The following was written by Hart's Mom about his courage, and her devotion to him. Auctions are being conducted by SND to offset Hart's medical expenses, so please check out the SND website and support Hart and the woman who has healed his heart, and given him a new and wonderful life.

Hart is a heroic boy,

One of perhaps thousands who endured the fiery furnace of abandonment, neglect, despair, fear and hunger, and made it to the other side to a safe haven in which he is home…forever…

Hart is approximately 8 years old.  He was rescued from the flooded streets of New Orleans, in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, emaciated, wary, frightened, weak.  No telling how long he wandered, foraging for food, hardly sleeping, with nowhere to lay his head, on the move. 

Hart was rescued and taken to the Lamar-Dixon mega-shelter, was taken from there by the “angels” of the Gulf Coast Doberman Rescue, and eventually found himself in the loving and devoted care of his foster mom Teresa.  His passage ended when I asked if he could come home to live with us – Hildie and Tully, Kayan and Xander, and Yin and Yang his feline brothers.

I thought about what his name might be and what to call him and all I could think of sweet heart, big heart, strong heart, dear heart, heart-man, and so he shall be called “Hart.” 

He’s accepted all of us and taught all of us many lessons.

I have observed his stately gait and wondered who walked him and cared for him before the storm.  He is a magnificent creature, a simply gorgeous dobie (as Teresa and Terri will so willingly attest!).  He seems like he came from good stock and good training.  What he has survived suggests he had “good genes.” Although he wasn’t “housebroken” when he came to me, (or if he had been, he had forgotten he rules after living those months on the street, on the move), he has learned quickly how to use the dog door to be independent in taking care of his bodily needs.

I have observed he can’t drink enough water and wondered how thirsty he got on those hot, dry streets after the waters began to recede and the sun came out to dry the land. 

I have observed he delights in his food – warmed, canned Alpo over senior science diet, stirred carefully and presented formally after he sits at attention and I count to five. 

I have observed that he freezes on lead when another dog passes by…a behavior that makes me wonder if he had been a victim of aggression along his way.  So too I have observed him huddling on a dog bed in the corner of my dining room where he goes when it rains (or even hints that it might rain). And no bowl of food or invitation to go outside can move him off his safe place.  He doesn’t even look my way when I speak to him by name. 

I have observed his acceptance of being the newcomer in a household where he has had to adjust to four senior dogs and two bossy cats.  Not to mention a human who has high expectations about his ability to catch on and fit in.  And he has done just that and it’s like he’s always been here and we rejoice in his presence and easy, noble spirit. 

I have observed him in pain, coming to stand my me with his stomach hard and swollen – twice now he has endured that.  The first time we had to drive some 30 miles to a veterinarian in the country who told me he suffered from a severe case of bloat and drained the contents of his stomach and told me it would happen again and that he needed surgery.

A month later it happened again at 3 AM on a Monday morning in a town short on weekend emergency care.  My vet gave me the name of an emergency provider (the only one operative in post Katrina New Orleans) and we drove there in the wee hours of that Monday morning.  It was there and through Dr. Rose Lemarie’s expert diagnosis and surgery, that Hart was relieved of his systemic and chronic malady.  He has recovered and is doing fine!  He is thriving!
 
Hart is home!

Please check out the following links

http://www.doberman911.org/#currentcases

http://www.doberman911.org/cases/hart.html