"Snowball. . . . Snowball. . . . "

Tears. . . . My. . . . Heart. . . . Out. . . . :

At the front of the line, the weary refugees waded through ankle-deep water, grabbed a bottle of water from state troopers and happily hopped on buses that would deliver them from the horrendous conditions of the Superdome.

At the back end of the line, people jammed against police barricades in the rain. Refugees passed out and had to be lifted hand-over-hand overhead to medics. Pets were not allowed on the bus, and when a police officer confiscated a little boy’s dog, the child cried until he vomited. "Snowball, snowball," he cried.

MORE.

AND MORE.

AND MORE.

Author: Jimmy Akin

Jimmy was born in Texas, grew up nominally Protestant, but at age 20 experienced a profound conversion to Christ. Planning on becoming a Protestant seminary professor, he started an intensive study of the Bible. But the more he immersed himself in Scripture the more he found to support the Catholic faith, and in 1992 he entered the Catholic Church. His conversion story, "A Triumph and a Tragedy," is published in Surprised by Truth. Besides being an author, Jimmy is the Senior Apologist at Catholic Answers, a contributing editor to Catholic Answers Magazine, and a weekly guest on "Catholic Answers Live."

6 thoughts on “"Snowball. . . . Snowball. . . . "”

  1. I guess I can understand the reasoning behind not wanting pets on the buses, but this was probably the last piece of “home” he had… and it was taken away.

    I truly can’t imagine all that is said to be happening. Unbelieveable, gut-wrenching.

    Our Lady of Prompt Succor, patroness of Louisiana and New Orleans, pray for us.

  2. Since you’ve mentioned the pet thing specifically, I’m hoping you might be able to do a more extensive post on the topic. I’ve been having some heated arguments over the morality of rescuing animals in NOLA while people are still waiting to be rescued (or a more extreme position, while humans anywhere are suffering, poor, etc.). The argument also extends to private individuals donating money to animal welfare societies instead of or in addition to, for example, the Red Cross or Catholic Charities.

    I have been arguing that this would not be contrary to Catholic morality, but your take on this would be greatly appreciated since really, I’m going on instinct, not facts.

  5. My personal view is that saving pets IS doing something for the people. It might not be on a par with saving their lives, but the mental health effect of pets is well-documented. People who have lost everything except their pet will be very glad to have that pet restored to them. It’s absolutely an act of kindness to people to save their pets.

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