Animal Rescue

Bill Would Require Safety Plans for Pets

By ELIZABETH WHITE, Associated Press
Thu Sep 22, 1:43 PM ET

WASHINGTON - Federal disaster grants to state and local governments should be conditioned on how they accommodate pets in their evacuation plans, say lawmakers disturbed that some Hurricane Katrina victims refused to leave home because they couldn't take their animals with them.

"I cannot help but wonder how many more people could have been saved had they been able to take their pets," Rep. Tom Lantos (news, bio, voting record), D-Calif., said Thursday.

Lantos and Reps. Christopher Shays, R-Conn., and Barney Frank, D-Mass., 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.

I'm putting this up for anyone who is concerned about the animals displaced or stranded by the storms in the Gulf Coast region, and as a reminder to myself to look more thoroughly into the details later.

In the AP story, a representative of the Humane Society claims that 6,000 pets have been rescued in Louisiana and Mississippi since Hurricane Katrina hit, but "tens of thousands" could still be stranded in New Orleans alone. The Doris Day Animal League claims it still has 4,000 outstanding requests to rescue pets in the region.

Any animals lovers out there have ideas for a coordinated system that could evacuate and save more animals in future storms? I realize that the government doesn't even have a real plan for evacuating and rescuing humans in such cases, yet, but I'm glad to see this issue also brought to the table.

Any opinions and ideas, please sound off!