Tribute to Griffin and Zoe
Update 9/23/05: An email from the LA SPCA has been forwarded to me. In it, the LA SPCA claims that my dogs were dead at the time of the rescue. I want to believe that the LA SPCA is being truthful, but it is hard for me to do so. After the rescue we were immediately told that TWO dogs were found dead: a collie and a shepherd. There was no mention of two dead pit bulls. This is the FIRST time anyone has mentioned that there were FOUR dead dogs.
It's hard for me to believe that two extremely healthy 2 1/2-year-old pit bulls could not survive without food and water for three or four days. A sickly 14-year-old boxer mix survived. A 9-month-old bulldog puppy survived. Many much smaller dogs survived. All the cats, including a kitten, survived. But my strong, young dogs did not? It is possible, I know, but it is also very hard to believe. Time will heal my wounds, no doubt, but I will always wonder about my dogs' deaths. For those who have followed Griffin and Zoe's story, I ask you to just remember them as the wonderful, loving dogs that they were and keep their memory in your heart.
Dude. Following those links just crushed me. I'm ready to bawl now. My condolences. This is probably what you least needed right now. So not fucking cool.
It is very hard. Those dogs were like our babies. No, they *were* our babies. Ultimately, I blame myself for not saving them, but that doesn't absolve the SPCA in any way.
From where I stand, this is totally not your fault. You were led to believe by a trusted organization that things were working out when they weren't. You have nothing for which to blame yourself. It's not your fault that some people in trusted positions are dirty, no-good motherhumpers.
I just don't understand how a group of trained animals rescuers could leave two innocent animals to die. Especially when they did rescue another, scarier-looking pit bull, a 14-year-old box/pit mix and two sugar gliders(!?) among others.
You've probably noticed that I use the word 'incomprehensible' a lot. Generally, there's a smidgen of hyperbole in effect whenever I use it, but this situation and its outcome, to me, is truly beyond comprehension. There is no justification that would make sense to me right now. I... I just don't understand the logic. I'm not sure there is anything to understand. There was a breakdown somewhere in the system. Whether it was a communication breakdown or a moral failing, who knows. Either way, it could have and should have been avoided. The fact that it wasn't truly makes no sense whatsoever to me.
Sometimes I hate this world. :-P
Stunned. Crushed.
Don't blame yourself.
I'm so very sorry.
This is just ... wow. I can't believe it, and I feel terrible for you and your loved ones. My condolences.
I realize that it is of no comfort and little consequence to tell you of the impact that Griffin and Zoe have had on people who have never been to New Orleans, never seen your dogs and never even knew their names.
I first began to realize the true impact of Katrina on August 30th, the first Tuesday after the hurricane hit, thanks to your post. At that point only a few news sources were reporting that the levees had been breached. The main focus of the media was on gas prices. Gas prices and such things as the management of the Thrift Savings Plan. I cannot (and perhaps should not) tell you how many newscasts began with some version of "Hurricane Katrina: What will be the impact on us?" Those were the concerns of America in spite of the fact that 80% of a major North American city had emptied out.1
I immediately knew and was upset at the implications of using the word "us" when addressing Katrina. If "us" are being affected in this way then how are "them" being affected. And exactly who are "them"? I was upset but not surprised. My anger was directed more at the media's priorities than at the images of flooded streets and scattered boats filmed from on high. There were still no pictures of evacuees let alone survivors who "rode out the storm" (that is another phrase which chokes me.) And then you wrote that "We are well, although our home and dogs are probably not." That brought it home for me. I was shaken by that.
I am still shaken.
When pictures of helicopter rescues began to be shown everyone who I encountered was still rather sanguine about the aftermath. That would change when I told them about your dogs. "I know of someone who got out safely from New Orleans whose house is, in all likelihood, destroyed or still under water," is what I would tell people. "They are worried about their dogs." Everyone that I talked to, people who have never been to New Orleans, never seen your dogs and never even knew their names would then be worried about your dogs. My family, friends, peers, people who I had just met, they all became worried. Every one of them. Everyone.
SPOILER - highlight to read This may or may not be painful to read...
Without any real knowledge of the horrific events unfolding in what once was your city I'd keep talking, pressing people to understand how Griffin and Zoe had made me feel. "Think about all of those houses still under water after three days [then four, then five... then twenty-five.] Think about how many of them had dogs or cats. Even if they weren't chained in the backyard, even if they avoided being drowned, their food must be gone. When was the last time that you and your pet were seperated for three days?" [then four, then five... then twenty-five.]
I am not much of an Oprah fan but I found this video . [wmv qt]to be one of the most "honest" of all of the images to come out of Katrina. This man has had his dog since he was ten years old. He has carried his dog out of a flooded home. He has rescued the other man in the video with his dog by his side. He has kept his dog alive for over a week and has waited until the very last bus in the hope that his dog will be allowed to leave with him. In spite of the contrived Extreme Makeover: Home Edition-style of reveal that Oprah was rescuing his dog in the middle of the video the emotions of the man seem agonizingly genuine. Both his despair and his joy. Even the fact that Oprah is able to rescue a dog when the SPCA couldn't/wouldn't rescue dayfornight's dogs is even more evidence of the the monumental (even criminal) failure of the government's response.
The news and pictures continued to get worse and the story became a political one.2 No matter which side of the "debate" (*choke*) different people were on the mere thought of your dogs silenced them. Griffin and Zoe made people understand the greater truth of Katrina, people who have never been to New Orleans, never seen your dogs and never even knew their names. I hope that this can be some kind of comfort. The memory of your dogs will live on in the minds and the emotions of many people. People who are far from New Orleans but now a little closer to all that has happened because of Griffin and Zoe.
From now on I will tell people their names and remember them with fondness... and I will try not to cry while doing so.
1 You know better than I but I think that was a major achievement. When you factor in how many people were too old, too sick, too poor... in short, too alone to be able to evacuate that percentage must be a lot higher. It seems to me that everyone who could get out did get out. I think that bears repeating: Everyone who could, did. This was in spite of the long history of false predictions, close calls and countless sky-is-falling weather men.
2 This was another thing that angered me. The story was again about the impact on "us". More accurately it was now about "them" the politically powerful. Just as the Cindy Sheehan story was covered as a partisan political struggle so New Orleans was drawn into the world of presidential poll numbers. There was no coverage of Iraqis, their tragedies and suffering, and precious little coverage of the poor living in the gulf coast, their tragedies and suffering. Perhaps this was because both Bagdad and New Orleans were too dangerous for the media to do anything but set up bunkers in their respective "Green Zones." In no way do I mean to discount the brave and honest reporting of a few. For every Fisk and Shadid there was a Cooper (who would have thunk it?) and a Times-Picayune.
...okay. I have no idea why the above spoilerized links don't really work. But I think this'll get you where you're goin'. Eventually... hopefully.
Thank you for your post, 0dysseus. It means a lot to my wife Julia and I. We are both sad, angry and not exactly sure what to do with our lives. We just want to keep Griffin and Zoe's memories alive and make sure everyone knows why they did not survive.
Hang in there.
...please.
highlight to read Perhaps this is inappropriately personal.
Please tell Julia how sorry I am and how sorrowful. It doesn't sound as if either of you had a choice and, contrary to what I'd guess most people are telling you, that may be the worst thing of all. I'm not going to say that the ache will fade. Maybe it won't. Maybe it shouldn't.
I am hoping that the joyful memories will overwhelm the sad. How they got their names. The funniest thing that Griffin ever did. The fact that I'm having a tough time believing that Zoe could do a backflip. (I admit that some things might be more helpful than others... but c'mon, backflip? really?) Well, I suppose if you say so...
I am not sure why your tragedy garnered all those bizarre comments, but I'm glad you had them deleted. Though I've never really had a pet to cherish, I'm sure that that love is irreplaceable. I am very, very sorry for your loss.
Thank you, A.J.
My condolences.
I'm so sorry about the loss of your beloved pets. (((hugs)))