mourning the loss of a beloved St. Bernard to cancer shortly before Tank arrived in Pinellas, and she says she and Tank "saved each other."

In letters to the editor, in blog entries and on television talk shows, people are expressing strong opinions about this case. Some say the Coutures are the rightful owners. Others say the dogs should stay with their new owners. Some criticize the Humane Society for adopting out the dogs too quickly.

Most striking to me are the harsh judgments of some who accuse the Coutures of abusing the dogs, abandoning them to the flood or refusing to get them veterinary care.

There is a lot of incorrect or incomplete information about this case floating around. The search for information is handicapped by the destruction of records in the flood and the continued silence of Rick Chaboudy, who directed the Pinellas Humane Society for 20 years until he abruptly resigned in early May.

There are also some interesting inconsistencies in the stories of those involved in the Nila and Tank cases and some blips in the adoption time line that warrant investigation. Below the surface, I suspect, there is much to be discovered.

Here are some points to ponder:

- Bondi has said that Master Tank was a neglected and "dying dog" because of untreated heartworms when she got him. Look at the photograph that appears on this page. It was taken on Sept. 23, 2005, two days after Tank arrived in Pinellas, 23 days after New Orleans flooded. Make your own judgment: Does the dog appear to be at death's door? The Coutures say Tank had heartworms when they adopted him at 10 months old but he got monthly heartworm medicine.

- The Coutures have been accused of abandoning the dogs to die in the flood. Not so, they say. Mrs. Couture and the two grandchildren evacuated before Katrina hit, but Mr. Couture stayed with the dogs. When the levees broke and the water rose, Mr. Couture was rescued by boat but was told he couldn't bring the dogs. He left them in the house with food and water, expecting to be back soon, but it was two weeks before anyone could re-enter the neighborhood. The dogs were taken to an emergency animal shelter, where they were photographed. Documents created there showed Mr. Couture as their owner. Mr. Couture was told the dogs could remain there until he found a place to live. Instead, the shelter gave the dogs - 288 Katrina pets in all - to the Pinellas Humane Society.

- The Pinellas Humane Society is required to send a registered letter to owners before adopting out pets. The Coutures, who had left a forwarding address with the emergency shelter, say they got no letter. They finally found their dogs through a rescue Web site in January, but they say Chaboudy would not return their calls. Ceily Trog, manager of St. Bernard Parish Animal Control, said Chaboudy also ignored her calls.

- Some dog lovers accuse the Coutures of abusing Tank and Nila because they kept them outdoors. Dogs have lived outdoors for hundreds of years, and as long as they have plentiful water and shelter from the elements, get veterinary care and socialize regularly with their families, they are okay, said Dr. Kenny Mitchell of Pinellas County Animal Services. Besides, if leaving dogs outside is inhumane, then the Pinellas Humane Society is guilty: All of its dogs live outdoors in kennels.

- "Do what's best for the dogs," some people say, adding that because Bondi makes more money than the Coutures, she could provide a better life for Tank. Stand up, pet owners everywhere, if you would willingly surrender your own adored pet to someone who makes more money so it could "have a better life." Should only the wealthy be allowed pets?

Dogs give such unconditional love that humans get attached quickly, as has happened with those who adopted these two dogs.

However, the Coutures and Tank and Nila were a family for years until a hurricane ripped them apart. It just seems to me they belong together.

Diane Steinle can be reached at steinle@sptimes.com To write a letter to the editor for publication, go to www.sptimes.com/letters, or mail to 710 Court St., Clearwater, FL 33756.

[Last modified July 15, 2006, 22:24:01]