Sergeant Bluff family gives dog back to hurricane-stricken family
Adopted Lab goes from being Mimi to Fay, then Mimi again
By Michele Linck, Journal staff writer | Posted: Saturday, December 24, 2005
Mimi, who has been cared for by Dennis and Pam Pottorff in Sergeant Bluff, Iowa, will soon be reunited with her family in New Orleans. (Staff photo by Jim Lee)
Forget Frosty's old silk hat. It was a story Friday in the Sioux City Journal that held the holiday magic for Elodie Schaeffer and her family's long-lost dog, Mimi.
"The lady who had her, Pam, actually called me this morning after reading the story," said Schaeffer, a New Orleans resident who relocated to Houston in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina nearly four months ago.
Schaeffer, whose mother, Judy Tervalon, actually is registered as Mimi's owner, lost everything in the flooding after the storm, including Mimi.
"She called me and said Merry Christmas, I've got your dog," Schaeffer recounted Friday. "I was just shocked, absolutely floored. You have a little faith, but you never dream you'll get an instant response."
Mimi will be put aboard a plane this morning in Sioux City and should be in Houston with Tervalon, Schaeffer and Schaeffer's 6-year-old daughter, Ava, by about 8 p.m.
The family's heroine is Pam Pottorff of Sergeant Bluff. She and her family adopted Mimi in October from the Siouxland Humane Society. She was one of the 12 "hurricane dogs" taken in by the shelter and offered for adoption after owner and pet failed to find one another by an Oct. 15 deadline. The Pottorfs named her Fay.
"We said all along if the original owners connected she would go back," Pottorff said Friday. After reading the story, Pottorff said, "I looked at her and said 'Mimi' and her ears perked up." She said she knew for sure then it was the dog Schaeffer was so desperately seeking. She also knew the dog's eyes were different shades of brown, something that doesn't show up in photos, but which Schaeffer described in the Journal story.
"There's no doubt it's hard (to give her back)," Pottorff said. "She'd become part of the family. But what a wonderful Christmas present for them to get a little piece of their life back."
Pottorff said she, husband Dennis and sons Josh, 16, and Matt, 20, would probably all go to the airport this morning to see Fay/Mimi off. "It will be bittersweet," she said. "We've enjoyed her."
She said they adopted the two-year-old Lab to be a pal for their 9-year-old golden retriever, Nala. The dogs got along well, but didn't really play together, Pottorff said.
Schaeffer said before evacuating New Orleans, she dropped the dog off at her grandparents' house, which was on high ground.
Schaeffer said she had searched online and attended a conference in New Orleans for people with lost pets, but only last Saturday found out Mimi had been sent to Sioux City. Jerry Dominicak, executive director of the Siouxland Humane Society, said he declined to give Schaeffer the name of the adopting family in the interest of the integrity of all pet adoptions. He said families who adopt a pet at the Humane Society can't be left wondering whether the owner will show up sometime and want their animal back. He said he figured if the family who had Mimi saw the Journal story, it could make that decision for themselves.
And they did.
It's actually a wonder," Schaeffer said. "It's a very happy time, it's a very merry Christmas for us right now."
Dominicak said the Humane Society is paying the $600 or so it will take to fly Mimi back to the Schaeffers. And it will give the Pottorffs a free adoption when they are ready for another dog. "I really feel for the family that's giving her up," he said.
"The lady who had her, Pam, actually called me this morning after reading the story," said Schaeffer, a New Orleans resident who relocated to Houston in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina nearly four months ago.
Schaeffer, whose mother, Judy Tervalon, actually is registered as Mimi's owner, lost everything in the flooding after the storm, including Mimi.
"She called me and said Merry Christmas, I've got your dog," Schaeffer recounted Friday. "I was just shocked, absolutely floored. You have a little faith, but you never dream you'll get an instant response."
Mimi will be put aboard a plane this morning in Sioux City and should be in Houston with Tervalon, Schaeffer and Schaeffer's 6-year-old daughter, Ava, by about 8 p.m.
The family's heroine is Pam Pottorff of Sergeant Bluff. She and her family adopted Mimi in October from the Siouxland Humane Society. She was one of the 12 "hurricane dogs" taken in by the shelter and offered for adoption after owner and pet failed to find one another by an Oct. 15 deadline. The Pottorfs named her Fay.
"We said all along if the original owners connected she would go back," Pottorff said Friday. After reading the story, Pottorff said, "I looked at her and said 'Mimi' and her ears perked up." She said she knew for sure then it was the dog Schaeffer was so desperately seeking. She also knew the dog's eyes were different shades of brown, something that doesn't show up in photos, but which Schaeffer described in the Journal story.
"There's no doubt it's hard (to give her back)," Pottorff said. "She'd become part of the family. But what a wonderful Christmas present for them to get a little piece of their life back."
Pottorff said she, husband Dennis and sons Josh, 16, and Matt, 20, would probably all go to the airport this morning to see Fay/Mimi off. "It will be bittersweet," she said. "We've enjoyed her."
She said they adopted the two-year-old Lab to be a pal for their 9-year-old golden retriever, Nala. The dogs got along well, but didn't really play together, Pottorff said.
Schaeffer said before evacuating New Orleans, she dropped the dog off at her grandparents' house, which was on high ground.
Schaeffer said she had searched online and attended a conference in New Orleans for people with lost pets, but only last Saturday found out Mimi had been sent to Sioux City. Jerry Dominicak, executive director of the Siouxland Humane Society, said he declined to give Schaeffer the name of the adopting family in the interest of the integrity of all pet adoptions. He said families who adopt a pet at the Humane Society can't be left wondering whether the owner will show up sometime and want their animal back. He said he figured if the family who had Mimi saw the Journal story, it could make that decision for themselves.
And they did.
It's actually a wonder," Schaeffer said. "It's a very happy time, it's a very merry Christmas for us right now."
Dominicak said the Humane Society is paying the $600 or so it will take to fly Mimi back to the Schaeffers. And it will give the Pottorffs a free adoption when they are ready for another dog. "I really feel for the family that's giving her up," he said.
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