Moving photo fuels tale's happy ending

[Crossfire Bulldogs]

With new owners in Irving, once-oily pooch is now one lucky dog.

12:00 AM CST on Sunday, December 25, 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.

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.

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.

The Rorschachs, who have two grown children and seven grandchildren, said Orli has adapted quickly to her new home in Texas. They estimate her to be 1 ½ to 3 years old. And she gets along fine with the couple's other two dogs: Argyll is a 6-year-old Cairn terrier, and Beamer is a 15-year-old Lhasa-poo.

Judi Varnes, president of the Stars of Texas, said she is 90 percent certain Orli and the dog in the photo are one and the same.

"Her markings are identical to Oily's," she said, noting that one side is darker than the other. Before Orli's most recent grooming, the fur at the tip of her ears was darker. She also has a split tooth in the front

Ms. Robert said she, too, is confident about the dog's identity.

"Even if this is not that particular dog, this is still a dog that was covered in oil and needs just as much help," she said.

The Rorschachs are thankful they were in the right place at the right time. For years, they have traveled hundreds, if not thousands, of miles to scuba dive in exotic places.

But when they learned about Hurricane Katrina, they decided to cancel their trip to Bonaire, an island north of Venezuela.

Were it not for that change in plans, they might never have seen the photo of Orli, whom they have deemed their early Christmas gift. Orli and her siblings have gifts coming, too – including treats in their own personalized stockings.

"We said it's kind of like having a new baby in the house," Mr. Rorschach said. "We want to spend time with the dog rather than go shopping or do something else."

[Shadowkins]

What a beautiful story, I'm so glad the little fellow was found and saved. Thanks, Crossfire, for that story, it made my Christmas morning!!