Dogfight Ensues Over Katrina Pet Rescues

A custody dispute over two rescued dogs from the New Orleans area has turned into a defamation lawsuit, reports The Washington Post. Belinda Sumrall, a Katrina evacuee who left behind two female shepherds, was awarded custody of the dogs after a Louisiana judge ordered the Montgomery County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, in Maryland, to return them.

Now two volunteers for the society, who rescued the dogs, have filed a defamation lawsuit against Ms. Sumrall and her attorney, accusing them of characterizing the volunteers as elitists and thieves. The identities of the dogs’ new owners, who are not involved in the litigation, have not been made public.

The case illustrates the many complications resulting from Katrina pet rescues. About 15,000 pets were rescued in the Gulf Coast after the hurricane ravaged the area. Up to 30 percent of those animals have been reunited with their owners. But in other cases around the country, ownership battles have begun, a sign of the tensions between pet owners and animal rescue groups.