Experts: Love drove
dog rescue efforts

Dogs are like family,
psychologists explain

Dog to get big welcome

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By Leila Fujimori
lfujimori@starbulletin.com

Many people objected when the Hawaiian Humane Society decided to spend $48,000 on a search to save one little mutt.

Still, the outpouring of support for the castaway Forgea has been overwhelming not just in Hawaii but worldwide, thanks in part to the play-by-play media coverage.

What causes some people to feel so strongly about saving a little pooch?

"We think of animals as people in animals' clothing," said veterinarian Arleene Skillman. "For many people, dogs are members of their families."

Many people are willing to spend thousands of dollars to save a dog hit by a car or to treat a dog with chronic long-term illness.

When people heard about Forgea, they thought of it as a person being left behind, Skillman said.

The 2-year-old mixed terrier was left on a burned-out tanker when her owner, the ship's senior crew member, and crew were rescued by the cruise ship Norwegian Star on April 2.

After the Humane Society's initial efforts failed, a fishing boat out of Honolulu reached the Insiko 1907 and the crew attempted to rescue the dog but Forgea eluded its would-be rescuers. Finally, the U.S. Coast Guard contracted a tugboat to tow the Insiko away from Johnston Island, where it presents an environmental threat, and on Friday, its crew rescued Forgea.

"When you look at the economics of it, it's ridiculous," Skillman admits. "But it has to do with our humanity, our compassion.

"It hits everybody's heartstrings because we see ourselves, and that's how we want to be treated," she said.

Clinical psychologist Rob B. Welch said humans are "hardwired" to save life, particularly when they believe that life is close to themselves. "Most people have found dogs are humanlike animals. People feel very strongly that animals are good friends, and would go to great lengths to save their lives and keep them healthy."

Dog lovers concur.

Taffy Wells, whose Labrador retriever recently died, said: "Dogs are forever forgiving. My dog was my best friend."

Ben Versdahl, a Hawaii Pacific University student, noted: "The reason people like dogs is they can be good company because they don't want anything from you except for some attention and food. I think it's worth it (to rescue Forgea). I'd spend the money if it was my dog."

People also can relate to a helpless animal since most have a pet, said clinical psychologist Martin Johnson. And there are plenty of dog lovers on Oahu. In 1997, for example, the city kept track of 108,000 licensed dogs.

Still, some people criticized the effort, saying the money would have been better spent to help the homeless or other human charities.

"The psychological reason is we see the dog as helpless," Welch said. "It didn't volunteer to go on the ship, and it doesn't have any way off. We see people as having more free choice and, therefore, maybe our hearts always go out to the helpless."

The giving is not done "so much logically as emotionally."

Johnson sees this story of a pet abandoned on the high seas as high drama.

First the boat was lost, then found, then lost and found again. Then the dog eluded would-be rescuers. Then it was thought the boat was to be sunk with the dog in it. Finally the Coast Guard came to the rescue.

And now the canine companion has been rescued for a happy, tail-wagging end.

"With all the other things that are going on in the world, this is a human distraction," Johnson said.

And for all the uncertainty in the world, "this is something we can do something about, something we can relate to."

Forgea's owner, Chung Chin Po, said those who contributed to the rescue are kindhearted and he was not surprised they would give so much money to save a dog.

"They are very nice people with love," Chung said.

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Media feeding frenzy
expected when Forgea
and tanker arrive

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By Diana Leone
dleone@starbulletin.com

Forgea, the now-world-famous dog lost at sea, and the tanker Insiko 1907 are coming to Barber's Point.

When they arrive sometime Thursday, the Coast Guard is expecting a media circus, with perhaps dozens of mainland and foreign news crews flying in to capture the canine survivor's first step on dry land.

"The decision was made today to tow the Insiko back to Hawaii, based on towing conditions being better than expected," Coast Guard spokeswoman DesaRae Atnip said yesterday.

The tug American Quest, under contract with the Coast Guard, hitched up the powerless Insiko Friday evening and halted its drift toward Johnston Atoll National Wildlife Refuge. The 60,000 gallons of diesel and other fuels aboard were a threat to the remote U.S. refuge that is home to sea birds and marine life.

Yesterday the tug began the five-day task of bringing the Insiko to Hawaii, Atnip said. The ship was approximately 650 miles from Honolulu and 50 miles from Johnston Atoll yesterday, she said.

Details of how the fuel will be offloaded at Barber's Point and what will happen next to the abandoned ship remain to be worked out, she said.

Forgea's plight captured the world's attention after it was discovered that the Insiko crew had been rescued by the Norwegian Star, a passing cruise liner, on April 2, but that the dog had been left behind.

Also on the boat is the body of a crew member killed in the March 13 fire that left the boat without power. The remains will be dealt with when the Insiko arrives in Hawaii, Atnip said.

Atnip said communications work for the Coast Guard here normally is a relatively quiet task of informing local media about occasional rescues in Hawaiian waters.

But since Forgea was found alive on the Insiko, "It's night and day," she said. "We've received hundreds of phone calls, hundreds of e-mails in regards to this."

Crew on the American Quest told Linda Haller, shelter operator for the Hawaiian Humane Society, that Forgea "physically, seems to be in reasonably good condition." They report the white terrier mix is eating a mixture of dog food and table scraps and has been allowed to come out of her crate to move around the ship.

"They're making her as comfortable as possible," Haller said. After a full medical checkup, Forgea will spend her 120-day quarantine period on Kauai, while her owner, the Insiko's captain decides whether to take her back or let a friend in Hawaii adopt her, she said.