Some of the worse pictures of the Hurricane Katrina aftermath were of the pets that were left behind to fend for themselves. We also heard of so many people who refused to evacuate because the hurricane shelters would not take pets. No doubt numerous lives, both pets and their people, were lost because they had no place to go together.
To remedy that, the House of Representatives just passed a law that requires "state and local preparedness offices to take into account pet owners, household pets and service animals when drawing up evacuation plans. Offices that fail to do so would not qualify for grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency."
About time. Now, will this be in place for this hurricane season, which starts in, oh say nine days (June 1)?
Link: CNN.com - Congress considers pets' place in disaster plans - May 22, 2006.
Along a similar vein, there's another very interesting blog entry in The Bark's blog about the new Louisiana Evacuation Bill.
The new bill calls for animals to be evacuated with their families as long as there is no danger to human life, for animal shelters to be provided “side by side” with human shelters wherever possible, for pets to be allowed on public transportation or given separate transportation, and for a tracking system to identify and locate displaced pets.
The sad part about the legislation seems to be the petty and childish response of the Louisiana State Veterinarian’s Office.
The Louisiana State Veterinarian’s Office is working to block out-of-state licensed veterinarians from helping animals in the event of a disaster. Specifically, the state vet’s office has stated that they “will never again allow out-of-state vets to come in” and help save animals stranded and dying as a result of a disaster, even if in-state vets are in critically short supply.
What on earth are they thinking? Did they not notice what happened last year and since then? Check out the article for more details.
It just makes me sag just to read it. Doesn't this make you mad?
