This is Bruce who we brought home from Gonzales, LA Lamar Dixon Expo Center along with a JRT mix and a beagle mix. Please read our story of the devestation that Hurricane Katrina delt to the animals in AL, MS, and LA and the courage and devotion of the folks who went there to rescue them.

You can see some of the pictures Cindy & I took while we were at Lamar Dixon here.

We also want to thank the following people for donating money for our trip: Thelma Twigg, Randy Jones, Virginia St Pierre, Jeri St. Clair, Austins Repair Shop, & Lonesome Pine All Breed Rescue

Our final trip to NOLA was spent at Camp Katrina hosted by HumaneLA in Tylertown, MS. Read about that trip and the many animals we brought back with us here

You can read about our hurricane dogs who found their families again here

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I can honestly say that this has been a life altering trip for me in many many ways. The things that I saw, the noises, the smells, the utter devastation are things that will be forever etched deeply in my mind. The dogs who suffered so because of their owners and the governments inability to plan for disasters with animals is beyond your wildest dreams.

There were 1400 dogs and other animals where I worked...can you even imagine the sound? You can't.... These dogs were scared to death...majority of them being pittbulls (many were fight dogs). Some small housedogs..some loved pets...some backyard dogs...some strays before the storm...some abused...all scared. All stuffed into crates in a barn that was over 100 degrees poms beside pitts. Aggressive dogs by passive dogs. Walking skeletons with fur. Many with chemical burns on their bodies and feet from the water.

The volunteers and vets worked around the clock bringing dogs, cats, horses, goats, fish, hamsters, and anything furry, feathered, or finned in to safety. There was an import area where the trucks of animals that had been rescued were unloaded and photographed (put on Petfinder), then they were put into crates in the main barn. They were taken from there to the "export" area where they were vetted and micro chipped and put back into crates on another side of the barn. Some where shipped out to rescues around the country...some left behind. Cats had to be iced down because of the excessive heat...rabbits died of heatstroke...dogs went into shock...dogfights ran rampant because of unskilled handlers trying to walk aggressive dogs and not watching out for the other dogs.

They advised us all to seek a mental health professional when we returned home because of the stress we were under. I am honestly considering it at this point... I am numb from shock. The eyes of the pittbull who was beaten in the face to keep him from pulling off the shepards tail that he attacked (because of an idiot handler) will haunt me until I die. I walked this dog...I loved on this dog...he laid his head in my lap and licked my face as I wiped the blood off his nose and now he is condemned to die because of a mistake by his walker... I hear the voices of the dogs who have no one...the dogs who will die there (or in kill shelters around the world where many have been sent) and I am ashamed that I am a part of this world. I am ashamed of our government and of the people who own pets and claim to love them and then leave them behind to die a horrible death.

On my first day there I met Bruce a blind old golden boy who was left chained on a rooftop for 3 weeks with a bowl of food he couldn't reach. ~Note...this story was NOT true and the true story is written below as told to me by Bruce's family~  He was skin and bones when he came in...all matted and scared to death. His sightless eyes broke my heart and his wagging tail made it worse. I read his story and saw the name of his owner on his tags...the owner who has never come for him and may never come for him. Bruce was hot and scared and I held him and loved him and cried for him. One of the girls who went with me went over to the head HSUS officer and spoke with him about Bruce and a JRT boy she called Gonzo... He told me to take them back to VA with me. I jumped through many hoops to satisfy the HSUS and ASPCA to foster these 2 dogs plus a beagle with an undershot jaw and crooked front legs. Now they are safe...they are fed and watered...they are loved. If their owners show up they will go home...if not on Oct 15 they become property of Lost Fantasy and will be adopted out to families who will love them forever and never leave them behind.

The main thing I will try to impose on people is that owning a pet is NOT a right it is a privilege! We care for them and they depend on us for everything they have. It is our responsibility to keep them safe from harm and to identify them so if they should become lost they can be returned. Collars/tags/microchips are so important! Less than 1/3 of the dogs at Gonzales had any id to them.... Many more could have been reunited with their owners if they had.

~The TRUE story of Bruce and how he came to be at the Lamar-Dixon center in Gonzales~

Bruce belonged to a 87 year old gentleman named Al along with a dalmation named Duke. Carolyn (Al's daughter) asked him to evacuate with them when they left La and told him to bring his dogs with him. Apparantly Duke didn't get along well with Bruce and Al chose to stay behind with his dogs rather than leave them behind so he himself could go to a safe place. Sadly Al suffered a heart attack and passed away in his home with Bruce by his side. After 3 weeks of being told her father had been evacuated Carolyn and her sister made plans to go to his home and search for him. Sadly her sister found their father in the home. Bruce was left behind and subsequently picked up by animal rescue workers who took him to the Lamar-Dixon center where I found him. Carolyn and her husband Paul were looking for him and had found him at Gonzales but by the time they got there Bruce was already in VA with us. We were contacted by Petfinder that an owner was identified for Bruce and they wanted to claim him. We spoke by phone and my heart broke for this family who has lost so much. After all was said and done they were kind enough to allow Bruce to live out the rest of his life here to be spoiled rotten and loved deeply by my family. God bless this family who gave our family a treasured pet to love as much as they love him.

EDITED 8-28-2009

Today at 5:15 pm 1 day short of the 4 yr anniversary of Hurricane Katrina Bruce was helped across the Rainbow Bridge where he met his Daddy Al and his brother Duke. Somewhere up high there is a beautiful Golden who is no longer old and blind who is running and playing happily with his family again.

Vaya Con Dios my sweet Bruce... until we meet again