Storm Dog

It was Sunday night, Aug. 28, and the storm was due to hit on Monday morning. We were at the Superdome in this absolutely pouring down, squalling rain. The winds had already started to pick up. Most of the thousands of people who were trying to get into the Superdome had already managed to get in. They were just about to close the doors and lock down for the night.

That's when I saw a man walking down and talking to cop cars and National Guard people all along the way in the pouring rain. He had a puppy in his arms. They said to him, "you can go in, but you can't take your dog with you."

He kept saying, "Look man, it's a puppy. If I left him at home, he would just die."

So I looked at Tom Baer, our satellite truck operator, and I said, "Tom, we gotta do it."
He nodded. So I went out into the rain and I said, "We'll look after your dog for you."

In the pouring rain, he gave me his name, Joe Torres, and I gave him our numbers, and he went into the Superdome and we took the puppy.

Walking to the park this morning, I met Storm and Tom Baer. I am happy to report that Storm is doing well, and that he is a.do.ra.ble! Mr. Baer is nice, too. It was quite funny to see Mr. Baer, an imposing figure, sitting in the middle of the small dogs group, doting over Storm.

Since leaving New Orleans, Storm has traveled to Baton Rouge, Toronto (where the NBC crew had to go for repairs to their satellite truck), and, as of last night, the City.

I have no doubt that Mr. Torres misses his dog, but the good new is that he can rest assured his dog is very well taken care of. Let's hope they will soon be reunited.

Unfortunately, the bad news is that Mr. Baer did confirm reports of New Orleans officials shooting dogs. I'm not sure what to do to address this problem; if you have any suggestions, please let me know.