The latest on Gustav and the pit bulls left behind

Just a quick update, via a borrowed computer. The dogs and I left yesterday around 1pm. As I loaded them into the car, an NPR reporter pulled up to interview us, including recording some thoughts from Brando on the whole ordeal. They asked what it was I wanted to save from possible flood waters, and I mentioned a painting of a pit bull by Sandy Chism. I couldn't decide if it would be safer downstairs, where it might flood, or in the attic, where the roof might blow off. It ended up in the car, with the real pit bulls.

Our initial plan was to head to north Alabama. But it took eight hours to get just 100 miles away. So we ended up in Tylertown, Mississippi, along with Dag and Grover and a bunch of other dogs. The storm hit this morning, with tornado warnings in every direction, so here we stay.

The night before we left, I tracked an abandoned female pit through the lower ninth, trying to catch her, not knowing where I would put her if I did. I also got email with a photo of two pits abandoned on a balcony. But the most shocking, disappointing, distressing news was an email from SAWA and the SPCA of Texas, announcing they'd already resuced 300 animals and assuring potentional adoptors that none were pit bulls. In bold.