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September 8, 2005, 6 p.m.: Distraught Couple Reunited With Forcibly Abandoned Animals; Officials Continue Heavy-Handed Evacuations of Vulnerable Animal Guardians
One of the more heartbreaking tales reported out of the Gulf Coast this week was that of Slidell, Louisiana, residents Valerie Bennett and her family. Ms. Bennett had offered her evacuators both her own wedding ring and her mother's wedding ring in an attempt to gain permission to bring her two dogs, cat, and guinea pig along when she and her ill husband, Lorne, were rescued from a flooded New Orleans hospital. The officials would not budge. She and her husband could only bring one item with them, and Mr. Bennett, a liver transplant recipient, needed medicine to survive. They, like thousands of others in New Orleans and beyond, were forced to leave their animals behind, seemingly to die.
Today it was reported that Mr. and Mrs. Bennett have been reunited with their four animals. According to the Associated Press, the couple headed to Atlanta, and the lucky animals were safely transported to a Texas veterinary clinic. A Houston couple who read of the Bennetts' plight offered to drive the animals to Atlanta to reunite the family. On Wednesday evening, Mr. and Mrs. Bennett were finally able to hug their beloved dogs, Oreo and Lady, as seen here.
But bad news continues to pour out of New Orleans. In the latest and perhaps most shocking example of officials' aggressive attempts to force these battered and in some cases elderly Americans to abandon their animals when evacuating, CNN reported the tale of a woman who identified herself as "Ms. Connie." The blind, elderly woman said she was repeatedly told to leave her guide dog behind in her rental home. The resolute preacher stood strong and told her evacuators that she would not leave without her companion. Ultimately, this courageous and compassionate woman won and was able to bring along the dog-who may well be her only surviving family member-when she left the city.
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