documentary "MINE" katrina animals

[smilingcat]

Documentary movie about animals of Louisiana from Katrina and Rita just made me so mad. I'm posting this now is that yes, I just saw most of the movie, but more importantly, how we as a rescuers should rescue animals in disasters. Watching this, its no wonder why hardly any animals got reunited with their family.

As a rescuer, we need to tag the animal with where it was picked up and when. And if it was pulled from an address, the tag must have the address information.

send me a message if you want details on how to go about it so that we can quickly reunite the animals with their rightful owners. Rescuing animals in disaster have two goals. It is about saving the lives of the animals AND reuniting them with the family.

The rescue groups in the movie had zero intention of ever reuniting the animal with their family. Use a computer they say. You have 5 days they say. &*&^$# And very little information except the kind of animal they have.

JUST VENTING AND I WANT TO SEE IT DONE CORRECTLY!! If you work with a rescue group, I want to see standard way of reuniting the animals after a disaster. I'll be writing up a fairly simple procedure and will be sending this information back to the rescue groups I used to work with back in California. If you work with a rescue organization and want the information, I will be more than happy to share my ideas with them. I also will be more than happy to share this with animal control and other disaster organization as well.

GGGRRRR!!!! *&&*(&*(&*%^^#%@#$

[grey]

I do have one little question: in the case of Katrina & Rita, why did the owners not take their animals with them? To me, that's abandonment, and so I can see the rescue's POV of not bothering to try too hard to reunite animals and families... I could not ever, EVER leave my dogs at home in an emergency situation to fend for themselves. We'd ride out the storm in a car together, or under the house together, if that's what it came to. I could not go to a shelter and leave them behind.

I lived in Florida most my life. You have tons of warning for when a hurricane is on its way - and if you live within two miles of the beach, get OUT. I am sure I will catch a lot of heat for saying this - but I think a number of people who stayed in New Orleans were pretty stupid for doing so. It doesn't lessen the disaster, or make what they went through less traumatic, but a lot of it was unneccessary.

That said - better identifications of the rescued animals is a much-needed, and proper course of action. I know we don't ever really know the whole situation, but if someone is trying to find their pet, it shouldn't be a needle in a haystack. There are more than hurricanes out there - tornadoes and earthquakes to name a few. Animals know when trouble is coming before we do, and sometimes they take off, or get lost just before the fact. I also know that some elderly persons were taken out of their homes and the emergency rescue crews had no way of taking the animal also. In those cases... heartbreaking.

[Trek420]

I think a lot of those caught in the storm were caught by poverty. If you have the SUV or working vehicle you pile gramps and granny, neighbors, pets in and head out. But without reliable car a people were stuck.

I've read that in hurricane zones some think "I've lived here for decades, it's never THAT bad, I'm staying". I agree, if they tell you to go, go!

But tragically I read reliable reports that during and after the disaster as people were rescued they were ordered to abandon their pets. Often they were sadly turned away right at a boat in the flood or bus.

So as you make your emergency plan for yourself and family don't forget your pets. And don't assume your car will work and/or that you will be able to use public transportation in an emergency.

[bmccasland]

I'm the token witness on this board (to my knowledge) of what happened with Katrina and Rita.
Don't throw stones. Can your community evacuate 80% of the population in 2 days? Despite all the news stories, 80% of the people in the New Orleans metro area did get out, with only 2 days of warning. We all thought the storm was going further east (Alabama/Florida state line). Wasn't until friday night that the weather forecasters put the storm track right towards N.O.

Trek is correct - those are the majority of reasons. Some people didn't have their own cars, and needed some sort of public transit to evacuate. There is now a plan on the books, and it has been tested with the Gustav evacuation, to turn your pets over to animal rescue (tagged) so humans go on one bus, and critters are hauled out safely.

Storm preparedness brochures published every season give information for what to do with your pets. Or to at least consider your pets. But if you're the neighborhood cat lady that feeds 20 cats - who do you take and who do you leave behind? Your heart is broken no matter what, because you know you can't take them all.

Most of us are snug in our own homes (rented or mortgaged), contemplate buying new fancy bikes, the latest biking kits, new biking toys; we aren't living on the margins and have a furry beast or two or three for companionship, scraping by as best as you can.

Evacuation costs $$ - gas to get out, food, lodging. Is there a plan in your community to evacuate in the event of a dissaster? What about the economically challenged?

I haven't seen the movie SmilingCat referred to, I think the animal rescue groups did a very commendable job rounding up stray animals, capturing the semi-feral dog packs, and feeding those left behind. They worked for months in that crazy place. I still "see" the muddy cockapoo trotting down the main drag in Chalmette, to be eventually caught by National Guard troops.

Monday morning quarterbacking what happened along the Gulf Coast is a very sore subject for me. If you're involved making plans for your community, make certain those plans include the poorer members of your community. "Only $10" is still a lot of money if you're scraping by. Are all the dogs and cats in your current community vaccinated NOW? I know the answer to that is "no."

[smilingcat]

Sorry to bump this back up but I just get too worked up over the "rescue"

Just to set the record straight. Many of the residence were told to leave the animal behind since there was NO room at the evacuation center. One retired nurse who had no means of transportation was told by the National Guard that if she didn't leave voluntarily without her dog, they would forcibly remove her without her dog. Either way, she would be separated from her dog and she was.

So it wasn't like they wanted to abandon their animals. They were FORCED!! Others lost everything so when the rescue groups and organization said, check to see if your missing pet is listed on the web site. Well... and by the way, if you do not claim your animal within 5 days, we consider the animal abandoned. Never mind that even if you track down your pet month down the road, its not yours anymore. There were several cases of this highlighted in the video. Cesar Milan helped to track down several dogs and I think only one person got his animal back.

Majority of the people expect in cases of emergency that everything you have prior to natural disaster is going to be there afterwards. They are going to be in for a rude awakening. I occasionally see so called disaster preparedness training where all the emergency personnel are available. I think it would be far more realistic if on the day of the "training" the emergency crews do a straw drawing to see who is really going to be available then run the disaster training. See how well that goes... Also do a straw drawing to say what pieces of equipment are available. Radio, rescue equipment, generators...

What happens if your car is low on gas when the disaster hits, will you run out of gas? Haven't you parked your car in your drive way with "empty" gas tank? Don't count on the local gas station to be open. Don't count on local motels or hotels or even those within hours drive are going to have any vacancies or be even open. don't count on cell phone, grocery stores or any other things you need. Even restroom facility.

So when I hear people say things without taking into account of "disaster" situation, it just makes me angry.

Like Beth says, it was a miracle to move so many people out of the area in such short amount of time. Unfortunately the "miracle" didn't extend to the animals left behind. And no methodologies were in place to reunite the animals with the owners. If anything, it was set up to make sure that you and your animals were separated for good.

Another thing that really made me mad was comments made by some rescuers, "these poor people don't deserve to have animals. It's better for the pets to be adopted out to a better home?" Such arrogance!! Another one had a racist comment which I will not bother repeating here.

I'm done with this thread. Sorry for the rant but I just needed to get it off of me.

Peace to all,

[Trek420]

I occasionally see so called disaster preparedness training where all the emergency personnel are available. I think it would be far more realistic if on the day of the "training" the emergency crews do a straw drawing to see who is really going to be available then run the disaster training. See how well that goes... Also do a straw drawing to say what pieces of equipment are available. Radio, rescue equipment, generators...

I'm on the safety team for my building.

Smilingcat is right: whether your emergency plan is for you, your family, employer, any organization .... it's an emergency, that's why it's called an emergency, it's not planned Equipment will fail, people and information will be missing. You need to know what _____ does because they may be absent, elsewhere, dead. They need to know what you do because they may be doing your job, _____'s job and theirs.

Back in the day on my old team we planned duplication, everyone had a job on the team and a back up or two. One day we had to evacuate the building and only a few of the team were there, it worked out fine. Actually better than it does when ______ is there

I'm not as organized as I should be but strive for planning. I have a friend who arranges with someone to surprise them twice a year by calling and and announce "it's an earthquake!" Then he and his partner run an earthquake drill. I'm lucky to rotate my spare water every 6 months.

And yes it's important not to drive around on an empty tank.

So make a plan, discuss and share it with your family. Don't forget the elderly, disabled and your pets. http://72hours.org/pets.html