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“At the front of the line, the weary refugees waded through ankle-deep water, grabbed a bottle of water from state troopers and happily hopped on buses that would deliver them from the horrendous conditions of the Superdome.
“At the back end of the line, people jammed against police barricades in the rain. Refugees passed out and had to be lifted hand-over-hand overhead to medics.
“Pets were not allowed on the bus, and when a police officer confiscated a little boy’s dog, the child cried until he vomited. ‘Snowball, snowball,’ he cried.” (AP)
Don’t forget the animals. On MSNBC’s Countdown, I see European and other tourists squatting in an apartment with three dogs, almost out of water and dog food. (They said rich people filled their SUVs with luggage and left town, refusing to give anyone a ride.) I see a man in a row boat with two dogs — he is crying in despair because no larger boat will stop and pick him up. Video: How HSUS’s disaster teams help pets and people. 
“Are you prepared for disaster? Take HSUS’s quiz.” Donate to HSUS’s emergency fund.
CAPTION: Jonathan Harvey rescues his dog Cuddles in Gulfport, Miss. on Monday. (AP Photo). Where are you now, Jonathan and Cuddles? Are you safe? Are you alive? Will anyone help you?
Update [2005-9-1 21:33:26 by susanhu]: Just received this. This is great — PETA is devoted to informing people BEFORE disaster strikes on how to protect their companion animals and livestock. And they have a video featuring William Shatner on what to do to help save your animals.
We need your help TODAY to prevent the needless suffering and deaths of animals who are in danger from natural disasters like Katrina.
Before the hurricane hit, PETA was able to save countless animals in the region through our Animal Emergency Fund by working with local media outlets to alert residents to the impending threat and to provide them with vital information to keep their companion animals safe during the evacuation and storm.
Sadly, many people did not heed or receive this vital message and left their animal companions behind in harm’s way.
Please support PETA’s critical work to distribute our acclaimed disaster public service announcements, which provide people with the all the information and resources they need to be responsible animal guardians when a hurricane or any sort of other disaster looms.
How could they take the dog from a traumatized child? Have they no sense or compassion at all?
I saw the clip of the guy with his dogs, talking about how he swam with them to be rescued, all the while apologizing to them for getting them into such a mess…and sobbing.
It’s totally fucking disgusting.
These people are being treated like they’re the enemy. Like they’re somehow at fault for what happened to them, like they deserve to be punished.
I’m almost to the point of saying that someone needs to start firing people, starting at Bush and working down until they find people who’re actually responding effectively, instead of dithering and covering their asses.
Then take those people and dump them in the Superdome and leave them there for a week with no supplies.
Yeah, blame the victim is ok if your poor. Its your fault your poor you must be doing something wrong. This is revolting.
I took a two-day (8 hours per day) C.E.R.T. training last year.
Animals are NEVER allowed in disaster shelters.
That’s why, the other night when someone asked what we’d take with us if we had to leave home in a hurry, my cats were #1 — along with food and water for them and me + a litter box to put in the backseat of my car.
I know I’d have to live in my car to keep my cats. And I will NEVER leave them behind. EVER.
That’s why HSUS puts up info on what to do with your pets in a disaster. No human-oriented disaster relief group will help any animal under any circumstances.
I hope HSUS’s huge convoy has gotten there. I’m sure they have. I’l check their Web site right now.
Is it likely that HSUS will be able to reunite the boy with Snowball?
I doubt it. What probably happened to that dog? He was left in the street. He’ll be dead very soon.
And I added info on HSUS’s whereabouts according to their site on Aug. 31. They’re not near New Orleans yet. I doubt they can get in to do much.
if there were 500,000 people in New Orleans, how many pets would you estimate there are? At least close to the same number? Probably only a few thousand lucky ones who got out with their families will remain alive.
Probably a lot of the dogs — and cats, raccoons, etc. — are eating the human corpses right now.
Just like they do in Iraq.
would work himself to death saving people from the water. Especially in that heat. I’m glad I don’t have to witness that, it would be doubly heart breaking.
Do you take him swimming? Tom Bihn takes his big dog swimming in the ocean a lot, and he loves it so much. Sometimes, though, he finds a dead seal and rubs up against it which makes him smelly. Bad dog.
UPDATE: I added PETA’s PSA program, which is a fantastic idea … I didn’t print the entire letter above.
But, what they do is monitor weather conditions around the country.
As soon as it looks like bad weather is hitting an area, they run their PSAs to alert people on what to do about their pets.
(I wonder if FEMA ran ads around New Orleans before last week. PETA did.)
This quote caught my eye, too, Susan. What is it–the bureaucratic mentality on top of every other conceivable failure that’s causing so much suffering?
I suppose there’s a certain inconvenience and potential for trouble in having animals on the bus, but it’s simply inhuman as well as inhumane. The relationship of people and their pets can be and often is unique and powerful. That boy will never forget this pain, and being forced to abandon his companion could damage him permanently.
I wouldn’t be surprised if some people chose to stay behind with their animal companions rather than abandon them.
I have three cats in Gretna right outside of New Orleans that are in need of rescue. We must have been insane to leave them. We thought we would be back there in three days. We went through Hurricane Betsy and we based our actions on that experience. WE didn’t know.
I’m considering walking from Avondale, about 15 miles from Gretna, to feed our cats. I’m sure the Jefferson officials will have pity. Thank you for all of your coverage of this…human issue.
Maybe these folks can help you. I hope your kitties come through OK.
Thank you. I feel we are on our own though. Inevitable, I guess.
The LEAST they could have done is let the poor baby keep Snowball. Hasn’t the child been through enough hell for a lifetime?
Some damned rules are made to be broken. He’s had everything taken from him; they didn’t have to take his dog, too!
They can’t. It’s a firm rule. It probably broke their hearts to do that too, and surely upset every person around who saw that little boy.
Arrangements must be made ahead of time for pets.
Let’s see .. what would be good to have in the trunk of the car? Sacks of dry food + litter + litter box + bottled water + blankets? And a pet first aid kit. I’ll set that up… haev some stuff in the trunk, but not all of it.
alive. But he had no hay to feed them.
Thanks for posting this Susan…I just took their test, and failed on a few items (like collars with id tags). I wouldn’t have thought of that.
Local rescue groups will need help for a long time to come. In addition to the Humane Society, there are listings on Petfinder, an umbrella site that lists by geography and breed of animal. They have a number of links up now for people who can donate or volunteer.
I took the quiz, Susan. My dog has a collar tag and is also microchipped. According to my vet, that’s the technology that rescue groups now use first to determine where a lost animal belongs.
Can any vet put a chip in? Is it yucky?
We have 3 dogs, and I call them my fur children. I hate to think of losing them.
Microchips: Yes, I think any vet can insert them. Mine showed me how they’re read, with a gizmo like a TV remote scanned across the animal’s back. It’s a looooong number, listed with a central registry, so if a lost dog or cat has a number the rescue group contacts them, finds out who’s the animal’s human.
My dog weighs less than 30 pounds, so when the vet assistant came in to hold him while the chip was inserted, I said, “Oh, I can do that.”
She insisted, and I saw why. The needle looks like the kind you use on horses–very big. They shoot the thing in on the back, just under the first fatty layer of skin.
Poor dog. He yelped and gave me the most reproachful look. And the next day, when a neighbor patted him, his back was still sore. But he recovered quickly.
It’s a requirement to take a dog or cat into the EU. So far, we can take animals into Canada without it, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it became required one of these days.
As I recall, cost is about $50-60, plus registry fee of about $15.
It really works. My daughter is always trying to catch dogs that quite clearly appear to be lost.
We caught a dog a few months ago, put him in the backseat, and took him to the county shelter. They checked for a chip. He had one so they called the owner who said they’d be right there to get him…. they lived about 25 blocks from where we found him, so he really was lost.
I just somewhere that some brands of chips are incompatible with the most commonly identifier “thingie” that the shelters use to see if a dog has a chip and to read the number. So, I’d probably call the local shelter and follow their recommendation of the type of chip that should be implanted.
Wish I had my cats micro-chipped 🙁 Someday.
Thanks so very much for this post, Susan. We donated $250 to HSUS and I will be sharing this post and the link around my (large) office tomorrow. There is a sizeable network there of people who care about animals and rescue-related emails circulate among us frequently.
This is all so heartbreaking. “Snowball, Snowball”. OMFG. We just feel so utterly helpless. My wife searched the HSUS site for any indication that there was some way for an experienced amateur to volunteer, but it seems not. Any insight anyone might have into a means of volumteering?
Ms Okie chiming in here to add: We understand that organizations must protect themselves from hapless and/or litigious “heroes” but it angers us that individuals who are used to taking a hands-on approach (which is often the only option in a place like Oklahoma) would probably be prohibited from even trying to help. Can we not even offer shelter, temporary or permanent, to the homeless animals? Would we even be allowed to approach the area to retrieve them? If the government doesn’t care, fine. Let them get the hell out the way and allow those of us who do care to do what needs to be done.
FWIW, we currently house 83 cats and 12 dogs in our very private sanctuary. We’re not fools or idealists. (Okay, maybe we are. But where would the world be without foolish idealists?) The thing is, at this point it seems that the Average Joe is more capable than the government.
Try checking the Petfinder site, referred to above: there are listings there for shelters in the affected areas, and a number of fron-page links. The advantage is that those are smaller groups than the HS, perhaps with better local knowledge.
I know from reading after other bad events that a number of groups will find animals, rescue what they can, and that many of the animals are later fostered outside the regions.
The heartbreak, everything you know or love gone, no food or water for humans, no transportation, no nothing. My heart has been breaking for days and I have no words for the monsterous cruelty that values property and power over human life.
God save us from ourselves.