Proposed bill would require a plan for pet evacuations

WWLTV ^

[flashbunny]

oh dear lord. They're animals.

Let's see, an evacuation bus can take 75 people, or 50 people and 25 animals. Which should we do????

[TWohlford]

First things first...

It would be nice if they got the elderly out of nursing homes. I would be great if they got the elderly out of their homes. It would be great if parents were smart enough to get their kids out before the storm struck.

While part of me is indifferent to the plight of those too stupid to leave for higher ground in a city where everyone KNEW about what would happen when the "big one" hit, I'd like to see a rule where the stupid are required to leave too.

[Spktyr]

Or 75 people, with 25 animals sitting on laps and no loss of spots for humans.

[mom4kittys]

I packed up my animals and left! I didn't want to meet Katrina.

[mom4kittys]

I packed up my animals and left! I didn't want to meet Katrina.

[Spktyr]

To paraphrase Houston mayor Bill White when confronted by a similar scenario: "As we live in a free society, we cannot *order* citizens to evacuate. However, we ask that all citizens leave; anyone who wishes to leave but is unable to should call this number..."

And hey, he was right - you cannot order free men to do anything - you can only ask.

[Cold Heart]

Start by stop electing corrupt officials, politicians.

That goes for all states & municipalities, government.

[WLR]

" Many attending the march claimed Katrina victims were forced to choose between survival and their companion animals. "


Now a Rat is a Cat, really is a Boy and a Girl drowning while their place on the rescue helicopter is taken by "Boots" and her Pal's.


W

[BagCamAddict]

Y'all are failing to realize that we wouldn't have had to attempt to rescue nearly as many people in the first place if they had places to go where they could take their pets. As the article pointed out, thousands of people stayed behind BECAUSE they couldn't take their animals with them. Then those people became part of the rescue effort.

If people had places to evacuate to WITH their pets, more people would evacuate in the first place. Then, the rescue effort wouldn't have been so huge, and we might have had enough resources to rescue more people -- such as from nursing homes -- and thereby fewer PEOPLE would have died.

So you may not personally believe in evacuating pets, or for making provisions for evacuating pets, but the fact remains that thousands and thousands of people won't evacuate without their pets. So you can either make provisions to EVACUATE them with their pets ahead of time, or you can make the super-human efforts of RESCUING them after the disaster has struck.

Which do you think is the wiser choice?

[bondjamesbond]

There are some seriously screwed up priorities out there.

You are responsible for your own pets. Get used to it. If you can't handle it, get a goldfish instead. You can just let it go into the floodwater, when the time comes.

[Spktyr]

We're talking about pre-Katrina, during the evacuation, not the rescue after the storm. Nobody was drowning yet, and there were no rescue helicopters involved yet.

[blam]

I'm still taking care of three of the dogs abandoned by Katrina evacuees. When I evacuate, I take my own vehicle and I take my four dogs with me. How hard is that to do?

[Cold Heart]

Sometimes I make my posts too simplistic.

Had the people of Louisiana elected people that were looking out for them, foreward looking, not corrupt etc., the pets, the elderly, the dikes, and everything else that failed, wouldn't have happened.

[sinkspur]

So you may not personally believe in evacuating pets, or for making provisions for evacuating pets, but the fact remains that thousands and thousands of people won't evacuate without their pets. So you can either make provisions to EVACUATE them with their pets ahead of time, or you can make the super-human efforts of RESCUING them after the disaster has struck.

That's a fact. And the sooner these legislators realize that they have to make accommodations for people and their pets, the sooner an evacuation plan can be put in place.

[America's Resolve]

Y'all are crazy

now we're going to put the US govt into the pet rescue biz???

Thought you all were supposed to be for smaller, more limited govt.

[doc30]

I live in FL and am a member of the Disaster Animal Response Team. It is a known fact that for every animal a person has decreases the likelyhood of evacuation by 50%. Many of the people that died in Charlie were senior citizens in mobile homes that refuces to leave before the storm because they would not leave behind a cat or dog. Those animals are often the only family these people have. And I'm like them. No one is going to make me evacuate and leave my critters behind. Period.

[doc30]

Had the people of Louisiana elected people that were looking out for them, foreward looking, not corrupt etc., the pets, the elderly, the dikes, and everything else that failed, wouldn't have happened.

Actually, it's the Red Cross and FEMA that forbids animals of any type. If you are blind, you cannot take your seeing eye dog with you. It's considered a health hazard and danger to others. What a waste when you consider how much $ and time goes into training those animals.

[doc30]

You are spot on!

[gidget7]

Sily me, and here I thought an owner is responsible for his or her pet from the day they take a pet into their homes?

Oh yeah, I forgot, the nanny state...........no one is responsible for themsleves or their action, never mind their pets.