Haven't seen this posted...

As Valerie Bennett was evacuated from a New Orleans hospital, rescuers told her there was no room in the boat for her dogs.

She pleaded. "I offered him my wedding ring and my mom's wedding ring," the 34-year-old nurse recalled Saturday.

They wouldn't budge. She and her husband could bring only one item, and they already had a plastic tub containing the medicines her husband, a liver transplant recipient, needed to survive.

Such emotional scenes were repeated perhaps thousands of times along the Gulf Coast last week as pet owners were forced to abandon their animals in the midst of evacuation.


Full story...

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050903/ap_on_re_us/katrina_pets_1

If there was a way, I would take a couple of small dogs.

I was just talking with a friend the other night about the poor animals. So many strays must have died, as well as those who were abandoned (voluntarily or forcefully). It's sad. If I'd been there and had to leave my cats and fish behind I would be beside myself with sadness. Honestly, I don't think I could have done it.
My heart goes out to all of those who had to leave their companions behind.

I understand there's not a lot of room in those rescue pods, whether they're helicopter, bus or boat, and that animals often bring some chaos with them. But seriously, aren't they creating a bigger problem than they're solving? Now they've got a city-full of abandoned pets, probably largely unidentified animals, without medical histories attached to them (so who knows if they've been vaccinated and against what - in a lot of states, no rabies vaccination = a good excuse to euthanize a critter, especially if it's bitten someone and these animals are going to be stressed enough to want to bite). When they were with their owners you had 1-2 per person and this person was a caring owner who'd provide for the animal, and now you've got a bazillion animals with no one to care for them. On the humans' side, you're also adding stress to people who've just experienced huge traumas; they're being separated from home and often family and friends, and you're taking away the other connection they have in their pets? I know several elderly people whose only companions are their pets. This just doesn't quite seem smart to me.

I signed up to be a foster mom, but I haven't heard anything back yet.

ETA: http://www.katrinafoundpets.com/

I feel so bad for the people that had to leave their pets. :( They showed a guy last night that wouldn't leave because he couldn't take his dog. He said they'd have to shoot him if they wanted him out. He said his dog was the only one he could trust during the whole mess and he wasn't going to leave the dog now.

While I don't fautl those who were ordered to leave their animals in order to rescue themselves, I'm in the above guy's camp. I would never leave my family, human or animal. I would rather die with them.

I was going to offer to foster, too, but the site I looked at only wanted people within 2 hours away.

^^^ I'm with you peeps. There's no way in hell I'd leave my 2 kitties. I'd rather die than leave them, no joke. Same as if someone asked me to leave my parents, fiancee, etc. behind. I think I'd spend the rest of my life regretting my decision if I left them. And if the government let me strave, etc. just b/c I didn't want to leave my vulnerable babies behind, well f them... :smoke:

Yeah same here. :( I couldn't live with myself.

I could never leave my babies although they would prob survive before I would. Expecting you to just leave them behind without giving it a second thought I think is very uncaring for the person & animal. Its not like they are leaving old dirty wet clothes they are living creatures.

I was stuck in Hurricae Floyd in NJ some years ago, evacuation was demanded but I hid when they came by, knowing I'd have to leave my dog and cat buddies behind, no thanks.

I was stuck in Hurricae Floyd in NJ some years ago, evacuation was demanded but I hid when they came by, knowing I'd have to leave my dog and cat buddies behind, no thanks.

I'd do the same thing rather than leave my cats behind. :think:

I'd stay with my pets. I'd be one of those able-bodied, not dirt poor people about which people would be wondering, "why didn't she leave?". Though I'm capable (at this moment) of leaving my city should a Tsumani or whatever be headed this way.

I've been reading about this, and it's very disturbing. There are thousands of pets chained in the yard, locked in houses because the owners thought they'd be back in a few days, or abandoned because the owners could not take them or didn't have the time or foresight to figure out what to do.

sometimes you have to make sacrifices. one of my friends stayed until weds and then it was hard to get out. there was stuff everywhere making car travel difficult and then on top of it there were looters and car jackings everywhere.
she left her 4 cats behind and took her 2 dogs with her.
she knew that if she had to get out of her car and walk, she would only be able to carry the dogs and not the cats.
and if she had to leave the cats in unfamilar territory, then they would have almost no chance for survival.
so she slit the screens on the windows, left 10 lbs of food and 5 gallons of water and took off
thankfully there are still rescue groups saving animals, and we are trying to get them to go out to her property. when she left, she put the cat carriers right next to the door

i left early on saturday because i wasnt taking a chance with my dog and puppies...
but sometimes you do what youve got to do
my house got completely flooded, but hers stayed dry... not even an inch of water
so there is still plenty of hope

why lose 8 lives when you can save 4?

I'm glad you made it out okay! Hopefully since your friend's house didn't flood, her cats stayed put.

I couldn't live with myself.

I've been saying the same thing for days. My husband thinks I'm nuts....but no way would I leave my furbabies behind. They are my children....people aren't expected to leave their kids behind! I just couldn't do it - it would haunt me for the rest of my life if something happened to them, wondering how they suffered and looked for me......

Most of the dogs I have seen are smaller dogs....what is the big honking deal if someone sits on a rescue bus with a small dog in their lap??? Or even a big dog or a cat.....most people take comfort from animals....I would think alot of rescued people would love to stroke an animal's soft head and look into it's big loving eyes at a time like this. I know I would be petting every animal on the bus!

I take my responsibility to my pets VERY seriously.....I adopted them and agreed to raise them, they depend on me (quite frankly they are so spoiled they are pretty helpless without me, lol!)....I couldn't just walk away from that.

One of my first thoughts when I started seeing stories of this, were of the animals, both domesticated and wild. (I would imagine there are alligators in some of that floodwater.) Saturday morning on the Today show I saw an interview with somebody from Noah's Wish, an animal rescue group. I also saw an interview with somebody local (Columbus, OH) who was volunteering for Noah's Wish and rescuing animals. From what I undersood (and their site is down for now) they are taking the animals and looking for foster homes, anywhere in the US. If I were allowed pets in my aprtment, I'd take one in a heartbeat.

Also, the Humane Society has information on their site on what they're doing. I scanned it, but I didn't see anything about fostering. Maybe they could be contacted with offers?

I watched Oprah yesterday because she did a Katrina story. Nate Burkess (sp?) a cable homemakeover guy and frequent guest on the show (I don't normally watch the show, but I do watch the soap that's on before it and sometimes leave the first ten or so minutes on) did some reporting on what's going on in New Orleans. One guy almost refused to leave because he didn't want to leave his dog. Nate offered to take the dog to the private home he was staying in for the night. He said that the dog and the guy were reunited the next day. Yay!


On a similar note, there are a couple of organizations in Columbus that do foster care for animals until a permanant home can be found. If you're interested in animal foster care, it wouldn't hurt to look for those too.

Laura

I've been saying the same thing for days. My husband thinks I'm nuts....but no way would I leave my furbabies behind. They are my children....people aren't expected to leave their kids behind! I just couldn't do it - it would haunt me for the rest of my life if something happened to them, wondering how they suffered and looked for me......

Most of the dogs I have seen are smaller dogs....what is the big honking deal if someone sits on a rescue bus with a small dog in their lap??? Or even a big dog or a cat.....most people take comfort from animals....I would think alot of rescued people would love to stroke an animal's soft head and look into it's big loving eyes at a time like this. I know I would be petting every animal on the bus!

I take my responsibility to my pets VERY seriously.....I adopted them and agreed to raise them, they depend on me (quite frankly they are so spoiled they are pretty helpless without me, lol!)....I couldn't just walk away from that.

I agree, and fortunately my husband feels the same way. He is very very protective of his cat children. :)

The Noah's Wish site is partially back up, but I couldn't find anything on foster homes.

I did see that they're doing volunteer training near me next May though. I'm thinking of going.

Yet another aspect of the whole lack of preparation for a major emergency. These people are left with nothing, and one thing that could bring some happiness, the companion animal that means so much, is to be left behind to suffer and die, absolutely pitiful, truly cruel really, they haven't suffered enough, they have to boat away waving goodbye to a little helplesss being they love so much.
Now, I understand that some rescue effort for animals exists, not sure exactly what animals they're focusing on; perhaps the one's that are easy to get to?

Katrina survivor, lost cat reunited at last
Animal rescue group tracked owner through Internet search service

Updated: 10:55 a.m. ET Feb. 23, 2006
ATLANTA - When Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, Tristan Carter thought she had lost everything — her home, a grandfather, two dogs, a cat and a rabbit.

But Cupcake the cat was alive and well after six months of living as a stray in her hurricane-ravaged neighborhood. On Wednesday, animal rescue volunteers reunited the lithe, 7-pound black cat with Carter, who now lives in Atlanta.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11520333/

Awwww. :smitten: :vebo: