Katrina pets ready for adoptions

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
NEW YORK -- Time is running out for reunions between thousands of rescued Hurricane Katrina pets and their owners, as shelters will begin putting the animals up for adoption.
Up to 10,000 or more pets may still be in shelters or foster homes across the country, waiting for their owners to claim them.
"The time is definitely running out," said Petfinder.com President Betsy Saul. "It's not necessarily running out for the pets -- everyone wants to adopt a Katrina pet -- but it's running out for the reunions."
An estimated 10,000 dogs, 4,000 cats and 700 other animals were processed through a huge triage system and then dispersed to shelters as far away as Maine and Oregon.
More than 2,000 reunions have been arranged through the Petfinder database, but animal care groups say they can't keep the pets in limbo forever.
"It's a huge ethical dilemma -- how long do you keep a Katrina pet in your shelter before you let it find a new home?" Saul said. Most shelters are either allowing adoptions now or will do so this month, she added.
The Humane Society of New York has five dogs and four cats it has been nursing back to health and will put up for adoption this month, director Susan Richmond said.
Among the animals is Dylan, a beagle found outside of New Orleans, exhausted and swimming in 4 feet of brackish water.
Lexie Montgomery, 37, a Humane Society volunteer who lives on the lower East Side, drove the pets to Manhattan on Oct. 11. "We just picked out the dogs I thought were strong enough to handle a 20-, 24-hour drive," she said.