My name is Kevin Oravetz and I am registered to run the 5k this weekend but will unable to attend now. My address is (was) 212 SW 148th street and unfortunately my house was totaled in the tornado on Monday. I arrived at my house about a hour after the tornado came through to see half of my roof gone, and my black Labrador retriever (Sophie) missing. I was completely devestated and spent the next 2 hours asking if anyone had seen a black lab, but all I got was "No, Sorry". At around 6:30, 3 1/2 hours after the tornado came through, I got word that there was a black lab at the end of the street. I went to the house and the owner said he had a lab in his bathroom, in the bathtub and it was barking and growling at anyone that opened the door. He told me to be careful. I opened the door and the dog growled and barked at me. I shined a light on the dogs tags to find that it was Sophie. I started calling her by name and talking to her in a way only other dog owners understand (baby voice) and she began wagging her tail and we walked home together. Sophie survived 200mph winds, managed to make her way into a bathtub 15 houses down from mine and was completely unharmed. There is not a scratch on her. With that long story being said, there are several in the area that were not as fortunate as me. Instead of refunding my race registration and the money from my 5 ducks purchased, please donate the money to help dog owners affected by the Moore Tornado that were not as fortunate as me.

Thank You and God Bless

Kevin Oravetz

Just heartbreaking..... Of the more than 200 missing horses, only a few dozen have been found alive. They have all been claimed. Of the horses that were either killed or had to be euth'ed on site, the Dept. of Ag is recording brands, tattoos, identifying marks of any kind (via photographs). They are also cataloguing ANY deceased animals recovered, so that owners can check and see if their pet has been at least recovered, even if it was found dead. My heart is just numb.

This weekend there was an adoption event for all the dogs and cats that were still unclaimed from the tornado. ARC, Moore Animal Shelter and the holding facility at Cleveland County Fairgrounds all participated. There were over 100 animals for adoption. By the end of the day, ALL the animals had been placed! All animals that were found together were adopted together! There are still some tornado dogs at the Oklahoma City Animal Shelter, but from the lines of people turned away petless at this event, I'd say they will get homes pretty quickly as well!