Just a few small words from his master’s voice sent Negrito, a 1-year-old miniature schnauzer, into a frenzy of yapping and barking Tuesday at the Denver Dumb Friends League animal shelter.
“That’s him, I recognize his voice!” said Negrito’s owner and Hurricane Katrina evacuee Luis Mesa, who was still 50 feet down a hall and around two corners from Negrito’s temporary pen.
Three more pet owners, also Katrina evacuees, began calling their pets’ names as a very noisy reunion got underway.
As evacuees landed in Colorado on Sunday, they were told their pets could not stay with them in the dormitories at Lowry, according to Aurora spokesman Kevin Moffitt. The Dumb Friends League quickly volunteered to foster any evacuee pets until more permanent plans could be made. So far, 11 pets have been taken in, said spokeswoman Kristina Vourax.
As Mesa climbed into Negrito’s pen, Edward Augustine, 39, leaned his cane on the wall and opened the door to scoop up Gizmo, his 2-year-old long-haired Chihuahua.
Miroslav and Josephine Gustokashin squeezed into another pen that held two dogs – their Boston terrier, Chester, and Chica, a Chihuahua they found at the New Orleans airport.
“When I saw Chica wandering around, I asked the security guard whose dog she was. He said she had been abandoned by her owner two days ago,” Josephine Gustokashin said. “I asked if we could take her; he said, ‘Please do,’ so we put her in with Chester. It’s amazing how quickly they’ve bonded.”
They also brought four cats in a second carrier. All six pets are doing fine.
Gustokashin said she and her husband would return to Shreveport, La., on Sunday, where her employer, FedEx Kinko’s, has a job and an apartment for her until a decision is made about their home in New Orleans. Miroslav Gustokashin, 45, paints murals on restaurant walls for a living, he said.
Augustine, a contractor and maintenance worker, was in a group of 24 people, including his wife, mother and brother, who were helicoptered out of New Orleans before boarding a Frontier Airlines flight for Denver on Sunday. He says they have nothing but a cellphone – no clothes, no cash, no credit cards.
“My wife left them in the car, which is under water,” he said. He’s uncertain of his future.
Mesa, 45, a space planner for Tulane University, said he isn’t worried, although he has no possessions left.
“I have a very good education. I can find work anywhere,” he said. “Plus I’m a very strong Catholic and I believe it will all work out.”
Staff writer Mike McPhee can be reached at 303-820-1409 or mmcphee@denverpost.com.
