Lost Dogs of Hurricane Katrina.
The forgotten victims of the horror of Katrina were the pets. Residents who were evacuated were not allowed to take their animals with them – in fact many were forced to leave their homes at gunpoint by the emergency services.
This 80-minute documentary by novice San Francisco film maker Geralyn Pezanoski reduced audiences to tears at the SXSW Film Festival last week. The film is titled “Mine”, and it describes how hundreds of pets were left at the scene of Hurricane Katrina. Many of their owners have dedicated their efforts since then to finding their lost loved ones. Deaths of the pets were inevitable, but the survivors were mostly picked up by animal rescue volunteers. Rehoming to new families has now ended in tug of love cases between the distraught Katrina victims and the new adopting families. Have the tissues ready as you watch this tearjerker and see how much the love of a dog means.
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When I was checking out Paris Hilton’s jail sentence I came across another story about poor old Tinkerbell, her pet Chihuaha. Apparently the pampered pooch went missing last week, I can’t find whether she was dressed in one of those dog outfits at the time. Even dear Paris Hilton realised that Tinkerbell could be held to ransom if news came out that she is a celebrity dog. Although you would have to be living on the moon if you didn’t recognise the designer dog’s clothes! I am pleased to say that Tinkerbell was found and returned to her owner within a week. No details have been released regarding where the dog was found and who returned her. Maybe she will stop dressing Tinkerbell in those ridiculous outfits now.

It snowed last night, so we went to Alexandra Park with lots of others, desperate to enjoy the scattering of fluffy powdery snow while it lasts. In the park we met a lady who had lost her Jack Russell, Bertie. She was extra worried as his dog tag had fallen off. He is white, she told us: not so easy to spot today. We looked for him all the way but he could not be found. We know their address so we walked round there later and when we knocked at the door, we heard – a dog barking! Bertie the Jack Russell had found his way home and was waiting on the doorstep when his Mum got back.
Mum insisted on taking a photo of me in the snow, so here it is. I even sat in my famous ‘Dog as Sphinx’ pose – in exchange for a dog biscuit.