Bob Ross, timespicayune.com
Posted March 19, 2009 08:29AM
Shoshana Rothschild was finally reunited with J.D., top right, Lil' Man, bottom left, and Tik, bottom right, after her car was stolen during Mardi Gras with the three dogs inside.
The last thing Shoshana Rothschild worried about, as she stopped by her Uptown warehouse Monday morning, was the safety of her three dogs outside in her Chevy truck. Maybe no one would be scared by Little Man or Tik, both under 25 pounds, but J.D. was an impressive specimen -- a Doberman/St. Bernard mix, about 180 pounds. Yet in the few minutes Shoshana was inside the warehouse with sister Jamin, the pair heard the truck start up and drive off.
"My heart just dropped the second I heard my engine starting," Shoshana said. "I couldn't hear or think of anything else."
Since Hurricane Katrina, when her father moved out of town, it's just been Shoshana, 33, her sister and now her three dogs. "That's her family," said Jamin, 30, who works for a downtown hotel.
After first trying to chase down the thief, the sisters bumped into officials with Mutt Shack, an animal rescue group that came to town after Katrina. Officials with the group got the news out Monday to local TV stations, put together a $1,500 reward with the help of the Louisiana Humane Society, and Shoshana and Jamin waited and hoped. That's when Kermit Rhea of Shrewsbury came to the rescue.
Later Monday, Rhea went into his yard in the Jefferson community to get something from his truck. From there, he saw two dogs being attacked in the backyard of the empty home behind his. He recognized the strays doing the attacking as local dogs. But he had never before seen the other two dogs, which soon found their way to his front porch.
Both were wearing green parade beads and one -- nearly 200 pounds -- was bleeding from the side and appeared to have a type of collar that sends a shock if a dog gets out of its yard.
"I knew they had to (belong to) somebody," said Rhea, who works for a pest control company. "I am always working in people's yards and I know about those collars and invisible fences."
He called Jefferson Parish shelter officials and even helped workers get the third dog, which was hiding in nearby bushes, into the truck.
Then as he watched the TV news Tuesday, Rhea realized the dogs missing from New Orleans were the ones taken to the Eastbank Animal Shelter. The news report asked anyone with information on the case to call 911, which he did. He also called the television station to tell them where the dogs had been taken. He didn't learn of a reward until Wednesday.
"I really feel great," he said Wednesday evening. "But I didn't do it for the reward. I didn't even know there was one. I just didn't want to see those dogs hurt."
Jen Huber, assistant director of the animal shelter, said Rhea took the time to do the right thing.
"He saw the beads and obviously knew they are owned dogs," she said. "He was just a good Samaritan."
A reunion took place late Wednesday afternoon after Shoshana and her sister got a call from a television reporter who said their dogs apparently had been found. The recovery process was slowed because Shoshana no longer had her driver's license or other identification -- it was in the stolen truck.
"They were very, very, very happy, though Little Man let me know he was also upset," Shoshana said. "I feel great and this is all I ever wanted," she said of getting her family back.
The dogs all got a bath and new collars. On tap for Wednesday evening was a pajama party at Jamin's house and a special meal.
"We're going to order steak or pizza," Shoshana said. "Whatever they want. It's going to be a celebration."
Source: http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2009/03/strangers_kindness_reunites_st.html
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