If one more person asks us what kind of dog Obama should get ...
Long before the president-elect promised his daughters they would hear the patter of little puppy feet in the White House, animal-welfare groups like the Humane Society of the United States have been prompting the Obamas to rescue a dog from a shelter.
Carol Parker, 43, of Cold Spring Harbor agrees. An independent rescuer with Cajun roots, she started transporting dogs from New Iberia, La., to Long Island in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Yesterday, she sent emails to the Obama campaign and Oprah, and started a "cause" on Facebook called “Get the Obamas to Adopt A Shelter Dog," urging the next president to consider a shelter dog -- particularly one from the Louisiana, where lax spay-neuter practices have created a chronic overpopulation problem.
"It would shine a light on the thousands of unwanted dogs in shelters across America who are waiting for homes, many who are facing death," she says.
In the last couple of years, Carol has adopted three dogs from Louisiana: Kiki, a Cataloula-terrier mix; Pappy, a hound; and Bruno, a mastiff/Plott hound mix that Carol describes as "a big, beautiful moose."
Many of the dogs in Louisiana shelters are hunting breeds such as Catahoula leopard dogs. With their merle coats and striking "marble-glass" eyes, Catahoulas are indigenous to Louisiana, and are relatively easy to adopt on Long Island because they're considered so exotic here, Carol says.
Carol says the shelter even has a dog to meet the Obamas' need for a relatively hypoallergenic breed that does not shed.
"We have a poodle that’s supposed to come up next week -- she's only six months old," Carol says. "We find that down there, once the dogs get past that little cute puppy stage, people dont want them anymore."
If you are Barack Obama -- or if you are interested in adopting a shelter dog or cat from Louisiana -- contact Carol at caparker@optonline.net.
