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"Government policies forced
people to make an awful choice - to be rescued and
leave behind their pets or to stay in a stricken
city and risk their lives. We want to see a rescue
policy that recognizes the incredible bond between
people and their pets," said Pacelle, who was
in San Francisco for a fundraiser.
Forcing people to agree to be
rescued without their animals "fundamentally
misreads the psychology at work of 60 percent of
households in America (who have pets)," Pacelle
said. In New Orleans, he said, many owners decided
to stay rather than leave their animals behind. The
national Humane Society has led the rescue of some
5,000 abandoned animals but there may be as many as
50,000 stranded pets in Louisiana alone. About 2,000
animals have been taken to a makeshift rescue center
in Gonzales, about halfway between Baton Rouge and
New Orleans. Dogs, cats, snakes and even a
pot-bellied pig are there.
Dozens of animal advocacy groups
from California, Colorado, Texas and Florida have
volunteered to take animals ranging from dogs and
cats to exotic birds. But they need to be rescued
first. And authorities prevented Humane Society
volunteers from saving animals in the immediate
aftermath of Katrina and the New Orleans flood,
Pacelle said. Officials in New Orleans then tried
to enforce a 30-day quarantine before the animals
could be taken out of state. When they dropped that
requirement, Humane Society volunteers were still
dependent on federal agencies and their rescue
equipment. Both FEMA and the Coast Guard said their
mandate was to preserve human life under trying
circumstances but commanders of the crews on scene
had the discretion to rescue animals or pass them
by.
And on Wednesday weight was added to
the HSUS President's call by Republican Tom Lantos
of California, who added "I cannot help but wonder how many more people could have been saved had they been able to take their pets".
Lantos and several other senators
are sponsoring a bill that would require that state and local disaster preparedness plans required for Federal Emergency Management Agency funding include provisions for household pets and service animals.
Related Resources
Hurricane Katrina's Impact on Pets and Animals
Hurricane Residents Try to Find Lost Pets
Humane
Society of the United States
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