Lost in Katrina and in new homes - whose pet now?

[Regit]

This just adds to the continued misery that Katrina left behind. And beyond that, it's a very complicated legal matter.


By Patrik Jonsson

ATLANTA – There's a spot on Army Lt. Jay Johnson's bed that is heavy with emptiness, he says, and it can only be filled with his beloved Missy.
He was in Iraq when his family broke the news to him that volunteer rescuers who scoured New Orleans after hurricane Katrina had taken away his furry Shih Tzu

An ID chip implanted in Missy should have ensured her return to him, he says, but instead she was allowed to be adopted by another family. Mr. Johnson hopes to reclaim his dog by suing the entity which took ownership of her after the storm: the Humane Society of North Texas.

"I fight against people who do harm to other people, and I feel it's my obligation to fight in this case," Johnson says.

He's one of about 20 Katrina survivors in the US who have sued humane societies, animal rescue agencies, or people who adopted the animals, for the return of a "Precious" or a "Bandit."

Read the rest of the story at The Christian Science Monitor