Most of Katrina pets adopted

Penny, a 2-year-old terrier mix, spent 30 days in a concrete and steel kennel before she was sent to the Humane Society of Southeast Missouri.

She had been through a lot. Penny's owner had died at her home in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina, and Penny was left abandoned.

It wasn't until about two weeks ago that Penny had a new home.

Terry Meier was working a shift in the mail processing center at the post office in Cape Girardeau when he saw the picture of Penny on the front page of the newspaper.

"The day the Southeast Missourian ran an article and picture of her, I knew I wanted to adopt her," he said. "I saw her face and I just couldn't resist."

Meier went to the Humane Society to apply for adoption. The following day, Penny went home with her new owner.

About two weeks ago 23 dogs, abandoned because of the hurricane, were brought to the Humane Society. There are three left for adoption.

"The community has been great about adopting these dogs," said Cheryle Dillon, the Humane Society's events outreach coordinator. "There were about 20 people waiting at the door that morning we had the dogs available to adopt."

Dillon said there is a 4-month-old pointer mix and two blue heelers left for adoption.

"The pointer is a really sweet little dog," she said.

As for Meier, he couldn't be happier about his new pet.

"She's a sweetheart," he said. "She was very active the first couple days, but then she got a little sick."

Penny came down with kennel cough, but Meier said she's slowly recovering with the help of antibiotics.

Even though Penny has racked up some veterinarian bills, Meier doesn't mind and said she believes more people should consider adopting dogs.

"Even if it's not one of the hurricane dogs, people should definitely adopt," he said. "There are so many of them that don't get adopted, and we all know what happens to them when they aren't adopted. It's definitely worth it to give them a home."

jfreeze@semissourian.com