BLOOMINGTON - With 100 mph winds and blinding rains from Hurricane Katrina slamming into New Orleans last year, Deborah Marks fled the city to get medical attention for her diabetic aunt. She had to leave her dog, Goldie, at her mother's home, believing she would go back the next day for the 4-year-old golden retriever mix.

Several weeks passed before officials let Marks return to the city. By that point, Goldie had been loaded onto a plane and brought to Bloomington by rescuers from the Humane Society of Central Illinois.

Now, the former New Orleans woman wants her dog back, according to a seven-page civil lawsuit filed last week in McLean County against the animal shelter.

The problem: The dog Marks believes was her Goldie already has been adopted by a local family and the Humane Society has no intention of asking them to give the dog back.

Maurice Barry, attorney for the Humane Society and its vice president, said the custody spat has been brewing since January, when Marks tracked her dog to the Twin Cities.

Marks' lawsuit asks for the Humane Society to return the dog and pay for attorneys fees incurred in the legal process.

Barry said the shelter is unsure whether a dog matching the description of Goldie is in fact Marks' dog. The shelter rescued about 60 dogs and cats Sept. 27 outside New Orleans.

Concern over returning the dog has arisen mainly because Marks has told Barry inconsistent stories about where she left Goldie during the evacuation.

Additionally, Marks did not start asking about the dog until January - more than four months after Katrina devastated the city.

"There's a lot more to this than what she's saying," Barry said. "When the facts come out, you'll see she's misrepresented facts. She's tried every route to cause problems for the Humane Society."

Dominic Salvati, the Bloomington attorney representing Marks, said Tuesday he did not want to comment about factual issues concerning the lawsuit.

"What's most important to my client is the dog and I think it's clear in the complaint," Salvati said. "I guess Mr. Barry can characterize it however he wants."

Barry said that even if the dog did belong to Marks, the Humane Society still will oppose taking her away from its adopted family.

Cases over who should get custody of Katrina pets currently are going on throughout the country, according to both attorneys.

Salvati said original owners have prevailed in the cases he's read during his brief amount of research. Barry said it will be new territory for the courts.

Marks has been the only pet owner to contact the Humane Society about any of the Katrina pets, Barry said.

Barry recalled the emergency trip he took with Dave Severino to Slidell Airport last year to rescue the pets about a month after Katrina.

Volunteers from St. Tammany Parish quickly helped load the dogs and cats on the plane during the rescue mission.

There were no documents signed concerning ownership of the pets, which the volunteers represented as having been relinquished or abandoned during the disaster, Barry said.

"We were just worried about getting them the hell out of there," Barry said. "Every one of those dogs and cats would have died had we not flown down there that day."