Picture of two dogs left in Galveston to drown

[Taverner]

http://www.chron.com/news/photogallery/Hurricane_Ike_approaches.html

The owners, gone - the dogs, still there...

Fuck

[misanthrope]

1. I saw that a second ago and came unglued....

...Hopefully that photographer had a conscience and did something about that. There was another shot in that same series of another dog abandoned there.

[Taverner]

I stopped looking after this one

[CTyankee]

2. That is so horrible...I cannot believe humans can be so cruel...

I can only hope someone or some agency can rescue these poor animals...

[EFerrari]

3. I hate people. n/t

[SammyWinstonJack]

6. So do I!

:mad:

[EFerrari]

10. How hard would it be to at least let them loose.

I'm against hatred in general but this is too fucking much. :grr:

[SammyWinstonJack]

15. How hard would it be to take them with? I couldn't leave my dogs. I just couldn't!

We would all drown together if it had to be that way. And I mean that!

[Bluebear]

18. ME TOO.

I could not leave them, I just would not.

[EFerrari]

22. I'm alone with 6 cats and a dog. They're ALL getting out

if we have an earthquake or a tsunami here in the zone.

I can't even think about this. It makes me way more angry than I even know how to handle.

[SammyWinstonJack]

33. There was a pic of a little dog on a bridge after Katrina struck. He was soaked in oil and he looked

like he was suffering so and I am sure he was. It broke my heart.:cry: I only hope the person who took that pic, rescued him.

[EFerrari]

41. Like I said, I hate people.

All my cats are rescues that were left to die somewhere, mostly in trash cans in downtown Los Angeles. I never wanted six cats but the alternative for them was being put down because people are idiots.

I can't believe what people do.

[SammyWinstonJack]

51. You are a good person! I have four dogs, two are rescues that I didn't need but they needed me and

now I can not imagine my life without them.

[Obamanaut]

117. Here you go. I also answered it downthread, hoping you will find it.

www.stars-of-texas.org/Oily-dog.html

Ours will go with us if we must go, or we all will stay put. We have five furkids. They are our babies.

When ms ret88 was in a rehab hospital after a motorcycle accident, for a long time she had trouble even remembering the names of the grandchildren (some brain trauma when she hit the road, but a helmet saved her.) She asked about the 'puppies' every day though. I got permission from the hosp to bring one after I provided her vet records. I brought Sophie - a shih tsu/miniature cocker mix. All the patients who were physically able held her. When it was time for ms ret88 to take a nap, Sophie laid beside her for two hours without moving. Sophie had only been on a leash a few times for vet visits, but behaved this time like it was a daily thing. She did not bark one single time, did not get excited and make a mess inside, and was extremely good therapy.

edited to correct spelling

[MotorCityMan]

23. Amen to that. My dog and cat are my family.

There is no way in hell I could leave them. I saw my cocker spaniel Candace born 8 years ago, and I'll be there when she leaves me.

[SammyWinstonJack]

47. My dogs are my babies. I rescued two of them. They will be in the car before I am.

[StarryNite]

95. And so do I!

So much for humanity!

[SmileyRose]

107. So did the person taking the pic get the dogs to safety?

or did they take the pic and move on?

Hopefully the former.



Edit - sorry wrong location, this was meant for the OP.

[MelissaB]

124. Ditto! Hubby says I'd much rather be with my dogs.

:hi:

[SammyWinstonJack]

Damnit!

:cry: People can be so cruel! :grr:

[sasha031]

4. what's the matter with people!

[hlthe2b]

5. GOD IN HEAVEN: who could be so cruel....

Talk about feeling totally helpless and miserable... That shot is going to stay with me...:cry:

[malaise]

9. Lots of people

:cry:

[Ferretherder]

32. Who could be so cruel?......

...the same people who will proudly walk into a voting booth on November 7th and pull the lever/touch the button/poke the chad for McCain/Palin.

[Bluebear]

7. I can't stand it.

:cry:

[EFerrari]

20. I can't either. To do this to a DOG.

To a DOG, the most loyal friend anyone can have.

We're a species of fucking sociopaths.

[SteppingStone]

82. Same Here. It's breaking my heart.

:cry:

[Faygo Kid]

8. They have no chance, absent a miracle rescue.

Sorry, but that's the truth. I don't know what else to say, except to make a contribution.

[ddeclue]

11. Was anything done to save these dogs!!!! n/t

[Taverner]

12. No idea. The picture is just one of several in a slide show

[ddeclue]

19. What is the original link so I can investigate!

[Taverner]

21. Here ->

http://www.chron.com/news/photogallery/Hurricane_Ike_approaches.html

[ddeclue]

28. I sent this to a friend of minehere in FL who runs dog rescue and used to be a reporter.

She might know how to contact the AP photog and get these dogs rescued.

Doug D.

[morillon]

34. Excellent idea.

I just posted the Houston phone number for AP.

Another possibility is contacting the Galveston Humane Society at [phone].

[ddeclue]

37. Calling now...

[ddeclue]

42. Humane Society has evacuated..just got voice mail..

I left a message but I don't think it will be heard in time.

Doug D.

[Bluebear]

43. Humane society has evacuated the island, urging people to take pets with them, recording

[ullad]

44. Humans are the most cruel creatures on this earth

This should be reported to Animal Control or the ASPCA. Animal cruelty is against the law.

[morillon]

30. Kim Christensen of AP is credited on the photo.

The phone number for the Houston office of AP is [phone]

[ddeclue]

35. OK, I left a message... He/she has to call back...n/t

[Bluebear]

50. I can't find anybody who knows Christensen at the numbers I got.

[ddeclue]

60. Send email to [e-mail]!

[ullad]

92. Is there not animal rescue?

During the last Hurricane, there where several Animal Rescue operations going on. I hope that this will happen here too.

[ullad]

104. I send a message to this email address. . It was returned as undeliverable.

[e-mail] Delivery Status Notification (Failure) 7:34 PM 6KB
Read

[morillon]

109. Could this be her?

http://kimchristensenphotography.com/

713-408-0965

[Tallison]

113. Yes, and I called without success because

"Due to heavy calling, your call cannot be completed"...

Is that because people are clogging the 713 area code, or that number specifically? :shrug:

[alsame]

13. Why didn't the person who took the f+++ing picture let them

loose?

[tammywammy]

14. They may have after they took the picture

:shrug:

[Taverner]

16. Maybe they did - I don't know

They might have snapped the shot, then taken out a chain cutter and loosed them.

Again, they may not have.

[2008]

130. Consider that a vast majority of people who saw that scene would let them out

As troubled as I am by the photo, I believe the odds are great that the photographer either let them out or saw to it that they were released.

[flvegan]

17. Yup. Some people suck, it's true.

[Taverner]

24. Oh! Oh! Oh! But this guy rescued his FLAG!

[Sequoia]

53. By all means wave it high.

I sure hope someone got those dogs.

[riverdeep]

25. This is a guess, and only a guess.

Because I WANT to think no one would do this on purpose, but maybe someone told them you can't have dogs running loose in a danger zone. And the people may have left thinking it wasn't going to be that bad (even though the reports contained the words 'certain death'). No forward thinking?

Nah, some people are just selfish bastards.

[oldtime dfl_er]

26. omg

that's just cruelty on a level I cant imagine. I'm crying looking at this , and I'm not even really a "dog person". This is unconscionable.

[NanBo]

27. their expressions

they know something is not right. I hope they have a way out of that pen and can at least make an attempt to swim....

[Betsy Ross]

29. Please be prepared no matter where you live.

I'm in earthquake country. You don't get forwarned of quakes so it is of the utmost important to have your emergency ducks (and other pets!) in a line. 3 cats/3 carriers, food, water, bowls, etc. We can even bring a portable litter box if we need to evacuate. PLEASE have your emergency supplies together: hurricane, tornado, earthquake, repuke regime. BE PREPARED.

[EFerrari]

31. That's right. Have a plan. And, abandoning your animals is NOT a fucking plan.

[morillon]

36. I'd die myself before I would leave my cats and dogs behind.

[SammyWinstonJack]

39. I would too! Seriously!

[SammyWinstonJack]

38. You're right, It's NOT A PLAN!

[cwydro]

40. So who took the fucking picture and what are they doing

about it!!??

I rarely curse on DU, but this pisses me off. There is no way that I would see an animal in those straits and not do something.

I have seen the fucking vultures of the news media down here in Key West, waiting to feast on the corpses of those of us who do not evacuate. I guess a dog will do as well for them.

God help the person who sees this and does nothing.

[Oregone]

45. In other news, how about a picture of the two humans saved by the owner who had spare seats?

Just sayin....

Katrina was the perfect example of the opposite. People with money and means were driving their half empty cars, filled partially with their pets, while poor (mostly black) people drowned. No one knows the circumstances of this situation, but sometimes priorities gotta come first. For what its worth, that really doesn't look like a kennel to me, and we have no idea if the animals are trapped at all.

[Taverner]

46. We can only hope that is the case

I hope you're right

[Pithlet]

48. I agree.

But this is a topic that never goes well. People are being told they're going to die if they don't get out. I'm not going to sit here where I'm safe and judge. We don't know what the circumstances are. The people involved may not have had a choice.

[EFerrari]

49. Give me a fucking break. No person has to be ousted from a car seat

for a CAT.

If you can grab a person, you can grab a dog or a cat, too.

Your priorities sound more like justifications for the unjustifiable.

/grammar

[SammyWinstonJack]

54. ...

:thumbsup:

[Oregone]

58. My point is you don't know the circumstances...

And without such, we cannot even approach justifications of anything. Look at all the outrage, despite the apparent ignorance of the situation. A single snapshot of any incidence can tell a complete different story from another. What if the next five pictures show the owner putting the animals in a boat before heading out? What if the owner was away from the island and didn't make it back in time? Maybe the owner was gone for the day, canvassing neighborhoods for Obama, expecting to arrive in an hour to help? What if the people he gave his seats to, with their children on their laps, and his cats on the children's laps, had no room for the dogs? Screw that, throw the children out!

Come on, save your outrage for something besides a snapshot.

But I do stick to an original tangent. If I had a choice between my animals and my neighbors (known or not), I would put my seats in the best use possible.

[Wednesdays]

63. Canvassing neighborhoods for Obama?

Oh my, your political stripe is really showing itself now.

[EFerrari]

65. It's a false dilemma.

There is no reason to chose between a person and an animal. That's what the hack alarm salesman tried to use on me when my kids were little. "In a fire, which kid would you rescue?"

Bullshit.

You can do both. It's not rocket science.

[Oregone]

84. And its false outrage

Because no one here knows the circumstance

[EFerrari]

91. Posters to this thread objecting to abandoning animals are not false.

Maybe somewhere in your head it's just some kind of game but out here where we rescue animals from freaks like this everyday, it's not "false".

[Oregone]

120. So the owner is a freak and the dogs abandoned?

Maybe the owner passed away in the night. Maybe the dogs were rescued minutes later. Im labeling the outrage as false as the dilemma, being that it is based on a picture with no facts.

[datasuspect]

129. the syrupy self-righteous outrage in this thread almost seems like a caricature of some rw'ers idea

of what they think "liberals" act like.

[Bluebear]

69. 'save your outrage for something besides a snapshot' - SORRY. Some photos tear at our hearts.

[Oregone]

85. But sadly, I rarely see an equivalent outrage over a picture of a dead Iraqi child when posted

And we normally know there was a fatality in that case, and that the US's actions, through some long chain or another, directly caused it.

[Bluebear]

89. Nonsense. Not even worth debating with you.

[SammyWinstonJack]

96. ...

:thumbsup:

[Oregone]

122. 100+ responses on a graphic...

...of a dead iraqi child? Lately I just observe people posting, "You should of put a *GRAPHIC* warning in the title!"

Yes, its relevant because this is a mass over-reaction to a snapshot in time with zero facts. Everyone is making assumptions, lighting candles for the all ready presumed dead dogs, and finding means to hunt down and punish their "freak" owners. Give me a fuckn break all ready.

[EFerrari]

93. Bullshit.

[Tallison]

111. Civilian death on whichever side is always a progressive concern

and among the reasons I champion Democrats' foreign policy. Challenging people to rank their empathy is a conservative tactic to challenge the validity of empathy, period. Empathy is the reason I'm liberal. It should be cheered on in all its forms.

[SammyWinstonJack]

70. My seats are reserved for my dogs. Period! And that would be the best possible use for me.

The dogs can sit on laps.

[Wednesdays]

59. Exactly! And even then, it doesn't justify locking animals up

If they're let loose, at least they have the opportunity to run or swim to safety.

[EFerrari]

67. At least let them loose to find the high ground on their own.

I shouldn't even read these threads. :grr:

[SammyWinstonJack]

74. Yeah me either!

:grr:

[Oregone]

79. That really doesn't look like a kennel to me.

A big chain fence, yes, but not an enclosed kennel. You nor I know if they are locked up.

Further, if they were, you do not know why. What if the owner was gone and couldn't make it back? Then scream outrage at the neighbors and the photographer that brought you that nugget.

[misanthrope]

52. Then why didn't they put them in the house at least?**nm

**

[NanBo]

66. would that be best?

Seriously, I have no idea and am asking. I live in tornado land, not water land. Just seems locking them in might be worse as then they have no chance to at least survive. Either way, their a responsibility one considers when they get them--not a throw away when times get tough. So many great vet people went down after Katrina to help such animals, I wonder if they can give some insight?

[Pithlet]

75. Maybe they figured it would be more likely someone would see them?

It turned out to be the case. Someone was at least able to take pictures of them. Hopefully that means someone was able to rescue them. Who knows what went through their minds as they were fleeing. It could very well be that they are jerks who didn't care. It could be that they had children, or maybe elderly parents, or maybe recent changes in their lives that rendered their previous emergency plans moot. The economy has been sucking lately, after all.

I think for us to automatically judge the people heartless when we don't know their stories is harsh. We just don't know. Millions of people are being told to flee or they might die. Heartbreaking things like this are going to happen. It doesn't mean the people involved are heartless jerks. It probably broke their hearts. They may not have had a choice. I don't think we can ask people to stay behind, and possibly make their dependents stay with them, to die with their pets. I think that's ludicrous. We can't assume they had the ability to take their pets with them for the reasons I outlined above. And I'm sure I'll be called heartless for that position. Nothing I can do about that.

[Oregone]

81. Good question...Questions trump assumptions

Maybe they left for the day before they found out how intense this was and couldn't get back?

Im playing devil's advocate here of course, but that isn't a bad thing, you know.

[SammyWinstonJack]

102. Well if I leave in this instance, my dogs leave with me. Simple as that, for me.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

55. I can't handle this

:cry:

(((((poor babies)))))

[chatnoir]

56. wtf is wrong with ppl???

How hard is it to take your animals with you?? You sure as hell wouldn't leave your kids there to drown so why your dogs??

[SammyWinstonJack]

77. Exactly! How much room does a dog or cat take up anyway? Heck put in the truck if you have too.

Most cars have in the back seat with an entrance to the trunk. My '98 Grand Prix does.

[chatnoir]

105. This should be a crime

Abandoning animals to a prob death should be a crime. Dogs & cats do not take up so much room that you cannot fit them in the backseat when evacuating. Obscene.

[ullad]

119. It is a crime!

[Solly Mack]

57. fuckers

fuckers fuckers fuckers

[SammyWinstonJack]

61. Indeed!

x(

[Solly Mack]

76. and the man with the flag... does the idiot think the hurricane cares?

that waving a flag will somehow intimidate the hurricane? Is he sending a patriotic message of some kind to the hurricane? WTF?

What? This is America and Ike can't hurt us?

Seriously...WTF?

[elehhhhna]

62. people here treat thier pets like livestock, but worse.

[MnFats]

64. When Jesus said 'what you did to the least of these, you did to me...."

that was supposed to include animals....

There will be an atoning for ALL cruelty

[321Outright]

68. reminds me of this

[Wednesdays]

71. Just copy & paste the URL

You don't need to add any code.

[SammyWinstonJack]

80. I wish I could find the pic of the little dog, oil soaked, in the heat, on the bridge after Katrina

struck. That was so heartbreaking. :cry: This pic reminds me of that little dog.

[Obamanaut]

112. Check this out. I think it's the same little white dog, along with the

story of it's rescue. When the picture was shown on teevee, my wife made me turn it off and go outside so I could vent. Our furkids will go with us if we must go, else we will not go.

www.stars-of-texas.org/Oily-dog.html

[SammyWinstonJack]

126. Thank You So Much. Yes that is the little dog and I am so glad she was rescued and given a great

home. That pic haunted me. I know how you felt when seeing that pic. I cried lots over it. Yes our furkids go with us if we must go, too. I would never leave them behind. EVER! Again thank you so much for sharing this with me. I tried to find this but had no success.

[Hokie]

72. Sarah Palin would just shoot them from an airplane - NT

[SammyWinstonJack]

99. Damn! Probably right.

[MadrasT]

73. I'm going to throw up.

Why the fuck are they TAKING PICTURES of them instead of freaking RESCUING THEM!!!!!

I HATE PEOPLE. I really do.

[SammyWinstonJack]

78. I hate people too! Especially people like this.

[Beausoir]

83. Bless those two fellas.

[ellie]

86. What I don't

get is the casual cruelty that people exhibit. These people show no compassion for living creatures, yet I am supposed to feel compassion for them? My husband and I have been having an ongoing conversation about this. Where is the breaking point?

[a la izquierda]

87. This ruined my day. n/t

[SammyWinstonJack]

88. I know.

:hug:

[AbbeyRoad]

90. Damn. People can be such assholes.

:cry: :banghead: :cry:

My dogs go where I go come hell or high water.

I think in an absolute worst case scenario, if you can't take your pets with you or find someone else to take care of them, at least set them loose to find higher ground.

[JustAnotherGen]

94. I saw that one

In the 95 pictures link . . . my heart breaks for those two. They're locked in - they can't even run to save themselves.

Now why the hell didn't someone break the lock and take them with them! Please tell me the photographer didn't even try to help those two sets of big eyes. :-(

[SammyWinstonJack]

97. Bet those two dogs would have stayed with their owner no matter what!

Loyal to the end!

[Beausoir]

98. I know that Galveston was emphasizing that people COULD take their pets with them...even on the bus.

People needing assistance to evac COULD take their pets with them.

They learned alot from Katrina with regard to the love bond between people and their best fur friends.

I couldn't imagine leaving my cats and dogs to drown.

I hope somebody grabbed those two fellas and keeps them safe.

[EFerrari]

101. I'm hoping the photographer did. n/t

[ullad]

103. Ever since I saw the photo, I have been ill. Someone needs to rescue those dogs.

[ullad]

100. email was returned as undeliverable

[e-mail] Delivery Status Notification (Failure) 7:34 PM 6KB
Read

[Obamanaut]

106. We have five furkids. Four tiny ones and one 38 pounder named

Rusty. Rusty must be rocked, in a rocking chair, with me holding him like a child every morning as soon as I get up.

We spoke of evacuations this evening. If it comes to a choice where there is no place that will take us AND the furkids, then we will not go. We go as a group or not at all.

[tnlefty]

108. I looked through a lot of that slide show and I'm feeling queasy.

While I agree about people leaving the dogs, I couldn't believe the picture of the 15 yr. old and the man who had his 13 yr. old son in the waves breaking over the sea wall.

Jeebus kids shouldn't be sentenced to an almost certain death because of their parents, and the animals don't deserve this either. Heartsick here.

[TK421]

110. Never fit to be owners in the first place....fucking jerkoffs

I would love to leave THEM there to drown....see what it fucking feels like

[xloadiex]

114. If my 3 dogs and 2 cats are going to drown

I'm going to go with them. People who can just leave their animals like that shouldn't have had them in the first place. Heartbreaking.

[Bluebear]

125. Belated welcome to DU!

[DeposeTheBoyKing]

115. I can't get the link to open, and frankly I'm glad

How could people do this???????? :cry:

[1Hippiechick]

116. SOB! We have rescue greyhounds, a rescue lab, and and a rescue terrier-mix. We go down together.

[a la izquierda]

118. I'm the mom of two rescues...

a viszla mix that some idiot let loose in a rural area of Oklahoma to die and a bulldog/boxer mix that i found wandering the streets of pasadena, ca. both dogs had emotional problems that had to worked through (separation anxiety, escaping, etc). never for a minute would my husband and i leave them. when the tornado sirens go off, into the closet with us they go. my husband works at a dog boarding facility and he'll go in to calm the dogs during bad storms...they are our family and our best buddies.

stories like this make me ill.

[KathieG]

121. Awful! We have 9 furry kids...3 dogs, 3 cats, and 3 horses...

We only have a two horse trailer right now, so if there is an evacuation in the near future, we are staying. I'm working on getting a stock trailer that will hold all 3 horses. Until then...we stay together. I could NEVER leave any of my animals behind, they are my family.

[michaz]

123. We are spending all kinds of money on our dog with cancer.

And this is just about as sick as it can get. Our other dog is a rescue Weim. Who ever took that picture needed to get them out of there. I hope this makes the news and they find out who the owners are by the address. Idiots! Just plain idiots!

[Geek_Girl]

127. I think the owners should have secured them in the house at least

I remember when we had to evacuate to a shelter when I was a child, living in Fl, and couldn't take our cat. Their are precautions that pet owners can take.

[GreenPartyVoter]

128. The storm surge could have gone as high as 25 or 30 feet in some places. A house

would still have been a death trap. :(