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The Best Damn Dog Tracker in New Orleans

February 15, 2008, 3:11 MT

By Brandi Bennett

A salute to Lise McC. and Animal Rescue New Orleans

A salute to Lise McC. and Animal Rescue New Orleans

By Pam Freni, Best Friends Ambassador

“It was on another lonely morning in ARNO section 20 last Spring, that I came across Rocca standing near the edge of S. Dorgenois near Tulane, chewing on a moldy, empty bag which at some point contained cat or dog food.....the bag was too weathered for me to know which.”

Lise McC. wrote these words in the spring of 2006, not realizing that when she saw this dog she had tied onto a saga that would take nearly two years to complete.

In September 2006, Lise spotted Rocca the sweet female with Rottweiler markings again, this time with a young male of indiscriminate breeding. Owned before the storm hit, the sandy-colored Boy was shy and hard to spot in the weeds. Lise fed them both, dumping a pile of food in the middle of the deserted road, noting that Rocca wore a collar with no tags. She too had belonged to someone when the she-devil Katrina stomped through the area months before. It was another month before Lise spotted the pair again, at Charity Hospital, looking less skeleton-like, but still frightened. Filling a container at the feeding station she supplied each week, Lise moved back and let Rocca eat. Boy was still too frightened to approach the food area while Lise was still there.

Lise began seeing them regularly at her feeding stations off and on for the next few months. She would always be amazed that all three of them, her and the two dogs, would wind up at the same place at the same time, until one day she realized that the dogs knew she had food and were tracking her from one food station to the next. Lise wrote,

“It is not uncommon for me to pull up in any area of Mid-City New Orleans, whether in Tulane/Gravier or Treme, right across the highway, and be greeted by Rocca and Boy. They like to run out and bark at the occasional passing vehicle, but when they recognize mine, Rocca actually greets me.”

The months wore on and at each meeting, Lise’s heart gathered these two animals deeper into itself, causing sleepless nights and worried days concentrating on how to catch them. She was able to pet Rocca, then finally, Boy—just little head pats, nothing close enough to capture them. Each day for months, after work she sat in the grass wherever she could find them, trying to entice Boy to come to her. Unexpectedly, he approached her one day, sticking his face into hers to sniff. It was terrifying, but also exhilarating. Energized, Lise set traps for them, feeding them hotdogs as a lure. It didn’t work. Disappointed, concerned, but not deterred, Lise made sure they continued to be fed.

“Animal Rescue New Orleans has been the lifeline that Rocca and Boy have relied upon.....even as the dry dog food supply runs alarmingly low, Rocca and Boy do okay because they eat the cat food I put down instead.......we all improvise and make do with what we have, two-leggeds and four-leggeds alike.”

Lise tracked the two dogs over a six square-mile area, finding them at many spots in their range. She would see them several times in a month, then not see them for weeks. And the worry would begin. Rocca was pregnant. How could she get them both to the shelter? To separate them would be tragic, but Rocca had to be captured. Lise was heartbroken to have to leave the large sandy-colored dog on his own, but Rocca needed the shelter and her puppies needed the safety. On Labor Day weekend 2007, the mother dog was brought to ARNO. The puppies arrived within days.

Lise lost contact with Boy, receiving only sporadic reports from other feeders of sightings here and there. As Rocca regained her strength, she and Lise spent many hours on Saturday afternoons roaming the six-mile territory, trying to bring Boy to safety. They would walk, Lise would call out, yet nothing. Months passed without any contact, until finally, on February 9, 2008, Lise got a good hard lead. Boy was at N. White and Bienville!! He was under an abandoned house with another dog. Lise raced to the area and blocked all exits from the crawl space with makeshift parts.

“I called Robin and then Charlotte [ARNO executive staff] and sold my soul over the phone to get them and anyone they could bring because I knew that this could really happen. They came and brought four other ARNO people with them, Natalie, Laura, Jeff, and Andrea.”

Lise and Jeff slithered under the house, trapping the dogs in a corner. The two of them crawled over bricks, glass, rats running around them. Jeff got his dog, then Lise reached out, gently put a lead over Boy’s head, and after two years, he was safe.

Boy and Rocca were reunited at the ARNO shelter, tails wagging, bodies wiggling. The circle has been completed after a two-year journey, one that Lise says, despite the sleepless nights and hours of worry, was worth it. Katrina tore things apart, but the repair has taught many people many things including what is important in this world….a dog, safe and wiggly is one of those things.

Pictures of Boy and Rocca in the article by Chris Malkove, used with permission

Main picture of Lise McC. and Boy at ARNO by Natalie Flood, used with permission.

Article posted by Brandi Bennett, Best Friends Network

Comments

Posted February 19, 2008, 12:32 by ownedbypets

Wow Lise, what a great story.
Thanks to you and ARNO for caring so much about the furry kids!

Posted February 26, 2008, 2:33 by Fletch

Thank you so much for caring about these animals so much. People and organizations such as these renew my faith in humanity, if only for a second. SIGH.
Hooray for happy endings! -Fletch

Posted February 16, 2008, 1:24 by lisejimmymc

I might very well be building a reputation for my dog tracking abilities in this city, but without Animal Rescue New Orleans (ARNO) I wouldn't have the slightest clue about, drive or inclination to bring these street dogs in.....ARNO allows me to help these dogs when no other organization will.
Just yesterday, we got word that a dog who had been roaming the 9th Ward with his partner, finally rescued after much work by an animal rescuer associated with ARNO, was euthanized by a local kill shelter for injuries that the rescuer believes he sustained during his capture by local animal control. My heart breaks for that dog, Rocky, and for the rescuer who put so much of herself into getting him off the streets, a place he may very well have roamed since Katrina struck. I know just how lucky Boy really is because I am blessed to work with an organization who encouraged my two year trek with these dogs and was there when I truly needed them to finish the job. Thank you Charlotte, Robin, Natalie, Andrea, Jeff and Laura for being the A-Team Boy needed to come in that night.
Incidentally, the location of his capture was the scene of an armed robbery one week earlier so that's another thing about ARNO, whatever and wherever, it doesn't matter, the organization is there for the animals of New Orleans!

Lise McC.

Posted February 27, 2008, 9:38AM by margie1

What an inspiration!
I had a similar experience and completely understand the worry and sleepless nights spent...I thank GOD for people like her that refuse to give up for the sake of an animals safety & happiness!
Keep up the great works of kindness!

Posted February 26, 2008, 4:28 by avarp

Lise, you're inspiring. This story brought tears to my eyes. People like your are real live angels.

Posted February 26, 2008, 8:9 by zckstrbxtr

What a great ending!!!!

Posted July 01, 2008, 3:16AM by Charno

Just in case someone is perusing old stories on Best Friends... Boy was brought in that night, as well as Thomas, the second dog. Bigger and sweet! While Boy was saying 'hello' to Rocca at the ARNO shelter, Thomas was snickering... see if turns out that Rocca's puppy, of which one was named Lil Boy and adopted by one of our volunteers, grew up to be the EXACT LIKENESS of Thomas... so now we know who Rocca's husband was and is!
A side note here, Boy was neutered... so somewhere back in his history, he was someone's dog... now he has been adopted by Lise. The best is, this is her first pet dog! Yes, the secret is out... she is a CAT person!