Homeless Man, Dog Reunited : Storm: But circumstances force the owner to give up the animal. A vet tells of Bear’s river rescue.

It was Tuesday morning, and the swirling waters that tore through the homeless camps on the Ventura River had separated a dog named Bear from the man who owned him.

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Mark Dodge had little reason to expect that he would ever see his river bottom friend again. But what he didn’t know was that a lot of people were pushing hard to make sure Bear survived.

To county animal control officer Kathy Jenks, it seemed to be raining cats and dogs that stormy day.

Her animal wardens were bringing in dozens of dogs and cats left by homeless people who sought refuge in Red Cross shelters after evacuating their Ventura River bottom encampments.

During the downpour, a Los Angeles television station broadcast gripping images of a black Labrador mix nervously pacing back and forth on a tiny sandbar in the river as roiling floodwaters continued to rise around him.

The dog was Bear.

“Every time they showed it, 50 people would call in and scream at us to do something,” said Jenks, who runs the county’s animal shelter in Camarillo.

The county sheriff’s helicopters were too busy rescuing homeless people from the river to bother with a dog, so Jenks lined up the American Humane Society to underwrite the cost of chartering a private helicopter to rescue Bear.

Within minutes, staff veterinarian Craig Koerner was aloft, on his way to the raging river with a collar, a muzzle, a tranquilizer gun and medical supplies.

The pilot managed to set down the helicopter gently on the sandbar, with blades beating to keep it from sinking deep into the muck. Koerner scrambled off with his medical bag to look for Bear, but stopped in his tracks when he heard a mournful meow.

“The noise was terrific, between the helicopter and the rain,” Koerner said. “But I thought I heard a meow.” He looked inside a hooch, fashioned out of cardboard and sticks, and discovered a wet, calico kitten.

“She was terrified,” he said. Wrapping the kitten in a blanket to protect against its claws, he managed to pick it up and airlift it to safety on the bank of the river, where an animal control officer was waiting.

Then, the helicopter whisked Koerner back to the tiny island and he set off through the thicket to find Bear.

“My intent was to tranquilize the dog,” he said. “That was the only way I figured I could load him into the helicopter.”

He soon found the trembling dog in the brush. His long-haired wet coat was muddy and matted. Bear was cooperative at first, allowing the vet to place a collar around his neck and begin to fasten a muzzle around his nose.

“Just as I was securing the back latch of the muzzle, he bolted and started growling and snapping,” Koerner said.

The vet had brought three tranquilizer darts. The first two didn’t manage to penetrate the thick coat. The third one connected. And five minutes later, a blissful Bear did not struggle when Koerner attached the muzzle and lugged the 80-pound pooch into the helicopter.

Koerner knows the dogs in the river bottom. He treats most of them for free, under a county Animal Regulation Department program to protect public health by vaccinating the dogs owned by the homeless.

“Bear is not as affable as some of the dogs,” he said. “He’s not a mean dog either.”

The dog spent almost four days at the county animal shelter following its ordeal. And while he was there, Mark Dodge was recovering himself at the Red Cross emergency warming shelter in the Oxnard Armory.

On Friday afternoon, however, dog and man were finally reunited.

Dodge, who said he scrapes out a living by washing windows in downtown Ventura, picked up his pet at the animal shelter in a joyful scene that was full of hugs and tail wags and a tiny hint of tears.

But it was a bittersweet occasion, too. Dodge had reached the conclusion that he could not properly care for the animal he obviously loved. So he had decided to give Bear up.

Until Tuesday, Dodge made his home in one of the river bottom camps. Tuesday’s floodwaters swept most of them away, and Ventura police and city officials have vowed not to let the homeless return for their own safety.

“I’m totally homeless and not by choice,” Dodge said. “So I have to give him up.”

Dodge gave Bear over to a Ventura couple, Maureen and Kenny Ali, who had the dog when he was a puppy. They had given Bear to another couple who used to live in the river bottom, Dodge said. But that couple left town and left Bear chained up for three days, he said. That’s when Dodge stepped in.

Now, Maureen and Kenny Ali want the dog back, Dodge said. And Dodge was willing to make the sacrifice, at least until he finds a place where they can both live.

“I don’t want to,” Dodge said. “I may change my mind.”

The animal shelter waived all fees because Bear was picked up during an emergency. It’s the same policy for the owners of other animal refugees from any disaster.

The animal shelter now houses an assortment of pets and barnyard animals rescued from flooded properties across the county.

“We have two goats, 10 horses, a donkey and a mule,” Jenks said. “We left some ostriches behind because we didn’t have a trailer tall enough to haul them.” The ostriches survived the deluge.

The Animal Regulation Department does not discriminate against homeless people, or those who live in the riverbed shantytown. “They have the same rights as other pet owners,” she said.

“I’ll tell you, most of those animals are better cared for than other animals we see at the shelter,” Jenks said. “For some of these guys, their dogs are all they got.”

Last week, Jenks and Ventura city officials issued a public warning that they soon would begin sweeping the river bottom to impound dogs that are not tethered or otherwise restrained. They decided strict leash-law enforcement was needed because of increasing reports of dogs running in packs, killing or maiming cattle and harassing cyclists and joggers.

“I think we’ve got most of those dogs here now,” Jenks said, from her office at the animal shelter. At last count, the shelter had 30 dogs from the river bottom and 14 cats.

For now, the planned sweeps have been postponed. “Mother Nature took care of some of the problems for us.”