Posted on 04/17/2006 7:08:50 PM PDT by mom4kittys
Dozens of Louisiana citizens and their pets marched on an empty capitol Monday with a clear message: if citizens have to evacuate then their pets should be able to go as well.
“They were told they couldn't get on the busses with their pets. Pets either had to be left or they couldn't get on the bus and we said that has got to change,” said SPCA spokesperson Laura Maloney.
Many attending the march claimed Katrina victims were forced to choose between survival and their companion animals. They hoped to convey their message before a senate judiciary committee reviews a proposed bill that would require the state and parishes to develop a string of plans to accommodate pets during evacuations.
The measure also includes a requirement that disabled people, such as the blind, be allowed to evacuate with their seeing-eye dogs and would force the state to identify suitable animal shelters near shelters expected to house evacuated people.
Some said animals were taken from children’s arms as they boarded buses and abandoned on the streets at rescue points while their owners walked miles through flood waters.
Richard O’Connor stayed during Katrina to be with his nine cats and said he would never leave them again. He said in August of 2002 his apartment building on Magazine suffered heavy damage in a huge fire and he lost everything, including his 18 cats that huddled together from smoke inhalation.
“I feel very bad I think that’s terrible people don’t take their pets; no matter what you know just take them. People say they don’t have room in the car, but you can always put an animal in the car,” said O’Connor.
O’Connor said he left the city after Katrina only because a friend sheltered him and his family of cats.
Patricia Konie had a similar story. She said law enforcement physically forced her out of her Magazine Street home after the storm. She had stayed for her pets Maggie and Sasha.
"The police told me come on you’re going to go and I said no I am not going and I want you out of my house,” said Konie.
Konie said she was taken to the airport and had to throw a fit until her two dogs were allowed on the plane with her.
“They acted as good as gold, my little one laid on the floor and my big one sat in the other seat,” she said.
Some have said that leaving with animals would not only save their four-legged-friends, but also the lives of people and their rescuers who would otherwise stay behind.
Sentor Heulette "Clo" Fontenot said he decided to sponsor the legislation after hearing stories about blind people evacuating during the 2005 hurricanes who were being forced to surrender their guide dogs, then being sent to a shelter without those companions.
Other people, he said, refused to evacuate because it would have meant leaving their animals behind.
Currently, pets are not allowed in Red Cross shelters and some private hotels and motels.
Some emergency managers have said they are considered a danger and burden on the emergency system.
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????
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.
Or 75 people, with 25 animals sitting on laps and no loss of spots for humans.
I packed up my animals and left! I didn't want to meet Katrina.
I packed up my animals and left! I didn't want to meet Katrina.
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.
Start by stop electing corrupt officials, politicians.
That goes for all states & municipalities, government.
" 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
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
You are spot on!
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.
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