New Orleans dogs displacing local dogs

At the risk of sounding rhetorical...

Does anyone else find it counterproductive to spend *amazing* resources to treat and transport injured unclaimed dogs from the New Orleans (NO) area? I'm especially struck by our local situation. I recently spent some time at an 'adoptathon' (with our foster Husky) which was attended by some NO dogs. (The NO dogs were featured on TV that night. I don't

the shelter overnight because the shelter had a large intake (12) that day and were going to start euthanizing while many of their normal foster families were at work and couldn't be contacted.

Then this week I was contacted about flying an unclaimed Rottweiler in an oxygen tent from LSU to MSU.

I'm trying to look at unclaimed dogs as a commodity - the dogs coming from the NO area are no 'better' than those being euthanized in our shelter. On the whole, they're probably even 'worse' because they often require significant medical care.

If we say that the NO dogs are equivalent to the dogs being euthanized here, it's like we're spending thousands of dollars to bring dogs here to euthanize them. I would much rather see that money go toward spay/ neuter, education, etc. programs.

So...I suspect that I'm too far into this line of thinking to clearly see the other side of it on my own. I tried gently asking for some help understanding it from someone involved in care of a NO animal but that only brought a naive response about dogs 'deserving care.' (I'll be more sympathetic when we stop euthanizing good healthy dogs.)

Surely there's someone here who can articulate what I'm missing. Why is it that we value the lives of dogs caught in a hurricane so much more than the lives of other dogs who end up at shelters?

(Note that I'm trying to be clear that I'm talking about unclaimed pets who are *not* destined for reunification with their families. I view family members in a vastly different light.)

Or is this just a typical 'puppy in a well' story? (You know - stray puppy gets caught in a hole, entire town shows up to spend amazing resources to extricate it, 20 people line up to adopt it, and the local shelter puts down a whole litter of healthy puppies because it lacks the resources to care for them and no one wants to adopt them.)

Thank you.

I think it's the puppy-in-a-well thing.

I mean

Katrina and Rita have presented us all with a vast number of difficult situations and questions; IMO, much like 9-11. I've tried to put myself, and my dogs, in the place of those in the storm damaged gulf. So far, the only thing I'm sure of is that I would not leave my dogs alive to survive or die on their own.

If the rescued dogs are representative of what I see here, very few will have a microchip, tattoo or tag. Many will not have any sort of collar; so, virtually no way to reunite them with their owners. The fact that dogs and owners might have gone in opposite directions certain complicates things even more.

The local shelter stays so full, that any dog that was quartered here would spell death for other, local dogs

It's a combination of pity and sensationalism, I think. I'm sure you've encountered it before - - the worse off the animal is, and the more sad the story of what happened to it, the more people there are lined up wanting to adopt it. I've heard that some shelters are mixing New Orleans dogs in with others to avoid this sort of thing. Perhaps the solution for your shelter is to make up a really sad story of abuse, neglect, or natural disaster for each of your adoptables.

Mustang Sally

Part of it is that the NO dogs are a 'Story'. A rescue is more likely to receive publicity, donations, volunteers etc. if they are shown to be going above and beyond the call of duty to save the dogs.

There is definitely that. Some people want the dog who made it on TV or

dog along by car (a JRT). People were lining out the door to adopt the dog, and the shelter received lots of donations to help the poor puppy out. The rest of the dogs - that just happens every day, no one wrote any stories about it, so no interest.

On another board I visit, someone had asked for information on how to go about adopting Katrina dogs. This person was willing to spend whatever it took to fly the dog over. I suggested that they adopt some poor dog who is local, and send the money they saved on the flight to some of the organizations involved in the rescue effort along the Gulf coast. I don't think that the suggestion went down too well.