12-03-2008, 01:42 AM
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#32 (permalink)
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| Elite Member
Last Online: 23-12-2008 10:39 AM Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: West Coast Canada
Posts: 2,922
| Do they get any help with job retraining? Up here you can get that if you're on Employment Insurance or welfare.
Actually my neck of the woods is doing its bit for Katrina victims, but these people are the wrong species (and family/genus): Quote: Orphaned pit bulls from Hurricane Katrina get Gulf Island to themselves
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Call it Survivor Island for Pit Bulls.
Alberta vet Pilar Gosselin wanted a place for her pit bulls, who were Hurricane Katrina survivors, so she bought an island.
The place, Rabbit Island, off the Sunshine Coast, is going to the dogs -- among them Katrina, Rippie, Louie and Fay.
"It makes sense for the rescued dogs. They can run around and not irritate the neighbourhood," Gosselin said yesterday.
The pit bulls are among 30 dogs that Gosselin rescued in the aftermath of the devastating 2005 hurricane in New Orleans.
The dogs were in bad shape when she found them by the side of an Alabama road, sweltering in crates.
"The dogs suffered tremendously. It was a life-changing experience. I am committed to making their lives better," she said.
She and veterinarian Dave Brace, her life partner, sheltered homeless animals wandering around after the storm.
The 30 dogs were brought back to Alberta and 23 were adopted out. Gosselin calls the four pit bulls among the seven that remain the "special-needs cases."
"They're great with people and they get along with some dogs, but not all. They're not off-leash dogs," said Gosselin, 40, who runs a veterinary practice in Canmore with Brace.
The pair recently bought the 14-hectare island, off the south end of Texada and Lasqueti islands, along with Calgary vet Dave Szentimrey. The rabbit-less isle -- named because it looks like a crouching hare from the air -- cost $2.2 million.
The island refuge, formerly a field research base for California's Orange Coast College, has a dining hall, bathhouse and accommodation for 18 in four cabins.
There is solar and wind power, a generator and desalinating unit .
The dogs will be kept away from deer, sea lions and eagles in the area.
"They are our pets and, as such, will always have supervision. They are not allowed to chase wildlife of any kind," said Gosselin.
She plans to maintain the island's environmentally friendly style and rent it out to student groups. None of the investors have children.
For the present, the dogs will come for month-long visits a couple of times a year.
Orphaned pit bulls from Hurricane Katrina get Gulf Island to themselves | Lucky dogs! 
Last edited by Hootad Binky : 12-03-2008 at 01:52 AM.
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