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A Dog\’s Unending Loyalty

(CBS)

Over the last 20 years, the Love Me Tender animal rescue in central Tennessee has rounded up more than 1,000 abandoned dogs. And although most are timid and untrusting, CBS News correspondent Steve Hartman reports, one Rottweiler named Ella was notably different.

“I could just tell right away she was somebody’s baby. She just didn’t act like a stray dog to me,” said Kathy Wilkes-Myers, who found the dog a few months ago.

Ella was emaciated and drinking from a drainage ditch along an empty stretch of highway. Kathy says it’s typical for people to dump unwanted pets in the middle of nowhere – but again, the dog’s demeanor convinced her there was more to the story. So she did some detective work, and what she found is a heart-wrenching tale of unending loyalty.

“She was hoping her family could come back. But they couldn’t. They couldn’t come back. It just breaks your heart,” said Kathy.

Kathy found the first clues to this mystery – broken glass and tail lights – right near where she found the dog.

And just down from there, she found a second set of even more intriguing clues: personal items gathered up. By the dog, she assumed.

“It was like she was sleeping with them – or waiting with them,” Kathy said.

She took a picture with her cell phone and then gathered the items. They were mostly random, personal things – toothbrush, comb, razor, a candle that said Michelle, but nothing that would explain anything – although now, she did have a hunch.

Kathy remembered two weeks earlier she’d driven by an accident on the same stretch of highway. She remembered because it was such a horrible crash. A single car had flipped over and landed on the side of the road, at just about the same spot where she found the dog.

Based on what she saw that day, Kathy figured there was no way a person could have survived, but what about a dog? So she called the highway patrol.

“She gave me the mom’s name and the dad’s name and the mom’s name was Michelle. And I thought, ‘Oh my God, this is their dog,” she said.

Thrown from the car, rescue crews never saw the dog. She spent 13 days scavenging for food along the highway – and 13 nights bedding down with whatever she could find that smelled like her lost family.

“That’s the last spot she saw her family and she was going to stay there,” Kathy said.

Kathy figured it all out. But fortunately, she got one thing very wrong. Someone did survive the crash. In face, all five family members survived.

“I’m lucky to be sitting here with my family,” said Joe Kelly, the family’s father.

After two weeks believing that their dog, Ella, had died, the family of Joe and Michelle Kelly got the most wonderful, slobbery surprise of their lives.

For the first time since the accident, the Kelly’s had a good reason to cry -all thanks to a dog who refused to forget her family – and the stranger who refused to take lost for answer.

Unfortunately, it was a bittersweet reunion because of the accident and the medical expenses, the Kelly family has had to temporarily relocate to a place that doesn’t allow dogs.

The good news is, Kathy has promised to hold onto Ella for as long as the Kelleys need to get back on their feet.

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Cat run around owner’s house keeps felines safe, frees them to roam

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Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times

Cleopatra, left, and Angel in the rambling cat run at Susan and Dan Gottlieb’s home.

A couple build it to protect their cats from predators and the birds from their cats, .

By Bettijane Levine, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
June 5, 2008

ANYONE handy with a saw and a staple gun can build a simple version of this outdoor fun park for felines, devised by Susan and Dan Gottlieb of Beverly Hills.

The open-air cat run wanders up, down and around the house. Viewing platforms wind up to the roof for bird-watching and sunbathing. Playpens at ground level allow games and snoozes.

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Ever since the Gottliebs moved here in 1985, they wanted each cat to enjoy the outdoors as much as they do. But that would have been too dangerous for the animals, which could have wandered off or been attacked by predators.

And too dangerous for the birds. Blue jays, finches, doves, quail, Cooper’s hawks, wrens, sparrows, great horned owls and kestrels are drawn to the California native plants and trees that fill an acre at the Gottliebs’ rambling one-story hillside house.

“They’re too numerous to name them all,” Susan says. “They’re outside our door all day, every day. We never know who’s going to show up.”

In 2000, after one of their cats accidentally got out of the house and was killed by a coyote, the couple hired a carpenter to build an enclosed run. At first, it was a small area, accessed through one door. When the couple realized how much the cats enjoyed their protected outdoor existence, the design was expanded. Now five cat doors lead from the house into the run.

The Gottliebs, who own the G2 nature and wildlife gallery in Venice, had the path made of redwood planks and wire fencing sold in 4-foot-wide rolls. They shaped the fencing into a tunnel and stapled it to the sides of the wood platform. Parts are carpeted with rubberized matting typically used as kitchen drawer lining — ideal for protecting paws and preventing skids.

Spike, Shadow, Cleopatra and Angel seem content now that they have the run of the house, indoors and out. But the Gottliebs say they may add an extension, to allow the cats to go down the hill to observe four-footed creatures wandering there.

“The great thing about this kind of run is that it’s relatively easy and inexpensive to build,” Susan says. “People can start very small, like we did. And then let your cats dictate where to take it from there.”

Monday, February 18th 2008, 4:00 AM

Millionaire Marsh Newmark says his estranged wife is keeping their dog Rocky from him, despite a custody agreement.

Pedigree dogs may have wowed them at Westminster, but it’s a mutt that’s melted a millionaire’s heart.

Marsh Newmark, founder of the Design Strategy Corporation, has spent $60,000 in his custody battle with his estranged wife, opera singer Darynn Zimmer, over their dog, Rocky.

“He’s a golden Lab mix — I think,” said Newmark. “He’s the sweetest, friendliest dog. There’s not a bad bone in his body.”

At first, the uncoupling couple shared Rocky during the week.

“She would have the dog Monday morning through Thursday evening. I’d have him over the weekend,” says Newmark. “I’d take him to my house in Sag Harbor. He loves it out there. He has a pool to swim in and acres to run around free.

“One night, in February 2006, I was waiting for Rocky, and my wife’s dog walker told me she would not be returning him.”

Mirroring some child-custody cases, Zimmer accused her husband of abusing Rocky, who is 10 — but Newmark says the dog passed a veterinary exam with flying colors.

“The vet came in from Westbury in a van. He said the dog was very well cared for,” Newmark told us. “I would never abuse Rocky. I love him.”

Justice Laura E. Drager then saw to it that Zimmer resume sharing Rocky, but instructed the couple’s attorneys to stop calling her chambers about the dog.

“I understand that Justice Drager probably has hundreds of matrimonial cases involving child custody, and I concede that that’s more important,” Newmark told us.

The arrangement worked for awhile, but last June, Zimmer suddenly announced she was moving to Connecticut.

“She said I won’t be seeing him again,” Newmark said sadly. “Not a night went by that I didn’t think of him. But she didn’t really move to Connecticut anyway.”

Desperate, Newmark asked a loyal friend to try to get Rocky back. “[Darynn's] boyfriend was walking Rocky — they only walk him for a few minutes — and my friend came up from behind with a leash and tried to unhook one leash and hook the other one on. The boyfriend fell and called out, ‘He’s stealing my dog!’ The doorman tackled my friend, and the police came.”

Newmark then came out of hiding. “Rocky saw me and he went nuts. He tried to get to me. I then took the only avenue I could.”

Not wanting to bother Justice Drager about the dog, Newmark then sought custody of Rocky in a Long Island court.

Newmark won the battle for his millions — a jury denied Zimmer a divorce. But he lost the war for Rocky, who’s still in Zimmer’s possession. Her lawyer did not return our call. Newmark is filing an appeal.

“I haven’t seen him since last June,” says Newmark. “I’ve never had children. This is my child. He doesn’t have a lot of time left.”

Post-escape from Baghdad and fresh off a 13-hour flight from Kuwait,
Charlie the border collie mix actually seemed to be smiling for the crowd.
Five months after the SPCA International received a plea from American
soldiers hoping to transfer their beloved Iraqi stray to U.S. terrain, the
9-month-old mutt became the first beneficiary of the animal advocacy
organization’s effort to rescue pets from the war zones where they provide
solace to service members. Charlie eventually will live in Phoenix with one
of his caretaker soldiers.

It being Valentine’s Day, the SPCA dished out the emotional hyperbole.
Charlie’s bond with his caretakers, the organization said, “is the ultimate
love story between a man and his dog.” The soldiers, too, were effusive.
“We can’t wait for him to get his first taste of the good old USA,” one wrote
in an e-mail to the SPCA. “We especially can’t wait until we can see him
again.”

Parts of Charlie’s back story were obscured to protect those he left behind.
In his case, they were U.S. soldiers based at a Baghdad outpost — the
SPCA identified the unit only as Charlie Company — who were barred by
military rules from keeping pets. But when the soldiers came upon a
flea-infested and starving puppy while on patrol, they could not resist
sharing their affection and their ready-to-eat meals.
One soldier, identified by the organization as “Sgt. Watson,” sent e-mails to
animal rescue groups. The SPCA took up the case, and Operation Baghdad
Pups was born.

But first, program manager Terri Crisp interviewed Watson in Phoenix
when he was on leave in October. Watson wanted to adopt Charlie at the
end of his tour in March.

“He was a soldier and tough, and toward the end, I said, ‘Why are we
bringing Charlie home?’ And he said, ‘Because I made a promise’ ” not to
abandon the dog, Crisp said yesterday, her voice choked with tears.
Eleven other dogs and two cats adopted by service members in Iraq or
Afghanistan are in the pipeline for rescue, said
Stephanie Scroggs, a spokeswoman for SPCA
International. The SPCA will pay about $4,000 per
rescue, Scroggs said. She acknowledged that the sum
could aid many more stateside animals but said the
program also supports the troops.”It’s too much to ask them to leave, go to Iraq and
then to desert their companion animals,” Scroggs said.

To prime Charlie for departure, rabies and distemper
vaccines were shipped to Baghdad, where a veterinarian at the Ministry of Agriculture was
prepared to administer them. Although the soldiers lived near the ministry, Crisp said, they needed to generate a “mission” to justify the visit because they are not allowed to have pets.
After a 30-day quarantine, a cloak-and-dagger turnover was arranged so Charlie would not come to the attention of the soldiers’ senior officers. This week, a quartet of U.S. security contractors picked up Charlie at his outpost and took him to Baghdad International Airport. Crisp, meanwhile, flew United Airlines to Kuwait, then Gryphon Airlines to Baghdad. When her plane touched down, the contractors carried Charlie in his crate across the tarmac, and he was soon on his way to the United States.

Once at Dulles, Crisp said, she e-mailed the Charlie Company, “to let the company know that Charlie has put paws on American soil.” Soon Charlie was striding with Crisp into the baggage claim area, his still-dingy white tail curved like a plume over the camouflage cape that draped his back.There to welcome him was former Navy reservist Mark Feffer, accompanied by Cinnamon, a refugee dog Feffer brought home from Afghanistan in 2006. Cinnamon got lost in transit for six weeks, prompting Feffer to launch a rescue mission that his sister, Christine Sullivan, chronicled in a book titled “44 Days Out of Kandahar.” “They give so much support to the guys that are over there,” Feffer, who lives in Annapolis, said of war-zone pets.

As the humans spoke, Charlie, perhaps feeling amorous on Valentine’s Day, eagerly edged toward Cinnamon. Regal and aloof, Cinnamon leaned toward a row of soft seats, where she later fell asleep. Charlie, too, quickly sprawled in slumber on the shiny linoleum.
“Jet lag,” Crisp pronounced.

Much lay ahead: A dog spa appointment to wash away desert dust. A night at a hotel. In coming days, a vet checkup, a flight to Los Angeles and a drive to Phoenix, where he will be cared for until Watson
returns from Iraq.

But first, Charlie was scheduled to stroll around the Mall.
“It’s probably going to be a real shock for him to see such beauty and great monuments,” Watson wrote in an e-mail to Scroggs yesterday at 2:14 a.m., “after knowing nothing but the slums of Baghdad.”