Barbara Bent and her husband had been content to be a "two-dog" family. But the Eldersburg woman is cradling Baby Gizmo in her arms, and she doesn't want the puppy, a survivor of Hurricane Katrina, to leave.
"He's turned into my shadow," Bent says. "I was hoping another two weeks would go by and we'd get to keep him."
Gizmo is one of at least 80 pets pulled from the wreckage on the Gulf Coast who are being cared for in shelters or homes in Maryland. Some in foster care here may become permanent, adopted family members. But others are only temporary companions, bound to return one day to their homes in the South.
In Louisiana, a woman is eagerly awaiting Gizmo's return.
"He's all we have left," says Missy Krol, whose home in St. Bernard Parish might have to be demolished because of the damage done by 5 feet of water. By phone, she says the dog was a pal to her 5-year-old granddaughter, and adds, "I'm thankful he's alive, and someone's taking care of him."
Many pet owners thought they would only be gone a day or two when they left their pets behind as Katrina approached, says Belinda Mager, a spokeswoman for the Humane Society of the United States. More than 7,400 animals were rescued on the Gulf Coast by groups working with the Humane Society, which used facilities in Louisiana and Mississippi to temporarily house the pets, Mager says.
Most of the dogs and cats have been accepted by animal shelters and rescue groups across the country to be placed in foster homes, and, if their owners don't claim them, put up for adoption. Mager says the groups are being asked to make every effort to reunite the pets with their owners.
More than 600 pets were returned to their owners before they had to be taken for longer-term care. In the weeks that have followed, another 150 pets have been returned to their owners, who have searched for them using the Internet or a phone service called Pet Finder, Mager says.
Some of the owners don't have housing arrangements in place to accept their animals. In many other cases, the animals were severely dehydrated or otherwise sick or injured when rescued, and they are being nursed back to health in preparation for their homecomings.
As Katrina pets continue to arrive in Maryland, volunteers with local animal rescue organizations say they need more people willing to provide both foster and permanent homes.
