FEMA won't allow pets, so residents refuse to evacuate

[quaoar]

It seems to me FEMA should bend its rule in the interest of saving lives and allow these people to take their pets. But then, I'm not a pinheaded bureaucrat who got his job because he was the roommate of Bush's best friend, so what the hell do I know?

http://www.2theadvocate.com/stories/090705/new_evac001.shtml

Pet owners refusing to leave homes

Rescuers say efforts disorganized

By SANDY DAVIS
[e-mail]
Advocate staff writer

NEW ORLEANS -- David Woodsum poked his head out the attic window of his flooded house on Gladiolus Street on Tuesday and yelled at the men sitting in the flat bottom boat.
"I'm not leaving," Woodsum said. "I won't leave my two cats."

Pets appeared to be the No. 1 reason many of the estimated 10,000 residents still holed up in their flooded homes are refusing to leave.

"I don't know why the government won't let us take these people's pets out," said Steve Miller of Dutchtown, a volunteer who navigated his flat bottom boat down the flooded streets trying to persuade residents to leave.

"But FEMA has told us we cannot take the pets. They told that we could not take one cat or dog in our boats," Miller said. "It's a stupid rule. More people are going to die because of that."

[meisje]

1. They can't handle people, what are they going to do with pets?

[meow2u3]

5. Liberals treat animals like people

Conservatives treat people like animals.

[efhmc]

6. When I worked with the evacuees last week in Houston, the SPCA

had a large area in the front with cages for pets. People were not able to bring them into the living areas but the local animal shelters were boarding them for free. There is a way to care for them in Houston and I am sure in other places as well.

[Pirate Smile]

2. I want to compare the death # from FEMA vs. Katrina. Who killed more

people?

Heartless hacks!

[Skittles]

3. when will the authorities take pets seriously?

they are not just objects, possessions

[Kenroy]

4. exactly

and they will HELP people cope in the shelters, or wherever they go. Cats, dogs, whatever... a lot of people in the shelters could benefit from such contact.

I know I wouldn't leave my pets unless at gunpoint. When I took them in, I made a solemn promise to stand by them.

[Skittles]

12. yup

when I picked up my kitten Clancy at the pound I told him I WILL ALWAYS TAKE CARE OF YOU. Yes INDEED.

[Kenroy]

19. That's the deal we make

They don't even have to articulate it... my dog and my cats implicitly understand it. We're together for life.

[Wordie]

7. Just heard on MSNBC that NO police say there are still 1,000 waiting to be

evacuated in NO.

Its been more than a week!

[kath]

15. what about all the people slowly starving and dehydrating in attics???????

while so many rescue crews are being barred from entering the city by the FEMA bastards???

[mopinko]

8. a little organizing, and volunteers would help with this, you know

they would. every dog breeder of any size has a truck or a trailer equipped to haul multiple dogs. so do most serious dog lovers, and multi dog families. every serious animal person i know would cut off their arms to help an animal. just ask. then let them help. pets in the truck people on the bus. a little paperwork. bingo. problem solved. how f'ing hard is that to figure out, people.

[susanna]

13. No kidding, mopinko.

Hubby and I are discussing this thread right now. Pets are NORMALCY to so many people. They are the "status quo," if you have one. To ask people who have lost everything to give up that complex line of connectedness to ALL life (in this case, animal) is beyond belief. Callousness, pure and simple.

Many, many dog folks with a multiple crate/van setup or trailer rigs could come down RIGHT NOW and help. Yet FEMA would turn them away, based on what I've seen so far. That is unconscionable.

[Raster]

9. One of the lights of my life and that of my S.O. is our six year old

cocker spaniel, Layla. There is no fucking way I would leave her behind. I would stay until she could be just as safe as I. Just the thought brings tears to me eyes. She is far more than just a pet to us. bush* and his minions would never understand that concept. After all, to them she would be just a possession to use and discard at will. Just useless baggage, just like the folks in New Orleans. Can you imagine not only your pets treated this way, how about your grandparents, your aunts, your uncles. How incredibly insensitive these poor people are being treated. Have we no shame? Seriously, have we no shame?

[quaoar]

11. In many cases like this dogs are left behind

and they end up running wild in packs and the police end up shooting them.

[susanna]

14. The animals don't go feral because they want to...

They go feral because they have to. Their instinct to survive is as strong as ours (which most conservs don't like to contemplate, the natural and scientific world being such a bugaboo to them).

This doesn't have to happen. FEMA could easily set up a smaller transition point for evacuees with pets. Obviously, it should have both human docs and vets available, who could assess and treat both the scared human being as well as their frightened pet(s). This would allow people to take their pets with them when they move on into a cold and uncertain future.

Small comforts are not so small when you need them.

[candice]

10. The humane society was trying to help rescue pets in NO--there are

agencies who have tried to help such as the American Humane Society www.americanhumane.org/disaster and the http://ga4.org/uan/home.html

Isn't it sickening that food can't be delivered to everyone in New Orleans 9 days out. Why should people and pets still be starving? So much for Homeland Security. This President has really made us safer (and half the world detests us because of the death of at least a hundred thousand Iraqis.

[SoCalifer]

16. A Must See Video

Man struggling not to lose his dog in the aftermath of Katrina.

Video-WMP

Video-QT


I have always had dogs in my life, and to be quite honest with you all. I love dogs & cats more than I do people. Don't get me wrong, I love good people too. But there's something about dogs that I can't resist. They will give you everything, and all they want in return is for you to love them back. I too would never leave my present dog - Trooper, a five year old Black Lab.

[OneBlueSky]

17. pets are not possessions . . . they are family members, companions . . .

and every bit as important as children, parents, aunts or uncles to many people . . . I don't blame people for refusing to abandon their animal friends . . . I wouldn't either . . .

[TankLV]

18. My CHILDREN will NEVER be abandoned or left behind!

I can't imagine live without them.

We have the capacity to care for ALL - not just "some".

I can think of many creatures, 99A% repukes, with the ENTIRE bunkerboy family at the top of that list, that I would not hesitate to throw overboard in place of saving an animal.

[weiser]

20. A Compassionate FEMA

Rock bottom isn't good enough for FEMA. They continue to find new lows.

Surely the fools at FEMA are aware that Pets are family. They must be provided for.....!

[theboss]

21. I still don't know what to do with this

A shelter is not a pleasant place with just people. I can't imagine how awful it would be with hundreds of dogs and cats running around.

On the other hand, I know my girlfriend would never leave without her cats.

I still think I would leave the pets behind if push came to shove.

[melissinha]

22. muaaaahhh

Tears are streaking down my cheeks.... NEVER I would never leave my girls: dog and 2 cats.

I remember the ONLY time I felt sorry for Chimpy was when his dog died....they should and probably understand.

Fortunately for my babies, I have a car. I told them last week and last night that I would never leave them behind and took comfort that I would be able to evacuate them.. btu my heart pours out to all the pets that were left to drown or die of starvation.

[Kenroy]

23. There's a big effort to save them

www.noahswish.org

www.la-spca.org

[lynne]

24. I'm real torn on this issue -

- as I'm both a parent and a pet lover. Saving my children and getting them out is priority #1 without exception.

I dearly love my three big dogs but cannot imagine everyone bringing their dogs and cats and birds and reptiles to an evacuation center. The problems on top of problems that it would create are almost endless beginning with keeping them contained to trying to feed and water them when its difficult to accomplish that for even the children.

As hard as it would be to part with them, I think that pets should be excluded from evacuation centers. If I couldn't make arrangements for them and if they could not survive on their own for an extended period of time, then maybe the kind thing would be to end their potential suffering before evacuation.

Flame away. But sometimes reality is very cold and hard.

[Liberty Belle]

27. C'mon. FEMA could ask for volunteers willing to take pets into homes

temporarily. They could set up pens with shade coverings in parking lots outside shelters. They could ask animal rescue groups for help, and animal shelters, keeping track of who the pets belong to where possible so that owners could be reunited later on, worst case. There is absolutely no excuse not to make some effort to save people's pets!

Of course, FEMA didn't seem to care much about human lives until the media exposed their callousness and ineptitude, so why should we expect them to care about cats and dogs?

[lynne]

28. The Humane Society is doing that now -

- I believe. I think I read where they were housing pets, rescuing them, finding homes, etc.

But - if I was in a situation where I had to make a choice to evacuate with my kids or all of us stay with the dogs and I had flood water rising around me - I would lovingly put my pets "down" before leaving.

I could not stay and put my kids in harms way because of the pets. But I could not leave my pets to possibly starve, drown, or somehow be injured and suffer.

What a horrific decision to have to make.

[Pool Hall Ace]

32. Reality can be very cold and hard, that is for sure.

What if the policy was that children would not be allowed in the evacuation centers because they can be noisy, messy, and confused by the situation. Plus, they could be disruptive to seniors, the chronically ill, and people not accustomed to being around children. What if you were told that you could always adopt or have another child, just leave yours behind.

My sense is that you would not be willing to comply with that policy.

[Liberty Belle]

25. I called FEMA; in San Diego after the wildfires some shelters

had places for pets. I asked if they could do that here, after the worst wildfires in CA history, how hard would it be to set up pens with shade covers to house pets in the parking lots outside some of the shelters for hurricane victims?

[SomewhereOutThere424]

26. Gandhi once said...

"The moral progress and greatness of a nation is measured by the treatment of its animals".

The US may seem on the outside like 'the greatest nation in the world', but on the inside, there is a lot to be disgraced by. No wonder bush is always so focused on helping other third world countries (or simply just iraq, I forget which), he knows he's turning this country into a sludge hole.

I want to give a huge thank you to those who are rescuing animals through this aswell as people -- you're the real heroes of this disaster.

[Behind the Aegis]

29. Judaism 101

"Judaism places great stress on proper treatment of animals. Unnecessary cruelty to animals is strictly forbidden, and in many cases, animals are accorded the same sensitivity as human beings. This concern for the welfare of animals is unusual in Western civilization. Most civilized nations did not accept this principle until quite recently; cruelty to animals was not outlawed until the 1800s.

Judaism expresses no definitive opinion as to whether animals are capable of experiencing physical or psychological pain as humans do; however, Judaism has always recognized the link between the way a person treats animals and the way a person treats human beings. A person who is cruel to a defenseless animal will undoubtedly be cruel to defenseless people, and a person who cares for the lowest of creatures will certainly care for his fellow man."

The bolded sentence is SO very true!

http://www.jewfaq.org/animals.htm

[welshTerrier2]

30. "people would rather die with their pets than leave them behind" - i would

that's exactly the way i feel ...

my pup is family ... you might as well say no children will be evacuated, only the adults ... family is family ...

now you may say this is foolish or sentimental ... this may not fit with your value system ... but what, then, is your policy recommendation?

is your argument that anyone who holds views on this deep emotional issue that are contrary to yours deserves no help? is your agrument: "if they're that stupid, just let them die?"

the callousness of the anti-pet policy, really anti-family policy, boggles the mind ...

[Jim__]

31. I agree

I don't own a pet now; but I have in the past. I would not just leave my dog to die. The policy is sheer stupidity.

[Vektor]

33. My dog just made something in the yard that FEMA can eat.

And he has an endless supply.