States must help save pets

[XemaSab]

New law puts funds at risk if animals are not in disaster plans

States will be required to help evacuate pets during a natural disaster such as a hurricane or earthquake or risk losing federal money under a bill signed Friday by President Bush.

The bill was prompted by reports that as many as 50,000 pets were stranded during Hurricane Katrina. Rescue agencies have been criticized for the "no pets" policy that required pet owners to abandon their animals or defy evacuation orders and stay in the disaster area. Nearly half of those who refused to evacuate said they didn't want to leave their pets behind, according to an April poll by the Fritz Institute, a nonprofit agency involved with providing humanitarian relief work.

"Katrina gave us insight into the lack of preparedness for people and their pets," said Michael Markarian, executive vice president of the Humane Society of the United States, an animal advocacy group that rescued thousands of abandoned pets during and after the hurricane. Markarian said that even disabled people with guide dogs were being forced to choose between their pets and their safety.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/10/10/MNGQPLLPNI1.DTL

[Wcross]

1. Thats great news!

I wouldn't evacuate without my furry buddies. Ever.

[jokerman93]

8. Damn straight!

My cat is a better human being than most I've known.

[Deep13]

2. Guide dogs are not pets.

It costs thousands of dollars and long hours to train a guide dog and many hours to treach the person how to use a service animal. It is not like the disabled person can just go to Sears for another one.

Beyond that, however, who are we going to leave behind to make room for pets?

[iamjoy]

5. Yeah, Service Animals Are Different

I don't see how they could have been excluded. I see how clueless non-animal lovers could exclude pets, but service animals?

Aside from the companionship issue, service animals enable people with disabilities to live independently. They wouldn't tell a paraplegic he/she couldn't take the wheelchair, would they?

Maybe I shouldn't be too sure.

[Deep13]

15. "Maybe I shouldn't be too sure."

They let diabetics die without insulin. They let people dehydrate to death. The police of some neighboring town blocked the only escape route because they did not want to be swarming with Blacks. Nagin had no one else to send to delive water, so he sent himself throwing bottles from a helicopter.

At least Condi got some nice new shoes.

[hedgehog]

16. Pets may not be trained as service animals, but don't downplay

their importance. For someone living alone, especially an elderly person, having a pet in the house can be the difference between healthy functioning and slipping into depression.

[iamjoy]

27. I Realize That

because I would not leave my pets either.
When they thought Floyd was going to slam Florida as a Category 4 or 5, my job (a hotel) asked me to stay and work. They even offered to let my husband stay. I asked if he could bring the cats. When they said no, so did I. So I am well aware of the value of a pet, even one that is not trained to perform a function.

However, many people are not animal people. I would understand if they don't see the value of a pet and its contribution to a person's psychological or emotional well-being. However, I would expect them to recognize the value of a service animal.

[XemaSab]

32. Psychological well-being for people is important

But if there is a real risk of people dying, I don't think it's a fair comparison. :shrug:

[Name removed]

10. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[XemaSab]

31. My concern here is not just physical ROOM for people

But time spent rounding up the critters and cleanliness issues in shelters.

If someone's kid is not evacuated in time because someone couldn't find their cat, that's going to be a can of worms NOBODY wants to see opened.

[iamjoy]

3. Wow - The Republicans Did Something Right

what's the catch?

[williesgirl]

4. It's about time - I sure wouldn't leave mine - recommended

[Warpy]

6. Everybody's disaster plan needs to include pet carriers

A confined animal won't be comfortable, but it will be safe.

[northzax]

23. right, more people need to take that responsibility

and I'm sorry, if I am a rescuer and have to pick between the neighbor's kid and your cat, I'm taking the kid. Your personal disaster plan (and yes, you should have one, everyone should) should include pets.

[Warpy]

24. First thing I got for my rescued kitties

was a carrier for each.

They came in handy when I had to drive from NM to Florida to take care of my mother before she died. That trip could have involved as much as 6 months, so I needed to take them along. My pop would never admit it, but he greatly enjoyed them and my mother's last pleasure was petting the Himalayan. My pop ate fried chicken every other day because that's the only people food either one of them would take from him.

When my pop's time came, it was an emergency situation, and I had to leave them here alone for 2 months. Neighbors fed them and gave them the odd pat so they'd know they hadn't been abandoned.

Those carriers have saved them once already, and those carriers make trips to the vet a lot easier.

All animals should have an appropriately sized carrier, just in case. Emergency travel can come in all forms.

[barb162]

7. Good! It needs to be done

"...even disabled people with guide dogs were being forced to choose between their pets and their safety."

[xchrom]

9. you'd have to shoot me to get me to leave my companion.

[allisonthegreat]

11. That is wonderful~n/t

[Solo_in_MD]

12. Ahhh, I would not get too giddy over this

All it requries that plans be in place, not necessairly fully funded, or even implemented. When the big one comes (it is in CA after all), pets will still be the lowest priority, as it should be. My dogs should not take priority over your invalid grandmother.

That there is a government plan should resources be available is a good thing, but I know better that to trust a state or federal agency with my furry buds. We have a plan to take care of them ourselves in an emergency, which is at is should be.

[The Stranger]

18. You miss the point. It isn't even really a question of leaving your dogs

or someone's "invalid grandmother." That, in itself, is a contrived, false "choice."

What it is is a question of the "invalid grandmother" (or someone else) WHO WILL NOT LEAVE without her or his own pets.

Take Rover along, and the "invalid grandmother" is on board. As is virtually everyone else.

Real easy here.

[pecwae]

26. The recent chemical explosion in Apex, NC

and resultant evacuation of about 17,000 might help shed some light on whether this new law is being followed. In a local NC paper I saw a photo of a woman who was said to be talking on the phone with Wake Pet Rescue presumably about her pet. Maybe one of the evacuated DU'ers (there at least 2, I think)will chime in here and let us know how or if that went as called for.

[iamjoy]

28. There Is Always A Middle Ground

I would never expect a rescue boat to kick out a person for my cat.
However, in Florida we have pet friendly shelters. So, if you are evacuated before a storm, there is a place you can go and take your pet.

It's not perfect - First, you must be able to prove your pet's rabies vaccine is up to date. Next, the pet is not really "with" you as the pets are segregated in a separate area - in cages (I believe Red Cross and Humane Society cooperate). Also, you must bring food for your pet.

So, a hurricane is coming and you've got to run around gathering all your necessities plus your children's (if you have kids). You've got to secure your home as much as possible. Florida requires rabies vaccines every year, but I bet a lot of people don't do that - especially if they are lower income. And I bet a lot of cat people simply couldn't find the rabies tag - many cats don't take collars well.

So, it's not perfect, but it is better than nothing.

[BoneDaddy]

13. Humans first

Let me say that I am a pet owner and have owned and loved a collection of animals from dogs, cats, snakes, gerbils, guinea pigs, lizards, fish etc.

That said I would do everything in my power to ensure that I could save the lives of my pets, but in a disaster my family and I come first. Of course my pet is part of my "family" but ultimately their importance pales besides that of my kids and my neighbors.

[Fierce]

14. We couldn't get it right with people...

...why do people think they'll get it right with animals?

[schmuls]

17. Those who forced people to leave their animals were already

breaking a law. I remember going to the PETA website while all this was happening, and the website quoted a law *that was already in place* saying it was against the law for an animal to be separated from it's owner. The law, unfortunately looked at the animal as a possession, but the gist of it was that the person's property was basically being taken away from him/her. Hope this makes sense.

[JudyM]

19. A core problem with animal protection laws is that animals are 'property'

rather than sentient beings that experience pain and suffering. The most grotesque cases of animal abuse are generally met with just a slap on the wrist. There is something fundamentally wrong with this societal convention.

[judaspriestess]

20. I would never leave my pets behind

I am glad this law was passed.

[niyad]

21. does anybody have a link to the crisis papers editorial that

talked about the evacuation plans in cuba, that included pets? I was just on the site, and I cannot find it. was basically a piece about what a REAL evacuation plan would look like.

[niyad]

22. I wouldn't be going anywhere without my fur babies.

[Kool Kitty]

34. Me, too.

Couldn't agree more. When we go, we ALL go.

[SoCalDem]

25. I hope they do this.. Tragic loss of a dear pet lasts a lifetime

and there is no excuse to not plan for their safety too.

I know that a lot of people do not see it this way, but as a lifelong animal lover, I know that lots of people do not evacuate because they have no way to take their pets with them.

Here in California, every time there is a fire, people from all over GO to the fire to help rescue horses, goats, birds...any critter .....These are people who don't even know the "owners" of these animals.. I have seen them spray paint addresses on the sides of larger animals so people will know where they came from..

Public education, regarding pet evacuation, should be the norm.. and each community should provide help in getting pets out of harm's way..

[nashville_brook]

29. another dog person who WILL NEVER leave them behind

[Mend]

30. read some of these comments...this is why we don't evacuate..and

we never will. We have four large dogs which we are NOT going to leave in some shelter in crates while we are put elsewhere. We are not going to deal with people who don't like animals. We are not going to fight for a place on a boat or a bus or in a shelter. It is all yours, folks. We are staying home as we have for over thirty years and taking our chances together with our dogs. In our town, if you stay, you are on your own, so we are not endangering any rescue workers.

[freeplessinseattle]

33. kick n/t