Katrina refugee to return to owner

Months after losing his family in the chaos of Hurricane Katrina, a canine survivor named Buddy began a long trek home to Louisiana on Monday evening, but his owner has no idea that her energetic beagle is returning or even alive.

The Rev. Frank Davis is planning to reunite his sister, who is now living in Shreveport, La., with her lost companion tonight, but he said his secret has a practical reason.

“She doesn’t even know that the dog is still alive. I don’t want to get my sister’s hopes up until I can put him in her arms,” said Davis, who is from Gretna, La.

Buddy is scheduled to fly from Spokane to Seattle in the heated cargo belly of a jet, spending Monday night in Seattle with a member of the local Humane Society and then flying to Shreveport, where Davis will pick him up.

“I can’t even imagine how’s she’s going to react,” Davis said.

Buddy came to Spokane in October with three other animals rescued from the Gulf region, said Gail Mackie, director of SpokAnimal C.A.R.E.

The shelter placed the dog in the care of foster partner Debra Anderson, but for months Buddy’s identity and owner were a mystery. The dog’s only identification was a silver collar with a rabies vaccination tag and the disconnected telephone number of a New Orleans clinic, Mackie said.

After weeks, SpokAnimal made contact with the clinic, and after comparing records and clearing up some confused identification numbers, the Spokane organization got the owner’s name.

On Dec. 12, the shelter made contact with his family.

“Buddy was going to go up for adoption on the 16th,” Mackie said. “I think this is pretty amazing.”

Davis called it an answer to his family’s prayers.

Searching the Internet for a contact number, SpokAnimal stumbled upon Davis. He said he was almost positive the dog was his sister’s.

“They were calling him a different name, but I looked at the picture and I thought it looked a lot like Buddy,” he said.

The shelter had dubbed the dog Billy Joe, but in a stroke of serendipity the dog’s foster family had started to call him Buddy – his original name.

Debra Anderson and her daughter Jaiden Anderson, 6, brought Buddy back to the shelter Monday afternoon with a shiny red bow tied around his neck and a package of bones to take home.

In the months since the Andersons took him into their home, Buddy has become part of their family, Debra said.

“I’m gonna miss you,” she said to the dog, but added that she would not miss his shed hair.

Anderson, who also acts as a foster parent, said it was clear when she brought the dog into her home that the hurricane had made an impact him.

“He was really, really stressed. You could just see it in his face,” she said.

Despite trauma, Mackie and Anderson said Buddy seemed especially resilient and engaging, something they attributed to the dog’s status as a service dog. Similar to a seeing-eye dog, Buddy acts as a pet-therapy dog for Davis’ sister.

“Service dogs can be doing anything,” said Mackie, “from assisting the blind, to helping people with hearing loss hear the phone or the door or helping people to bring down their blood pressure. There’s a whole gamut.”

Davis said Buddy was a compassionate companion to his sister. The months without him had been difficult for her.

“He’s important just for her well-being. He really had great compassion,” Davis said. “We’ve talked about it, and she was always holding out hope.”

Buddy is the second dog relocated to the area to be reunited with its family. Earlier this month Gigi, who was in foster care in Spokane, was returned to her owners, but the other unclaimed dogs are still in need of homes, Mackie said.

For the Andersons the day was bittersweet. They said they were sad to see Buddy leave but happy to see him return to his owner.

While they waited for Buddy to get picked up Mackie mentioned another dog in need of a home – a Saint Bernard with several puppies – and 6-year-old Jaiden’s smile was renewed.

The Andersons decided to host the dogs almost immediately.

“That’s the perfect end to your story,” Mackie said “It all works out in the end.”