sooneron
1/27/2006, 09:52 AM
Woman fetches her dog, with help of N.J. court
By Mary Swerczek
Kenner bureau
Hurricane Katrina couldn’t permanently separate Chopper the Great Dane from owner Annabelle Arguello of Kenner. And neither could a New Jersey couple, who battled in court Thursday for permanent custody of the big, friendly dog and lost.
Chopper was immediately reunited with Arguello and will return home on Saturday — nearly five months after the hurricane.
“I tell you I’m so excited,” Arguello said, speaking on her cell phone from New Jersey where she attended Thursday’s court hearing. Aguello, 52, said the expense of flying to New Jersey and going to court was worth it because Chopper will be flying back home with her.
“I feel great,” she said. “I’m bringing him home.”
Like so many hurricane stories, the tale of Chopper has plenty of twists and turns: First, he survived Katrina alone in his damaged south Kenner home, along with two beagles; then spent some time at the huge, animal rescue site set up at the Lamar-Dixon Expo Center in Gonzales; and finally ended up in New Jersey thanks to a Garden State animal rescue group.
As Katrina approached, Arguello evacuated to her sister’s home in Houston, in an SUV filled with her sister and four other family members who had been visiting, along with all of their luggage. There was no room for Chopper and her two beagles.
“The van was full with stuff and people,” she said.
So Arguello reluctantly set out five buckets of food and five buckets and water and left her pets in God’s hands.
“I prayed all the time that they would be OK,” Arguello said. “And they were.”
Her south Kenner home received roof damage and several inches of water. She returned to check on her dogs on Sept. 7 and immediately took them to the temporary animal shelter set up at the expo center in Gonzales.
Arguello said that although some people tried to make it look like she had abandoned her pets, she had no other choice — either when she evacuated from Katrina or when she dropped the animals off in Gonzales.
“My sister’s house is not fixed for a dog,” she said. And there was no room, with two evacuated families already sharing the Houston home. “She had a full house. People were sleeping on the couches and on the floor.”
When she returned to Lamar-Dixon to pick up her dogs during the last week in September, they were gone. She found the two beagles in Gonzales with help from the Louisiana Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, but two months of Internet searches and phone calls couldn’t find Chopper.
In November, she turned to the Humane Society of the United States, which tracked Chopper to Flemington, N. J., where he had been adopted by Pam Behmke and renamed Pluto.
Like many animal groups throughout the country, People for Animals in Hillside, N.J. offered to shelter some of the animals at Lamar-Dixon. The group brought Chopper to New Jersey and adopted him to Behmke on Oct. 23. When Arguello finally tracked down Chopper, Behmke refused to part with the dog.
Behmke, who couldn’t be reached for comment Thursday and did not attend the court hearing, argued that Arguello abandoned Chopper and that he had been rightfully adopted. According to accounts published in the Newark Star-Ledger, Chopper was treated well by the Behmkes and got along well with another dog they owned.
Arguello’s attorney, Alexis van der Sterre from Newark, said the case has attracted attention throughout the state.
“A lot of people have expressed interest in it up here,” she said, adding that Chopper attended Thursday’s hearing and was well-behaved. “He’s a fabulous dog, a really handsome, funny, goofy dog. It was definitely a happy ending.”
She didn’t know if Behmke will appeal. Behmke’s attorney could not be reached Thursday.
In her decision, Somerset County Judge Rosemarie Williams acknowledged the pain of both Arguello and Behmke: “It is a bittersweet decision the court makes today,” she said.
But she decided Chopper belongs in Kenner.
"The court believes it rightfully reunites a woman who has been through a terrible tragedy, the likes of which few other Americans have had the misfortune to experience,” she wrote. “Perhaps this court’s decision will play a part in helping to rebuild her life.”
Mary Swerczek can be reached at [email protected] or (504) 467-1726.
Judge Rosemarie Williams ruled that Chopper should go back home to Louisiana, but called it a bittersweet decision because of the bond that had developed between the dog and its adopted New Jersey family.
http://www.nola.com/newslogs/tpupdates/index.ssf?/mtlogs/nola_tpupdates/archives/2006_01_26.html
Photos courtest of Matt Rainey / Star-Ledger .
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By Mary Swerczek
Kenner bureau
Hurricane Katrina couldn’t permanently separate Chopper the Great Dane from owner Annabelle Arguello of Kenner. And neither could a New Jersey couple, who battled in court Thursday for permanent custody of the big, friendly dog and lost.
Chopper was immediately reunited with Arguello and will return home on Saturday — nearly five months after the hurricane.
“I tell you I’m so excited,” Arguello said, speaking on her cell phone from New Jersey where she attended Thursday’s court hearing. Aguello, 52, said the expense of flying to New Jersey and going to court was worth it because Chopper will be flying back home with her.
“I feel great,” she said. “I’m bringing him home.”
Like so many hurricane stories, the tale of Chopper has plenty of twists and turns: First, he survived Katrina alone in his damaged south Kenner home, along with two beagles; then spent some time at the huge, animal rescue site set up at the Lamar-Dixon Expo Center in Gonzales; and finally ended up in New Jersey thanks to a Garden State animal rescue group.
As Katrina approached, Arguello evacuated to her sister’s home in Houston, in an SUV filled with her sister and four other family members who had been visiting, along with all of their luggage. There was no room for Chopper and her two beagles.
“The van was full with stuff and people,” she said.
So Arguello reluctantly set out five buckets of food and five buckets and water and left her pets in God’s hands.
“I prayed all the time that they would be OK,” Arguello said. “And they were.”
Her south Kenner home received roof damage and several inches of water. She returned to check on her dogs on Sept. 7 and immediately took them to the temporary animal shelter set up at the expo center in Gonzales.
Arguello said that although some people tried to make it look like she had abandoned her pets, she had no other choice — either when she evacuated from Katrina or when she dropped the animals off in Gonzales.
“My sister’s house is not fixed for a dog,” she said. And there was no room, with two evacuated families already sharing the Houston home. “She had a full house. People were sleeping on the couches and on the floor.”
When she returned to Lamar-Dixon to pick up her dogs during the last week in September, they were gone. She found the two beagles in Gonzales with help from the Louisiana Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, but two months of Internet searches and phone calls couldn’t find Chopper.
In November, she turned to the Humane Society of the United States, which tracked Chopper to Flemington, N. J., where he had been adopted by Pam Behmke and renamed Pluto.
Like many animal groups throughout the country, People for Animals in Hillside, N.J. offered to shelter some of the animals at Lamar-Dixon. The group brought Chopper to New Jersey and adopted him to Behmke on Oct. 23. When Arguello finally tracked down Chopper, Behmke refused to part with the dog.
Behmke, who couldn’t be reached for comment Thursday and did not attend the court hearing, argued that Arguello abandoned Chopper and that he had been rightfully adopted. According to accounts published in the Newark Star-Ledger, Chopper was treated well by the Behmkes and got along well with another dog they owned.
Arguello’s attorney, Alexis van der Sterre from Newark, said the case has attracted attention throughout the state.
“A lot of people have expressed interest in it up here,” she said, adding that Chopper attended Thursday’s hearing and was well-behaved. “He’s a fabulous dog, a really handsome, funny, goofy dog. It was definitely a happy ending.”
She didn’t know if Behmke will appeal. Behmke’s attorney could not be reached Thursday.
In her decision, Somerset County Judge Rosemarie Williams acknowledged the pain of both Arguello and Behmke: “It is a bittersweet decision the court makes today,” she said.
But she decided Chopper belongs in Kenner.
"The court believes it rightfully reunites a woman who has been through a terrible tragedy, the likes of which few other Americans have had the misfortune to experience,” she wrote. “Perhaps this court’s decision will play a part in helping to rebuild her life.”
Mary Swerczek can be reached at [email protected] or (504) 467-1726.
Judge Rosemarie Williams ruled that Chopper should go back home to Louisiana, but called it a bittersweet decision because of the bond that had developed between the dog and its adopted New Jersey family.
http://www.nola.com/newslogs/tpupdates/index.ssf?/mtlogs/nola_tpupdates/archives/2006_01_26.html
Photos courtest of Matt Rainey / Star-Ledger .
Print | Send To A Friend | Permalink (Learn More)