Legislation Would Require Pet Evacuation Planning

[The Straight Story]

Legislation Would Require Pet Evacuation Planning

POSTED: 7:42 pm EDT May 22, 2006
UPDATED: 10:52 pm EDT May 22, 2006

WASHINGTON -- The House has passed legislation that requires pets to be considered in future emergency preparedness plans.

The measure mandates state and local preparedness offices to take into account pet owners, household pets and service animals when drawing up evacuation plans. Offices that fail to do so would not qualify for grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The sponsor of the bill is California Democrat Tom Lantos, who was moved by TV footage of a little boy losing his dog during Hurricane Katrina rescue operations.

The bill was passed 349-24.

http://www.local6.com/family/9257340/detail.html

Eventually they have this for humans as well :)

[napi21]

1. I was very glad to hear about this, I hope it passes!

I know there were a lot of people who wouldn't leave NO because they would have been forced to leave their pets behind, and wouldn't do that. I know I would never abandon mine!

[Coastie for Truth]

4. How True

I have posted on this in the DU Activist HQ at .

I am a volunteer responder (Red Cross Shelter Manager and Disaster Team Captain, Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service Ham Operator, Community Emergency Response Team Neighborhood Captain, Coast Guard Auxiliary - I have the time cause I am retired), an honorably discharged Coast Guard Veteran. Speaking from experience- this was a major reason people "stayed behind" - exposing themselves to death, and necessitating costly Coast Guard helicopter rescues.

The "real issue" - neither the Red Cross nor the Salvation Army "own" the shelters. They lease the shelters from the "owners" (school districts, local recreation departments, churches). The actual "owners" raised issues of allergies, cleanliness, etc. The Red Cross and the Salvation Army took the path of least resistance - and didn't push the owners. Well, now if the local Office of Emergency Services wants its FEMA money - the local Office of Emergency Services will have to challenge the "owners."

[hlthe2b]

2. Thank God...

An awful lot of animal and people loving people fought for this. It only makes sense, but then most good legislation does.


Count me among those who would not have left my non-human "charges" behind--any more than I would have left a human family member.

[DELUSIONAL]

3. Good --

[pitohui]

11. yes it's always a good idea to waste time

instead of confronting the reality

which is that there is no shelter of last resort for evacuees in new orleans

all those embarrassing black people you saw getting rescued on sept. 2 on teevee?

under the new plan they will just be dead

because there is NO SHELTER OF LAST RESORT in new orleans any more

apparently it cost too much to do all those repairs on the superdome

and hell 277 old people taken away to houston had the ingratitude to die anyway

so why bother

that's a :sarcasm: in case i have to explain it

this law is stupid, a waste of time, a distraction from the reality

which is that there is no shelter of last resort for human beings in new orleans

snowball will never again be separated from his owner at the superdome, snowball and the little boy can just die on the fucking ground!

angry much, i guess i am, but jeesus people, quit being entertained by the shiny bauble

people are going to die because of nonsense

eyes on the prize

[Coastie for Truth]

14. Now you listen up CIVILIAN

I have been a professional responder - United States Coast Guard, New Orleans Sector.

I have been a volunteer responder - volunteer fire department, ham radio, Red Cross, Coast Guard Auxiliary.

I am a third generation responder - both of my grand dads were volunteer fire fighters, my grand dad's brother was a professional fire fighter, my dad and all of my uncles were volunteer fire fighters.

I live between the two hottest earthquake faults in the US - San Andreas and Hayward, and I have been through hurricanes (Miami, New Orleans), tornadoes (Ohio, Michigan), and earthquakes (California, Japan).

And I have been inside the yellow line.

After (drug, alcohol) intoxication and trying to fight the fire themselves - the biggest single cause of residential fire fatalities is going back into to search for a dog or cat (cause they get the babies and old folks out first).

And the biggest single reason people "stayed behind" in New Orleans was because there was no shelter for their pets. You can take that to the New Orleans-Belle Chase Coast Guard Federal Credit Union. And it costs $3000 to pluck them - and their dog - out with a Coast Guard helicopter.

You may be a cynic or a bean counter - but yer a civilian -- not a responder. And we responders are a little crazy - but thank God we are.

[pitohui]

30. thanks for the notes of encouragement

i don't know how you stay so positive thru it all but it's appreciated

i was surprised to see this thread pop back up but i remember being in a real down mood when i posted

[meow2u3]

5. It's about time for Congress to consider pets

And not as property. Every pet should be allowed to go with their human in case of mandatory evacuation. Otherwise, it constitutes both cruelty to animals and human rights abuses.

[fed-up]

6. was going to rant and then read your last sentence-touche! n/t

[ncrainbowgrrl]

7. Ok, now who were the 24 who voted against.

:grr: I do not like them.

[hlthe2b]

8. Lantos referenced the little boy and "snowball."

the little dog yanked away from the boy. Does anyone know if they were reunited? I heard conflicting stories about the little white dog being found...

[peacebuzzard]

20. I heard that they were not reunited. Anyone else know otherwise?

[nicknameless]

21. It isn't known whether or not Snowball was found.

Rescue groups would be spreading the word about him being recovered otherwise.

Another famous orphan, "Oily Dog", was rescued though.

Before: After:

For a long time, Oily Dog's rescue was kept secret by the people who recovered him. Hopefully that is the case for Snowball as well.
We'd all like to believe that he is safe and being cared for somewhere.

[peacebuzzard]

22. I hoped for a while I had "Snowball" but the dog I found in NOLA

at a rescue camp was forcibly left behind because of the evacuation, and later when the former owners were found, they could not take him back.

on edit, so many lost dogs.

[nicknameless]

23. I hope he found a good home(?) Poor little guy.

Thank you for working there!
For whatever reason, I'm still on mailing lists and get updates from time to time.
I keep hoping that I'll get word of Snowball's rescue.

[peacebuzzard]

24. So many heartbreaking stories.

But this guy after so much more--including the sad inconclusive contact with the former family, a foster home that did not work out, is now part of my rescue home (I have 5 other rescues) and he is going for grooming this week. He is up on the stickies board with his little beagle friend.

So so many were unlucky and are still unlucky. The majority I would say are still in cages around the country or have been euthanized for lack of space.

[nicknameless]

26. Thank you for taking him in!

He looks all cleaned up and loved. (((((((:hug:)))))))

The number of animal deaths must have been overwhelming.
Estimates I was given: 240,000 residents in the affected area. 63% owned at least one pet.
Most people with pets own more than one.

How many were eventually rescued? Under 10,000, wasn't it?

:cry:

[peacebuzzard]

28. numbers rescued I heard were 8k and of those a minimal # were reunited

with formal loving owners. Remainder were shipped out of the area to any willing 503 with space to work with a skeletal impromptu system of Pet ID and adoption programs. There were unimaginable gaping flaws everywhere. I would say the majority of that 8k ended up caged for a very long time and the majority sadly, did not have a happy ending.

After all that effort.

Something really really terrible happened in NOLA. Something that brought together so many people wanting to help those frantic animals we witnessed on the television. People who could have cared less where other people came from, what they believed in, where they worked, or if they knew anything at all. If you have the time to read just one thing about the truth that happened there, this is the story written by David, who together with Pia, Jane, and thousands of nameless & faceless who came and went only wanting to save those animals.
It is the best description of what really happened there.

http://saveapetkatrinarescue.blogspot.com/2005/10/david-returns-from-new-orleans-if-you.html

[nicknameless]

32. I posted a series of threads during the fiasco,

culminating in this one:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=4847614&mesg_id=4847614

(You posted two replies. :) )

One of the great heroes and documenters of the Katrina pet rescue mess was Eric Rice.

His site http://www.ericsdogblog.com is a great read. He posted some of David Meyer’s blog about half way down the (huge) page.

[peacebuzzard]

33. flashback to that time is so unreal. I followed Eric's blog intensely

since he updated almost every day in the mass confusion and it was through his indications that I found my way down there.
In my last post I mentioned 503 IRS code, but that is wrong code. It is the one dealing with the charitable orgs....in brief check couldn't find correction.

[nicknameless]

9. Lantos wouldn't do anything when the animal victims of Katrina needed help

His office received plenty of phone calls and emails about it.
There were Senators who wrote about the need to rescue the dying pets for human health reasons.
But in the end, Congress did nothing.

As usual.

[Coastie for Truth]

16. Senator John Ensign (R- Nevada)

was the real sparkplug -- and he is probably the most conservative member of the Senate.

[nicknameless]

17. Yep. And guess who the other one was ...

Senator Rick Santorum!

[Coastie for Truth]

18. Unlike many posters

I do not hold that against the Bill.

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Just makes my job as a Volunteer Responder easier - and means we can pull more people out of harm's way.


"Coastie"
Lieutenant, United States Coast Guard (Honorable Discharge)
Shelter Manager, American Red Cross

[nicknameless]

19. We might be addressing different issues.

Back when hundreds of thousands of Katrina pets were stranded and dying, Congressman Lantos would do nothing to help.

September 2005, Senators Ensign and Santorum sent a letter to the White House, asking the Federal Government to assist with animal rescue in the flood zones. That was a request for rescues of Katrina pet victims.

Lantos promised to do something about future emergencies, but refused to help in what was the current emergency (Katrina).


The Coast Guard and other branches of the military were great and helped when they could, but they often weren't allowed to.
Unfortunately, some "authorities" prevented rescues -- just as they had with people.




Cute furbaby. :)
Thank you for your service. The Coast Guard is heroic and exemplifies what can be the best of humanity. :hi:

[pitohui]

10. hahahahaha that is effin funny

last time i looked there is NO LONGER ANY SHELTER OF LAST RESORT for HUMAN BEINGS in new orleans, thanks to ray nagin's new hurricane plan

even if you're a card carryin member of homo sapiens, game over, dude, you're dead, they are not going to tolerate refugees crapping in their nice superdome or convention center any damn more

and you're worried about PETS?

they're going to kill the damn people, forgeddabbout the damn pets

boy talk about misdirection

you are so far behind the 8 ball you don't even know the game you're playing

there is no shelter of last resort for this hurricane season in new orleans for homo sapiens

jeezus people

you honestly don't have a clue what is going on or how bad it has gotten, you really truly don't

[Coastie for Truth]

12. Mayor Nagin may have said that - but you don't know St Florian's Knights

(Saint Florian is the Patron Saint of Fire Fighters, Rescue Medics, and Coast Guardsmen/women)

With Saint Florian's protection - you go into the howling gales and fires to rescue those in peril. Yer CG enlistment contract, yer Fire Department employment doesn't say anything about coming back.

Ray Nagin may have said "no shelters of last resort" - but that word hasn't gotten to the fire fighters in the station houses and on the rigs, and to the Coasties at CGAS Belle Chase or CG Sector New Orleans. And when the words reaches them/us - it's just a challenge to work harder.

I have been an active duty Coastie in New Orleans Sector - and a volunteer fire fighter in Michigan --- and I'm still a volunteer responder (Maybe we/they are crazy people or adrenaline junkies or take that Saint Florian stuff seriously).


SEMPER PAR

<><>

[pitohui]

29. you are good people coastie

i have been so discouraged and heartsick lately but you are correct, we must never forget the heroes who did so much

[ContraBass Black]

13. Good.

But do we have a plan to require emergency preparedness for humans?

[Coastie for Truth]

15. No - we have responders who rescue

when FEMA quits fighting them and politicians quit bickering.

Been there - done that

NEW ORLEANS CONTROL 146.520 MHZ,
0 OFFSET, 0 CTCSS

AND CHERTOFF AND BROWNIE KEPT US AT DFW AIRPORT PLAYING COMPUTER GAMES FOR THREE DAYS. :(

[Hidden Stillness]

25. Damned Well About Time, Although This Will Not Erase Their Sin

I was hearing the Floor debate on this bill on C-SPAN a few days ago, and it was nice to hear some civility from Republicans, and real unanimity on a bill. The idea for the bill started with Representative Lantos's wife (don't know her name; I apologize), and was introduced by Lantos. The story of the little boy, holding on to the dog as the most beloved friend, and having the dog taken away, was heartbreaking and outrageous. Even Republican Christoper Shays told a beautiful story about having and loving dogs as a child, and getting a puppy for Christmas when the family couldn't afford anything else. It was nice to hear.

As mentioned, one of the main reasons why people did not leave and ended up dying there, was this stupid, invented rule that they could not take their pets, no matter how they begged. After all, the same people who did not have a plan to evacuate human beings also did not have a plan to evacuate animals. The attitude that helping animals hurts humans is not only incoherent, but it shows what some humans will do when things get desperate--"Don't save them; ME first..." Nice. Acting as if there is a "distinction," either/or, as if these are two separate groups of rescue victims, is really stupid; as if, animals were saved, and humans thrown back into the water--stupid. The animals who might have been saved would then have saved many more humans because they were their pets, and if not for the animals being rejected, the humans would not have stayed there either. How many people did they murder by not doing what the people wanted, and also saving their pets? Helping one, helped the other. What pet-lover will leave their loved animals to a certain, horror of death, say "Ta-ta," and prance off with the "safe group" to shelter? I could not have lived with myself, and would have stayed to face it together.

Further, the stupidity of not planning for the welfare of the animals then left a situation of thousands of roaming dogs and cats, dogs forming packs and fighting over food and dry areas, animals getting diseases from the open water already contaminated by sewage, chemicals, and etc., then in turn contaminating it further, with their own corpses. Dogs shot to death, and left there--not only a possible disease hazard, but a traumatic, dehumanizing violation of the sacredness of life, and of those who loved us.

A total plan of evacuation--of poor people with no means, of elderly nursing home patients abandoned by their corporate "caretakers," of animals, etc.--would have made things so completely different, but of course, if the Bush Administration had given a rat's ass, (speaking of animals) about the Louisiana/Gulf Coast area, then they would have funded the reinforcement of the levees, any one of these multitude of times over the years, when Democrats in Congress begged them for reinforcement of the levees, and Republicans refused, knowing what would happen. The only thing I don't understand is why the stupid (with apologies) people of New Orleans re-elected (if they did) that photo-op posturing Republican Nagin, who didn't even use the many buses available. Bush, the gutted FEMA, Republicans who only help corporate donors, they caused it all, but Nagin was a total failure.

[nicknameless]

27. There were policies & guidelines in place for animal rescue DURING Katrina

NONE of them were implemented.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=4847614&mesg_id=4847614

Lantos is a fraud. He refused to do anything about the dying Katrina pets.

[pitohui]

31. "if they did"

my thought too, hidden stillness, but i will say no more on that topic, i cannot, i am heartsick that democracy and accountability are truly dead and there is no office so small they won't steal

on the topic of the greater new orleans area --

i could not tell anyone to come back here who is unable to drive or maintain a reliable vehicle

they will not even allow people to shelter in the superdome again, now there is to be no shelter

the new "plan" for new orleans is truly scary -- supposedly everyone will be put on buses or on amtrak trains -- and yet amtrak doesn't know where they are supposed to be picking up all these people and no one knows why bus drivers, who are not trained first responders, are to be expected to show up to drive buses instead of evacuating their own families in their own cars

i hate to say it, but to be honest i would tell people who are vulnerable and can't drive, or who are financially vulnerable and can't afford to lose their hourly pay every time there is a cat 2 in the gulf -- for nagin has said he will order evacuations for cat 2 storms! -- i would tell those people to stay where they are and make a better life for themselves elsewhere on higher ground