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Camden New Journal - by CHARLOTTE CHAMBERS
Published: 21 February 2008

Spooky and Alexandra Rudolph

Spooky... from Hurricane Katrina swamps to Heath

WHEN Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast of America three years ago, refugees who fled the storm had to leave pets behind.
Now one of those abandoned, a three-year-old cocker spaniel called Spooky, has found his way from the eye of America’s worst-ever storm to South End Green, where he is perhaps the luckiest dog in Hampstead.
Alexandra Rudolph, a litigation consultant, picked out Spooky at a rescue centre in the United States last year. Thanks to a recent change in the law on “pet passporting”, she was able to bring him to this country, giving Spooky the chance to swap the horrors of swamp water for the run-around fun of Hampstead Heath.
Ms Rudolph said: “I loved him so much from the get-go. He jumped up with these big paws.”
She has tried to piece together fragments of Spooky’s past, but admits that for the most part it is a mystery. However there are a few tell-tale traits from his early life, including a fondness for the smell of smoke.
“People were told they had to vacate and they weren’t allowed to take their pets – so they faced this horrible dilemma,” Ms Rudolph said. “Do they leave their pet or stay?”
Vet Caryn Gibbins, from Zasman Vet in South End Green, treated Spooky after he arrived here. She said: “It’s amazing. With passports in place, not only are people coming from all over the world, but so are animals, and they all have their own story to tell.”

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