Have you seen Deannie?               

                adult picture of Deannie                                                                                                                                     young picture of Deannie 

UPDATE January 1, 2008: I have recently been in touch with Deannie's family. Other volunteers in 2007 tracked Deannie possibly to Iowa, where it is said that two young women adopted her, having fallen in love with Deannie during their animal rescue volunteer work in New Orleans immediately following Hurricane Katrina. In light of Deannie's advanced age now, and due to the amount of time that has passed since she went missing, Deannie's family has suspended their search for her. While Deannie's family would still like confirmation that their dog has been loved and sheltered since the hurricane, they have no intentions to reclaim Deannie should she resurface at this date.

UPDATE January 1, 2007: While truly unbelievable reunions are still occurring between Katrina survivors and their rescued pets, Deannie and her family have not been among those who have experienced this much-delayed joy. Active and aggressive search efforts for Deannie have ceased; however, Deannie's family and I still welcome the occasional tips sent to us. We still plead for Deannie's rescuer to come forward and do the right thing: Let Deannie's family know that their beloved nine-year companion is alive and being well cared for. Again, Deannie was released and hopefully rescued from her fenced-in yard at 7709 Hickman St., in New Orleans East, the week of September 11, 2005. Scroll down to read more about Deannie and her rescue. -JML

UPDATE August 29, 2006, the one-year anniversary of Katrina's landfall along the Gulf Coast: Deannie is still missing. She would be 10 years old now. Her family is rebuilding their home and they hope to be able to move back in this November. They still hope Deannie's rescuer will come forward and reunite this beloved lab with her people in time for that major milestone in the family's recovery. Many thanks to those dedicated volunteers who continue to send tips on Deannie's possible whereabouts. -JML

                                                                                 adult picture of Deannie

Deannie (PF47468) is a 9-year-old female yellow lab who was lost from New Orleans East following Hurricane Katrina. She was rescued or set loose from her fenced-in side yard at 7709 Hickman St., New Orleans East, Louisiana, 70127 (map) where a neighbor had secured her and was feeding her, "sneaking in" to the closed neighborhood every few days. Her family members had been evacuated to Houston and were stuck there without transportation to get home for several days.

This family is the only family Deannie has known since she was a puppy. No doubt she misses them as much as they miss her.

Deannie was rescued or let loose sometime during the week of September 11-17, 2005. She may never have gone into the rescue "system," as no record of her rescue has turned up anywhere. (She is not pictured as "found" in the Animal Emergency Response Network at Petfinder.com.) During the week of her rescue, Deannie's neighborhood was still officially "closed," with access granted only to law enforcement officers, military personnel and approved animal rescuers.

Have you seen Deannie? She weighed 55-60 pounds pre-Katrina, was unspayed, and she has two fleshy, soft fatty tissue cysts or tumors -- one on her left side and one on her belly/abdomen. Unfortunately, she was not wearing her tags and she was not microchipped. She is a generally friendly dog, but may bark and growl at strangers.

If you have seen Deannie or have information about her rescue, please e-mail Joy at leong-pets at usa dot net (e-mail altered to prevent spam) or you may submit possible matches here, but please check first to make sure you are not submitting a link that has already been investigated as possibly being Deannie.

 No questions asked.