When Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast in 2005, no federal law existed governing the evacuation, rescue or sheltering of pets during times of emergency. The results were disastrous. “Eighty percent of those animals probably perished down there,” says Susan Eddlestone, a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine, assistant professor at Louisiana State University School of Veterinary Medicine in Baton Rouge, La., and organizer of one of the largest pet shelters in Louisiana after the storm. “Only 20 percent ever came out.”
Perhaps even more sobering, many pet owners also did not survive the storm because they would not leave their pets behind. “People sat on their rooftops for days because rescuers wouldn’t take their pets,” Eddlestone says.
**Get the January 2008 issue of CAT FANCY to read the full article.**