Katrina survivors hope to be reunited with dogs
By LESTER R. DAILEY
Article published on Wednesday, June 28, 2006  |
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| Master Tank is photographed for identification purposes at Camp Lucky, a temporary pet shelter in Louisiana, shortly after Hurricane Katrina. He has since been adopted by a Tampa woman. |
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| Nila now lives with Rhonda Rineker of Dunedin, though her previous owners want her back. |
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PINELLAS COUNTY – Steve and Dorreen Couture were ecstatic when they discovered that the two dogs from which they had been separated in the chaos of Hurricane Katrina were alive.
But their joy turned to frustration when they learned that their beloved pets had been adopted by two Tampa Bay residents who have bonded with them and refuse to give them back.
“It’s a sad story for everybody,” said Dr. Kenny Mitchell, the Pinellas County Animal Services director who is helping the Coutures’ efforts to get back their dogs.
When the storm approached last September, Steve sent Dorreen and their two grandchildren to safety in Lafayette, La. He stayed behind in St. Bernard Parish with their two 4-year-old dogs, Master Tank, a St. Bernard, and Nila, a shepherd mix, who had grown up with the Coutures and each other.
Soon, there was 8 feet of water in the two-story home. Some people came along in a boat and told Steve that coming with them might be his last chance to get out alive. He agreed and tried to bring the dogs, but the people wouldn’t let them in the boat.
“It was a rescue effort,” Steve explained. “They had to get people out. It wasn’t about getting dogs out.”
He left the dogs on the second floor with enough food and water for the few days he expected to be gone and made his way to Lafayette, where 15 people shared a three-bedroom home. The family later got more spacious quarters, but there still was no room for the dogs.
Two weeks after the storm, a relative sneaked past roadblocks and retrieved the dogs from the Coutures’ home. He convinced Steve that Camp Lucky, a temporary pet shelter, would be the best place for them until the family was able to properly care for them. The relative took them to Camp Lucky, where they were photographed with dry-erase boards indicating they were the property of Steven Couture.
“I thought that was the way to go because I was assured that we could get the dogs back when we had a place for them,” Steve said after a press conference at Pinellas County Animal Services Tuesday. “They were never surrendered for adoption. They were surrendered to be cared for until we could get them back.”
But the Coutures’ dogs were among the 288 Katrina animals brought to the Humane Society of Pinellas in September and adopted out in October, after 30 days of foster care by people who adopted them. Also in October, the national Humane Society of the United States asked its local chapters to hold all Katrina pets until Dec. 15, if possible, to give their owners more time to locate them.
Rhonda Rineker of Dunedin got Nila. Tank went to Pam Bondi of Tampa, who renamed him Noah. Bondi is a high-profile Hillsborough County prosecutor whose own St. Bernard, Donovan, had recently died of cancer.
The Coutures contacted Rineker and Bondi, but both refused to return the dogs.
Rineker has declined to talk to the Coutures or the press. Bondi could not be reached for comment, but she previously told the St. Petersburg Times she did not want to return the St. Bernard because he had heartworms, missing hair, an eye infection and other signs of neglect.
The Coutures, who bought a new home in Talisheek, La., countered the neglect allegations by producing documents indicating that both dogs were “healthy” when they left Camp Lucky. They plan to stay in Pinellas County until June 30, hoping to resolve the stalemate.
“We’re going to see an attorney and see what our options are,” Steve said.
He added that he hopes to retrieve the dogs without litigation, thank Rineker and Bondi for taking care of them, and reimburse the money the two women have spent on his dogs.
“I’m not a rich man; I’m just a carpenter,” he said. “But this isn’t about money; it’s about getting the dogs back. I’ll get the money somehow.”
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Article published on Wednesday, June 28, 2006
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