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Moving photo fuels tale's happy ending
With new owners in Irving, once-oily pooch is now one lucky dog
09:31 AM CST on Tuesday, December 27, 2005
By STELLA M. CHÁVEZ / The Dallas Morning News
It was the oil-covered dog's expression that caught Don Rorschach's attention.
Resting on its hind legs, its face pointing toward the sky – eyes closed and tongue sticking out – the canine in the newspaper photo seemed to call out, "Please, please help me," the Irving resident said.
Many baths later, Orli is clean and has a home.
Moved by that photo, which ran in The Dallas Morning News on Sept. 7, and by expanded video footage on the newspaper's Web site, the retired lawyer for the city of Irving spent three months searching for the pooch dubbed Oily Dog.
He wasn't the only one. Phone calls and e-mails inquiring about the dog's fate poured into the newsroom from as far away as Canada. An Austin woman created the Web site www.oilydog.org to keep people apprised of the search. One man penned "The Oily Dog Blues." Another woman put the tale to verse: They called me Oily Dog/For my name they didn't know/and searched for me endlessly/and wouldn't let me go.
Hurricane Katrina was to blame for Oily's plight. The flood-ravaged areas along the Gulf Coast left many pets hurt or homeless and many more dead. Mr. Rorschach and others say they're sure the dog they found is Oily, though no can say for certain.
For Oily, who now goes by the name Orli, the search for one man's best friend has a happy ending.
It began Sept. 6 when News photographer Tom Fox took the photo of the dog in Chalmette, La., but was unable to retrieve her. He returned later that week and alerted rescue workers, who picked up a dog and took it to an animal shelter.
The dog was covered in oil and seemingly crying for help.
But it wasn't the same dog. Orli had already been picked up by a construction worker – possibly on the same day the photo was shot – and taken to a shelter in St. Charles, La.
Angie Robert, a St. Charles Parish animal control officer and board member of the St. Charles Humane Society, said she was unaware of Orli's popularity when a friend brought her the dog. The friend worked for the construction company that had been doing cleanup work in the flood-ravaged area.
Ms. Robert cared for Orli, bathing her regularly in Joy dish soap. The dog smelled like oil for three weeks, she said.
Back in Irving, Mr. Rorschach was doing his own investigative work. He made about 100 posters of the photo and mailed them to Eric Rice, who temporarily left his job so he could rescue animals in Louisiana.
Mr. Rorschach also posted a $2,000 reward for the Shih Tzu and spent hours online searching for the dog.
In the process, he learned about Mopsie in Georgia, who had bladder stones, and Nelson in North Carolina, who needed eye surgery.
He sent money to the shelters where the dogs were staying and money to another Georgia shelter so that a woman could take 40 dogs and some cats to an Oregon shelter so they wouldn't be euthanized.
Mr. Rorschach went so far as to have the photo of Orli analyzed by a California company. He also called the Stars of Texas Shih Tzu Rescue organization for help in identifying the dog.
The posters worked. A construction worker saw one and alerted Ms. Robert's friend, who in turn notified her. Ms. Robert looked at her dog, examining its pose, face and size. She was convinced that the dog she had was the one in the poster. A few e-mail exchanges and phone calls later, Mr. Rorschach and his wife, Robyn, were on their way to Louisiana.
When the couple arrived Dec. 3, they said the introductions with Orli went smoothly.
"She sat right in my lap," said Mr. Rorschach, 67. "I think she was a little apprehensive at first, but by the same token, she didn't jump down or try to run away."
Mrs. Rorschach, 64, had a similar feeling.
"The first time I held her, she gave me a kiss," she said.
Mr. Rorschach offered Ms. Robert the $2,000 reward. She then gave the money to the St. Charles Humane Society.
"I'm not the only person who had a hand in this dog," she said. "I did what I was supposed to do."
The Rorschachs say the dog's official name now is Orli-Slick. Orli, a Hebrew name that means "the light is mine," is close enough to Oily but more appropriate for a female dog, Mr. Rorschach said. Slick's the name she got at the shelter because of her oil-soaked coat. They usually call her Orli.
With new owners in Irving, once-oily pooch is now one lucky dog
09:31 AM CST on Tuesday, December 27, 2005
By STELLA M. CHÁVEZ / The Dallas Morning News
It was the oil-covered dog's expression that caught Don Rorschach's attention.
Resting on its hind legs, its face pointing toward the sky – eyes closed and tongue sticking out – the canine in the newspaper photo seemed to call out, "Please, please help me," the Irving resident said.
Many baths later, Orli is clean and has a home.
Moved by that photo, which ran in The Dallas Morning News on Sept. 7, and by expanded video footage on the newspaper's Web site, the retired lawyer for the city of Irving spent three months searching for the pooch dubbed Oily Dog.
He wasn't the only one. Phone calls and e-mails inquiring about the dog's fate poured into the newsroom from as far away as Canada. An Austin woman created the Web site www.oilydog.org to keep people apprised of the search. One man penned "The Oily Dog Blues." Another woman put the tale to verse: They called me Oily Dog/For my name they didn't know/and searched for me endlessly/and wouldn't let me go.
Hurricane Katrina was to blame for Oily's plight. The flood-ravaged areas along the Gulf Coast left many pets hurt or homeless and many more dead. Mr. Rorschach and others say they're sure the dog they found is Oily, though no can say for certain.
For Oily, who now goes by the name Orli, the search for one man's best friend has a happy ending.
It began Sept. 6 when News photographer Tom Fox took the photo of the dog in Chalmette, La., but was unable to retrieve her. He returned later that week and alerted rescue workers, who picked up a dog and took it to an animal shelter.
The dog was covered in oil and seemingly crying for help.
But it wasn't the same dog. Orli had already been picked up by a construction worker – possibly on the same day the photo was shot – and taken to a shelter in St. Charles, La.
Angie Robert, a St. Charles Parish animal control officer and board member of the St. Charles Humane Society, said she was unaware of Orli's popularity when a friend brought her the dog. The friend worked for the construction company that had been doing cleanup work in the flood-ravaged area.
Ms. Robert cared for Orli, bathing her regularly in Joy dish soap. The dog smelled like oil for three weeks, she said.
Back in Irving, Mr. Rorschach was doing his own investigative work. He made about 100 posters of the photo and mailed them to Eric Rice, who temporarily left his job so he could rescue animals in Louisiana.
Mr. Rorschach also posted a $2,000 reward for the Shih Tzu and spent hours online searching for the dog.
In the process, he learned about Mopsie in Georgia, who had bladder stones, and Nelson in North Carolina, who needed eye surgery.
He sent money to the shelters where the dogs were staying and money to another Georgia shelter so that a woman could take 40 dogs and some cats to an Oregon shelter so they wouldn't be euthanized.
Mr. Rorschach went so far as to have the photo of Orli analyzed by a California company. He also called the Stars of Texas Shih Tzu Rescue organization for help in identifying the dog.
The posters worked. A construction worker saw one and alerted Ms. Robert's friend, who in turn notified her. Ms. Robert looked at her dog, examining its pose, face and size. She was convinced that the dog she had was the one in the poster. A few e-mail exchanges and phone calls later, Mr. Rorschach and his wife, Robyn, were on their way to Louisiana.
When the couple arrived Dec. 3, they said the introductions with Orli went smoothly.
"She sat right in my lap," said Mr. Rorschach, 67. "I think she was a little apprehensive at first, but by the same token, she didn't jump down or try to run away."
Mrs. Rorschach, 64, had a similar feeling.
"The first time I held her, she gave me a kiss," she said.
Mr. Rorschach offered Ms. Robert the $2,000 reward. She then gave the money to the St. Charles Humane Society.
"I'm not the only person who had a hand in this dog," she said. "I did what I was supposed to do."
The Rorschachs say the dog's official name now is Orli-Slick. Orli, a Hebrew name that means "the light is mine," is close enough to Oily but more appropriate for a female dog, Mr. Rorschach said. Slick's the name she got at the shelter because of her oil-soaked coat. They usually call her Orli.
