A New Orleans family that lost its dog in
Hurricane Katrina is in a custody battle with the
Pennsylvania family that adopted him.
Sheila Combs lost virtually everything she owned
in the hurricane. And now she wants her ten-year-old
son’s chow-Finnish spitz mix, Rocket, returned.
Lynne Welsh took in the now two-year-old dog from a
shelter last November and her family have renamed
him Rusty.
Since the "PETS" act was not yet in law, many pets had to be left
behind as families evacuated Katrina-hit states.
Welsh says she
made attempts to find the dog’s owner last year,
calling the phone number on the dog tag, sending
letters and putting information on Internet sites.
And she said last week she was willing to return the
dog to Combs if she was willing to come and get
him.
Combs, a
single working mother, says it would be
“unreasonable” to expect her to fly to
Pennsylvania. Welsh says she now plans to keep the
dog and has hired an attorney to represent her.
