A woman and her dog are alive today thanks to the heroic actions of David Phung and two other men in a boat who spotted her car sinking on a flooded street in Baton Rouge, La. The rescue was captured on video by WAFB reporter Robbie Reynold.
“Oh my God, I’m drowning,” the woman can be heard saying inside her car, its front end sinking into the water.
“We’re coming, we’re coming!” the men assured her. “We’re breaking a window!”
When the men were unable to break the window with a pole, Phung jumped out of the boat and onto the sinking car. He was able to tear through the convertible’s cloth top. As the car became almost completely submerged, he was finally able to pull the woman out.
But she wasn’t alone in her car. “My dog, get my dog!” she cried.
At first Phung was unable to find the dog, and told her her pet might be gone.
“No, she better not be!” the woman said.
And sure enough, the dog popped her head out of the water, which by then was up to the hero’s shoulders. The three were able to swim to the boat.
‘Historic’ Rain and Flooding
Southeastern Louisiana has been experiencing what’s being called historic torrential rain and flooding. During just the past 24 hours, the Louisiana National Guard has rescued nearly 500 people and 61 pets.
At least three people have died — and this woman is really very fortunate not to be one of them.
“Do not drive your car through a flooded area, as it does not take much water to carry away a vehicle,” warns the Louisiana state government. “Do not drive around road barriers, because you do not know if the road of a bridge has been washed out.”
Hopefully Phung will be honored for risking his life to save the woman and her dog.
When a photo of her went viral in March, people around the world were outraged that Butterbean, a 6-year-old German Shepherd mix believed to have been dumped at a Louisiana gas station, was actually intentionally left there by her owners. They enjoyed it when she chased after them in their pickup truck.
“They’ve done this multiple times and apparently think it’s no big deal, and they don’t seem to care about the welfare of the dog,” Jeff Dorson, director of the Humane Society of Louisiana, told ABC News March 17.
When the Humane Society of Louisiana first contacted Butterbean’s owners about giving their dog up for adoption so she could live in a safer, more compassionate home, the owners refused.
“They stated their intention is to now keep her tethered in their backyard, which of course is not an acceptable way to maintain a family dog in our view, apart from the history of extremely irresponsible pet ‘ownership,’” the Humane Society wrote on its Facebook page in March.
Butterbean’s case was escalated to St. Tammany Animal Services, which had the authority to directly intervene. When they told Lisa Pearson, one of Butterbean’s owners, she had to either take the dog to a shelter or vet, Pearson said she would give them the dog — for $400. The cash was donated from the Humane Society.
“We certainly don’t like to reward this kind of behavior, but sometimes it simply takes too long for cases to move through the legal system,” Dorson said in a news release. “Our first concern was Butterbean’s safety. We were convinced she could be let loose again to run in traffic at any time, and we might miss our opportunity to intervene.”
Pearson was later cited for violating several state laws, and she signed an agreement not to chain or tether any animal, and not to allow any animal to roam at large.
After being treated for heartworm, Butterbean was available for adoption. Dorson told ABC News today the humane society received dozens of adoption applications.
One in particular stood out.
According to Dorson, “no one expressed more enthusiasm to be Butterbean’s new caretaker” than Guy Lawrence-Edenheimer, a retired musician from Antioch, Ill., who now calls himself her “proud papa.”
Ready for some chills? Lawrence-Edenheimer’s previous dog, Rocky, died on March 17, 2014. Exactly one year later, Lawrence-Edenheimer saw the story about Butterbean on ABC News. He was amazed by how much Butterbean looked like Rocky.
“The timing was just too perfect,” he told ABC News today. “It was like it was meant to be.”
Lawrence-Edenheimer said he and Butterbean instantly bonded, and now the two are almost inseparable.
“She’s an absolute sweetheart,” he said. “After the first night I got her, she jumped onto the bed, licked my face and bounced my elbows up with her nose.”
Butterbean comes along with her loving new dog dad on car trips…and stays in the car.
“Butterbean no longer feels compelled to chase after her new owner, since she shares rides together with him,” Dorson told ABC News.
‘Butterbean Buddies’ Campaign Helps Other Abandoned Dogs
To help other dogs in the state who are abandoned, chained or tethered, the Humane Society of Louisiana launched the campaign “Butterbean Buddies” in March.
“We’d love to save 500 dogs or more through our Butterbean Buddies during the next year,” Dorson said on the Humane Society of Louisiana website.
It costs the humane society about $500 to rescue, provide veterinary care for, and spay or neuter a homeless dog. Housing, food and transporting the dog for adoption can cost an additional $500.
“If only a handful of people concerned about Butterbean pitched in to help, we could save thousands of dogs here in Louisiana,” Dorson said.
To make a donation to Butterbean Buddies, click here or send a check to Humane Society of Louisiana, PO Box 740321, New Orleans, LA 70174.
It was a picture that broke a million hearts this week: A German Shepherd mix seen chasing her owner’s pickup truck on a busy Louisiana highway after he dumped her at a gas station.
To add to the heartache, the dog seen in the photo, snapped by Lorie Hollis on her cell phone Monday, then seemed to disappear.
“I saw a gentleman walking around the gas station with the dog following him, and I thought he was homeless,” Hollis told ABC News. “He then sat on the back of this pickup truck and talked to the dog, who seemed to be very in tune to what he was saying.”
She said another man came out and told the dog to go away. “He shut the tailgate, and the dog tries to put its paws up to climb, but he just enters the truck and they back up real fast, almost hitting the dog, and speed off.”
Hollis followed behind them, watching the dog weave around cars as he chased the pickup truck. “The truck crossed two lanes of traffic, and still the dog followed,” she said.
When Hollis lost sight of them, she returned to the Highway 11 Shell gas station in Slidell, where an employee told her the dog lived in the area and to “mind her own f-ing business.”
The dog’s owners were finally tracked down Thursday by the Humane Society of Louisiana. Its director, Jeff Dorson, told ABC News the dog, Butterbean, was uninjured and very sweet, but the discovery was “incredulous.”
“It’s not uncommon at all for this family to abandon the dog at the station and let it chase their truck,” Dorson said. “They’ve done this multiple times and apparently think it’s no big deal, and they don’t seem to care about the welfare of the dog.”
Butterbean, who had been dumped in the neighborhood as a puppy, is between 6 and 7 years old. “We are truly amazed that Butterbean has survived this many years,” Dorson told the Times-Picayune.
The dog is apparently co-owned by two families. She was found Thursday on the property of one of her pet parents, Lisa Pearson.
Dorson said the humane society would educate Pearson and the other owners about the dangers they’re posing to their dog, named Butterbean, and other drivers. “We’re hoping to get a citation issued through our local animal control against the owners for having their dog at large,” he said.
According to an update on the Humane Society of Louisiana’s Facebook page yesterday, the owners are refusing to rehome Butterbean. “They stated their intention is to now keep her tethered in their backyard, which of course is not an acceptable way to maintain a family dog in our view, apart from the history of extremely irresponsible pet ‘ownership,'” the humane society wrote.
Butterbean’s case has been escalated to St. Tammany Animal Services, which has the authority to directly intervene. Dorson told ABC News yesterday the humane society is currently “pursuing all avenues to gain legal custody of Butterbean to ensure she has the safe and happy life she deserves.”
Meanwhile, a Shell gas station employee named Sandra told an ABC News reporter on the phone, “Everyone is making a big deal, and it needs to stop.”
Many commenters on the Humane Society of Louisiana’s Facebook update support Butterbean’s owners. “All of you need to back away and leave these people and their pet alone!!” wrote Gregg NVicki Miller. “Has been happy until you decided that you are not happy with the way somebody else lives their lives. I don’t like the way you think its OK to step all over somebody.”
I wonder if Gregg NVicki Miller were driving down Highway 11 and struck and killed happy Butterbean, he’d feel the same way.
“I get to have my best friend back,” O’Hara Owens, whose Pit Bull, Zeus, acts as her unofficial therapy dog, told KALB. Owens suffers from severe neck problems.
After the news spread last month that Moreauville officials had voted to enact the ban — and threatened to destroy pet Pit Bulls and Rottweilers who weren’t relocated by Dec. 1 — more than 348,000 people signed a MoveOn.org petition asking them to repeal the ban.
The petition was started by Owens’ mother, Joanna Armand. She also created the Saving Zeus community page on Facebook, which now has more than 49,500 “likes.”
Moreauville alderman Penn Lemoine told KALB that if the public outcry against the ban was strong enough, it might be dropped. He was true to his word. On Nov. 24, the ban was placed on hold until the special meeting Monday.
Mayor Timmy Lemoine had been hospitalized back in October when the Moreauville town council voted in favor of the ban.
“We got a threat from PETA that said, if we didn’t repeal this ordinance, they had enough money to shut the Village of Moreauville down,” he told KALB. “I wasn’t going to be known as the mayor who shut the Village of Moreauville down because of this.”
Instead of a ban, Lemoine said owners will receive citations if there are problems with their dogs. “It will go to the 12th Judicial Court for the district attorney to decide the fine and what will happen with the owner and the animal,” he told KALB.
Breed-specific legislation (BSL), which includes bans like these, is legal in some states, including Louisiana. But because it is so unfair — not to mention costly to enforce and proven to be ineffective in increasing public safety — it is opposed by President Obama and virtually all major animal welfare organizations: the ASPCA, AVMA, HSUS, etc., etc. For these reasons, the trend has, fortunately, been to repeal useless bans instead of creating them.
“Three families and eight Pit Bull babies have been saved, and I know all three families are forever eternally grateful for all of the world for helping us!” Armand wrote on the Saving Zeus Facebook page yesterday.
“I may be new and I don’t know everything, but I’m not gonna stop and I’m gonna keep helping to raise awareness until this BSL is repealed across the world!”
Zeus acts as an unofficial therapy dog for his owner, O’hara Owens of Moreauville, La., who has neck problems and must use a wheelchair.
“I can sit here if I’m in pain. He comes up there and he notices it before I even make any noise,” Owens told KALB.
But Owens and her family may soon have to say goodbye to Zeus, who happens to be a Pit Bull. At a town council meeting in October, Moreauville officials voted to ban the breed, as well as Rottweilers, because they are “vicious.”
According to a letter sent to owners of these two breeds, they must re-home their beloved pets by Dec. 1. Otherwise the dogs will be taken away for “further disposition,” meaning they will be killed.
(Appalled? A similar ban in Denver has been in effect since 1989. Thousands of Pit Bulls — many of them family pets — have been killed since then.)
Owens told KALB she has never had trouble with Zeus. “The breed is not vicious. It’s the owner,” she said. “It is the way that you raise them.”
She added that she will fight to keep her beloved dog. “Like I told them, they’re going to have to take him from my cold, dead hands before they get a hold of him.”
Moreauville alderman Penn Lemoine told KALB there have been dog attacks in the town, “but I don’t think they’re documented. We had several residents that were complaining about not being able to walk along the neighborhoods because these dogs were basically running along town.”
Lemoine, who has a German Shepherd, said the ban, as well as Moreauville’s plan to kill Pit Bulls and Rottweilers, are perfectly legal.
Breed-specific legislation (BSL), which includes bans like these, is legal in some states, including Louisiana. But because it is so unfair — not to mention costly to enforce and proven to be ineffective in increasing public safety — it is opposed by President Obama and virtually all major animal welfare organizations: the ASPCA, AVMA, HSUS, etc., etc. For these reasons, the trend has, fortunately, been to repeal useless bans instead of create them.
Lemoine did say that if the public outcry against the ban is strong enough, it may be reconsidered.
A Moveon.org petition asking Moreauville officials to drop the ban has nearly 50,000 signatures as of late Saturday afternoon — that’s quite a public outcry.
“This is amazing y’all!!!” Owens wrote earlier today on the Saving Zeus community page she created on Facebook (which currently has more than 11,000 “likes”).
“I’m reading comments and yes, I must admit the amazing support and words of encouragement have turned the waterworks on! I’ve now gone from a roll of toilet paper to a towel! Ya’ll rock and as the voice for Zeus we love ya’ll.”
The next Moreauville council meeting is scheduled for Dec. 8. To sign the petition, click here.
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