And, Taco, he was found existing solely on -- what else -- tacos, in an abandoned structure.
These dogs, marked with quirky names that tell their story of living through Hurricane Katrina, are just three in a group of dogs rescued by volunteers, including two Newport Beach city employees.
Tom and Valerie Schomburg -- he's a police officer, and she's an animal control officer -- took some vacation time last month to spend four days in the most heavily damaged parts of the Big Easy.
"It was personally satisfying for me; it just has its own reward," Tom Schomburg said.
Police Department employees were supportive, he said, reworking schedules so the couple could dedicate 10 days for the rescue mission.
The Schomburgs may have used their own vacation days to go, but the trip to New Orleans was a step far outside their comfort zone. They slept in a makeshift camp for rescue volunteers in the parking lot of a flooded Winn-Dixie grocery store.
They had no running water or electricity. They existed on military meals. Valerie Schomburg snacked on peanut butter.
Most everywhere they traveled was "like a ghost town," they both said, with no one around except National Guard troops.
"It was just surreal," Tom Schomburg said.
The only resource
Tom Schomburg never really intended to go; he supported his wife and went with her to an informational meeting of New Leash on Life, the animal-rescue organization that led the trip.
Ten minutes into the meeting, Tom Schomburg knew he had to go.
"Their goals were very, very honorable," he said.
As a police officer, he thought he could provide the necessary security.
Valerie Schomburg found New Leash on Life when she started e-mailing animal organizations to offer her help.
Bobby Dorafshar, the founder of New Leash on Life, was on the same rescue mission with the Schomburgs.
He's taken two animal rescue trips to New Orleans. The second time around, he knew he needed volunteers who were professionals, he said.
