Update [2005-9-5 21:23:44 by susanhu]:
Shaggy Dog Story:
“A dog wanders through the debris around the Superdome in New Orleans on Saturday. HSUS rescuers and Louisiana SPCA staff rescued dozens of animals from there on Sunday. (AP Photo/Bill Haber)” — at the HSUS site
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You can add an HSUS banner to your site.
Here’s a snippet from the HSUS field report:
So far, however, rescue workers dealing with Katrina have barred pets from buses, shelters, and other facilities. And the Red Cross does not permit animals in its shelters. The harsh and depressing fact remains: In most disaster scenarios, people and their pets have to go their separate ways.
Little deeds of kindness
Even on the bleakest landscape of loss, there were a few bright spots. Louisiana State Treasurer John Kennedy, helping people board buses at an Interstate 10 overpass near Baton Rouge, intervened when some evacuees balked at being told to leave their pets behind. One woman told Kennedy, “I’ve lost my house, my job, my car, and I am not turning my dog loose to starve.”
Kennedy joined other volunteers in taking down the names of those leaving on the buses and asked the Louisiana SPCA to come out and collect the animals. The SPCA took two cats and fifteen dogs, including a mixed-breed dog Kennedy found tethered near the road with a unopened can of dog food next to him and a note that read, “Please take care of my dog, his name is Chucky.” All of the animals will be cared for until the evacuees are able to secure shelter in other cities and states.
Kennedy was not alone in his sense of duty to evacuees trying to hang onto their pets. Some 250 miles to the west, at the Houston Astrodome and the Reliant Arena, workers with the Houston SPCA were accepting hundreds of animals from evacuees, with the goal of eventually reuniting animals with the people who love them — people who would never have given up their pets but for the violent disruption of their lives wrought by Katrina. …
Urgent: Tell Your Federal Representatives to Demand Animals’ Safe Evacuation From New Orleans!
Dear Friend,
Your immediate attention and response is requested. No animal rescue groups have been allowed into New Orleans to help animals, who have been left stranded on their own. Sending money is not solving the animals’ problem, which is worsening by the hour.
[F]ederal authorities are forcing everyone—including elderly residents who have stayed in water-logged residences five days to safeguard their beloved animals—to leave their animals behind. More:
In some cases, people are told that they must choose between bringing vital medicine and bringing their dog when they are evacuated. This is illegal and it must stop.
PETA has issued a media advisory stating that we will prosecute any known violators, but that is not stopping federal evacuators from insisting that animals be left to die. Today, Rue McClanahan wrote to President George W. Bush, calling on him to order officials to allow people to evacuate with their animals.
Please, immediately call your member of Congress today to ask that people be allowed to evacuate with their animals. Leave messages for them in Washington and at their home offices and get everyone you know to call. The names of—and contact information for—your representative and senators can be found online. Please forward this alert to others willing to lend their voices to help with this emergency. …
