TV coverage of Katrina animal tragedies and rescues

Oprah's Katrina special on Tuesday, September 6, had a touching segment about animals.

Nate Berkus is a designer who is a regular on the Oprah show. He is no stranger to this type of tragedy, having been in the midst of the Tsunami and having lost his partner to it. He is down in New Orleans with the Oprah team.

Berkus says to the camera: "One of the saddest things about what's going on here, that people have saved their animals by putting them on rafts and keeping them out of the water. And now they're here and they're not allowed to take their dogs with them on the buses."

We see shots of beautiful dogs running around a mostly abandoned bus area, including a Chihuahua who could almost have fit in somebody's pocket.

We see a young man sitting and clutching an older rusty colored dog, who looks like a chow mix. He is crying. Another man, with his arm around him says, "We've been waiting here for days for everybody to go with everybody else, so we can get on with the dog, and then they just told us at the last minute we can't take the dog. Well, this guy and his dog rescued me off my roof. He's only 24, and he's had the dog for 14 years. Well, we're not leaving without the dog. We don't know what we're going to do."

Berkus says, "All right, guys. You know what? I'm not doing this for the camera. We don't give a (censored) about that."

(Note: Swearing can be a good way to make sure a piece doesn't make the show, so I think Berkus was sincere, but I am glad the producers decided to show the segment anyway.)

Berkus says, "We have a solution for you. Here's the story. We are going to send the dog," whose name, he learns, is Rafiki. "We're going to take him and two other dogs that we met here, and we're going to send him to a house in Baton Rouge. It's a private house where we're sleeping. And when you get back..."

At this point the young man collapses into Nate Berkus's arms, sobbing. Nate also begins to sob. The accompanying man is saying, "I told you it was going to be OK. I told you.."

Then we go to Oprah, who is in the announcer role. She is crying and says, "I've been crying for two days here, but I have to tell you, I'm a dog person, and that's pretty moving. Nate kept his word to Patrick and he and his beloved dog Rafiki were reunited the next day."

We see a shot of Patrick and Rafiki happily united and snuggled together on a bench-swing in a clean dry yard.

Nothing brings home a message like a personal story, and this one clearly showed the impact that the no-pet policies have had on people. Please thank Oprah for the coverage:
http://www.oprah.com/email/tows/email_tows_main.jhtml

I send thanks to Lori Golden from the Pet Press for making sure we knew about the Oprah coverage.

And here is good news. Thursday night, September 8, Wayne Pacelle, president of the Humane Society of the United States, will be on Larry King Live (9pm and midnight Eastern, and 6 and 9pm Pacific) talking about the tragedy that results from evacuation strategies that do not include people's beloved animal companions. Watch if you can. Larry King Live asks for comments on the show. After the piece has aired, please post a thank you.
The URL is http://www.cnn.com/feedback/forms/form5.html?12


(DawnWatch is an animal advocacy media watch that looks at animal issues in the media and facilitates one-click responses to the relevant media outlets. You can learn more about it, and sign up for alerts at http://www.DawnWatch.com. If you forward or reprint DawnWatch alerts, please do so unedited -- leave DawnWatch in the title and include this tag line.)