For the Dogs - Coastal Canine Magazine

Rescue Me
Bear
of Saint Clare’s
By Kelly Luker
Nobody knows where Bear lived before the
Katrina disaster, but the home he found after
that has been a blessing indeed. The big
Akita-Husky mix now keeps company with the
Franciscan missionary sisters who live at St. Clare’s
Retreat in Soquel.
Sister Maureen Theresa, who has lived at the retreat
center for 18 years, visited the Santa Cruz SPCA in
February of 2006 with three other sisters to look at the
“Katrina dogs,” as they were known. According to Santa
Cruz SPCA director, Lisa Carter, their shelter took in well
over 150 dogs rescued in the weeks and months following
the hurricane and flood of August 2005. Bear almost
didn’t make it. Two flights of rescued animals had already
arrived at the various Bay Area shelters, and there may
not have been a third if Carter had not contacted the Doris
Day Foundation for help. Fortunately for Bear, he made
that third flight.
St. Clare’s beloved former dog, a German Shepherd
named Rexa, had died the previous year. The nuns missed
Rexa and having a dog around to share their lives with.
They were ready for another companion and one that
could also provide protection like Rexa . “As we walked
past the kennels, all the other dogs were jumping up and
down,” explained Sister Maureen Theresa, “but Bear was
just sitting there all ‘prim and proper.’” Based on
the SPCA staff’s information at the time of adoption,
the sister estimates Bear is now somewhere between
10 and 13 years old.
Sister Maria Gabriel, who arrived at the retreat in 2009,
agreed with the other sisters who thought Bear might
have had some police- or guard-dog training. A former
veterinarian who entered the community (of nuns) in
2000, Sister Maria Gabriel noted that Bear exhibits very
10 coastalcaninemag.com • fall 2011
Rescued Katrina Dogs—Five-year Reunion