miakoda
09-09-2005, 08:32 PM
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9260578/
Katrina survivors face dilemma over pets
Many owners refuse to evacuate New Orleans without their animals
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=624 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 15px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 25px" vAlign=top width="1%">http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/050908/050908_pets_hmed_5p.h2.jpg Bernard Weil / Toronto Star / Zuma Press
El-Don Wilcox, right, gets a lick from his dog, Fawn, while his wife Angel Rivero holds the dog on Sept. 7 in the French Quarter of New Orleans. The couple, along with a dozen other pet owners, gathered to wait for a private bus to take them to Baton Rouge. They say they mistrust government efforts to evacuate them because officials can't give any guarantees that they can stay with their pets. The bus eventually arrived to evacuate the group.
</TD><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 10px; PADDING-LEFT: 15px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 25px" vAlign=top><SCRIPT>getCSS("3088867")</SCRIPT><LINK href="/default.ashx/id/3088867/" type=text/css rel=stylesheet><SCRIPT language=javascript src="/js/video-tease.js"></SCRIPT><SCRIPT></SCRIPT><TABLE class=boxH_3088867 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=152><TBODY><TR><TD class=boxHI_3088867 width="1%">http://www.msnbc.msn.com/images/icons/video.gif</TD><TD class=boxHC_3088867 noWrap width=*>FREE VIDEO
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE class=boxB_3088867 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=152><TBODY><TR vAlign=top><TD>http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Video/050908/nn_sav_pets_050908.vsmall.jpg (http://javascript<b></b>:oMvsLink('00','3f78a5fb-bb75-483b-a75e-3d22e29bba99','','','','','',false,false,'Source_N ightly%20News')) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/images/buttons/launch/buttonsLaunch_02.gif (http://javascript<b></b>:oMvsLink('00','3f78a5fb-bb75-483b-a75e-3d22e29bba99','','','','','',false,false,'Source_N ightly%20News'))
</TD></TR><TR vAlign=top><TD class=boxBI_3088867>• Saving animals (http://javascript<b></b>:oMvsLink('00','3f78a5fb-bb75-483b-a75e-3d22e29bba99','','','','','',false,false,'Source_N ightly%20News'))
Sept. 8: NBC's Martin Savidge reports on the teams of volunteers that are racing to rescue the four-legged victims of Katrina.
Nightly News
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
Updated: 7:39 p.m. ET Sept. 8, 2005
NEW ORLEANS - The promise of a warm meal, cold drink and air-conditioned shelter was not enough to convince George Reed Thursday to hop a military truck out of New Orleans.
Reed, a gap-toothed retiree, wanted to know only one thing from the soldiers trying to persuade him and a few neighbors to evacuate the city, which was devastated by Hurricane Katrina last week. “What about my dog?”
Reed, who lives with a pit bull in Bywater, a Bohemian quarter near the center of town, was not alone in his concern. Countless pet owners faced a terrible dilemma as authorities pressed ahead with a forced evacuation of the flooded city.
They could to defy the order and risk forcible removal or even arrest or they could comply, condemning their four-legged friends to an uncertain fate in a city that could be uninhabitable for weeks if not months.
For Reed, the decision was a quick one.
“We’re staying,” he said as he walked back to his home.
'I have no choice'
Adrian Tate, a carpenter who also owns a pit bull, said he knew of other animal lovers who were going to hide from authorities during the evacuation.
“They’ve got pets and they ain’t leaving them behind,” Tate said.
<TABLE style="PADDING-RIGHT: 15px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 5px" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD><SCRIPT>getCSS("3053751")</SCRIPT><SCRIPT></SCRIPT><TABLE class=boxH_3053751 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=300><TBODY><TR><TD class=boxHC_3053751 noWrap width=*>ANIMAL RELIEF EFFORTS
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE class=boxB_3053751 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=300><TBODY><TR vAlign=top><TD><TABLE style="PADDING-LEFT: 12px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 5px" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 align=right><TBODY><TR><TD></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>If you wish to support animal-related relief efforts in the hurricane zone, visit the following Web sites for information on making a donation and volunteering:
• American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (http://www.aspca.org/site/PageServer)
• American Veterinary Medical Foundation (http://www.avmf.org/html/index.asp)
• Humane Society of the United States (http://www.hsus.org/)
• Katrina Found Pets (http://katrinafoundpets.com/)
• American Humane Association (http://www.americanhumane.org/)
• LSU School of Veterinary Medicine (http://www.vetmed.lsu.edu/)
• Noah’s Wish (http://www.noahswish.org/)
• Petfinder.com: Animal Welfare Disaster Resources (http://www.petfinder.com/disaster/)
• American Kennel Club (http://www.akc.org/)
• Katrina Pets Need Help (http://katrinapetsneedhelp.com/)
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Minutes later, Tate boarded a truck out of the city — without his dog.
“I have no choice,” he shouted.
Rescuers who cruised submerged areas of New Orleans by boat have reluctantly left behind countless dogs and cats perched on roofs, hoods of cars and any other available dry surface. Their orders were to pick up human, not animal, cargo.
The reasoning was based on logistics rather than callousness. Many of the temporary shelters that are housing thousands of displaced New Orleans residents throughout the nation prohibit pets.
This hard line has stymied the rescue effort in New Orleans. Would-be rescuers have watched in amazement time and again during the past week as pet owners refused to budge from flooded homes without a dog or cat.
That may change in the coming days as a fledgling effort to locate abandoned and stranded pets builds momentum. Police are giving animal rescue groups permits to search houses for pets.
So far, animal rescue groups have fielded more than 3,500 requests from people looking for lost pets as a result of Katrina, according to the International Fund for Animal Welfare.
The group said Thursday that it had rescued 43 dogs, 41 cats, a snake, a bird, an iguana, a hamster and a 300-pound potbelly pig named Ruty in the New Orleans area in the past two days.
Katrina survivors face dilemma over pets
Many owners refuse to evacuate New Orleans without their animals
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=624 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 15px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 25px" vAlign=top width="1%">http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/050908/050908_pets_hmed_5p.h2.jpg Bernard Weil / Toronto Star / Zuma Press
El-Don Wilcox, right, gets a lick from his dog, Fawn, while his wife Angel Rivero holds the dog on Sept. 7 in the French Quarter of New Orleans. The couple, along with a dozen other pet owners, gathered to wait for a private bus to take them to Baton Rouge. They say they mistrust government efforts to evacuate them because officials can't give any guarantees that they can stay with their pets. The bus eventually arrived to evacuate the group.
</TD><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 10px; PADDING-LEFT: 15px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 25px" vAlign=top><SCRIPT>getCSS("3088867")</SCRIPT><LINK href="/default.ashx/id/3088867/" type=text/css rel=stylesheet><SCRIPT language=javascript src="/js/video-tease.js"></SCRIPT><SCRIPT></SCRIPT><TABLE class=boxH_3088867 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=152><TBODY><TR><TD class=boxHI_3088867 width="1%">http://www.msnbc.msn.com/images/icons/video.gif</TD><TD class=boxHC_3088867 noWrap width=*>FREE VIDEO
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE class=boxB_3088867 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=152><TBODY><TR vAlign=top><TD>http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Video/050908/nn_sav_pets_050908.vsmall.jpg (http://javascript<b></b>:oMvsLink('00','3f78a5fb-bb75-483b-a75e-3d22e29bba99','','','','','',false,false,'Source_N ightly%20News')) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/images/buttons/launch/buttonsLaunch_02.gif (http://javascript<b></b>:oMvsLink('00','3f78a5fb-bb75-483b-a75e-3d22e29bba99','','','','','',false,false,'Source_N ightly%20News'))
</TD></TR><TR vAlign=top><TD class=boxBI_3088867>• Saving animals (http://javascript<b></b>:oMvsLink('00','3f78a5fb-bb75-483b-a75e-3d22e29bba99','','','','','',false,false,'Source_N ightly%20News'))
Sept. 8: NBC's Martin Savidge reports on the teams of volunteers that are racing to rescue the four-legged victims of Katrina.
Nightly News
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
Updated: 7:39 p.m. ET Sept. 8, 2005
NEW ORLEANS - The promise of a warm meal, cold drink and air-conditioned shelter was not enough to convince George Reed Thursday to hop a military truck out of New Orleans.
Reed, a gap-toothed retiree, wanted to know only one thing from the soldiers trying to persuade him and a few neighbors to evacuate the city, which was devastated by Hurricane Katrina last week. “What about my dog?”
Reed, who lives with a pit bull in Bywater, a Bohemian quarter near the center of town, was not alone in his concern. Countless pet owners faced a terrible dilemma as authorities pressed ahead with a forced evacuation of the flooded city.
They could to defy the order and risk forcible removal or even arrest or they could comply, condemning their four-legged friends to an uncertain fate in a city that could be uninhabitable for weeks if not months.
For Reed, the decision was a quick one.
“We’re staying,” he said as he walked back to his home.
'I have no choice'
Adrian Tate, a carpenter who also owns a pit bull, said he knew of other animal lovers who were going to hide from authorities during the evacuation.
“They’ve got pets and they ain’t leaving them behind,” Tate said.
<TABLE style="PADDING-RIGHT: 15px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 5px" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD><SCRIPT>getCSS("3053751")</SCRIPT><SCRIPT></SCRIPT><TABLE class=boxH_3053751 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=300><TBODY><TR><TD class=boxHC_3053751 noWrap width=*>ANIMAL RELIEF EFFORTS
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE class=boxB_3053751 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=300><TBODY><TR vAlign=top><TD><TABLE style="PADDING-LEFT: 12px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 5px" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 align=right><TBODY><TR><TD></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>If you wish to support animal-related relief efforts in the hurricane zone, visit the following Web sites for information on making a donation and volunteering:
• American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (http://www.aspca.org/site/PageServer)
• American Veterinary Medical Foundation (http://www.avmf.org/html/index.asp)
• Humane Society of the United States (http://www.hsus.org/)
• Katrina Found Pets (http://katrinafoundpets.com/)
• American Humane Association (http://www.americanhumane.org/)
• LSU School of Veterinary Medicine (http://www.vetmed.lsu.edu/)
• Noah’s Wish (http://www.noahswish.org/)
• Petfinder.com: Animal Welfare Disaster Resources (http://www.petfinder.com/disaster/)
• American Kennel Club (http://www.akc.org/)
• Katrina Pets Need Help (http://katrinapetsneedhelp.com/)
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Minutes later, Tate boarded a truck out of the city — without his dog.
“I have no choice,” he shouted.
Rescuers who cruised submerged areas of New Orleans by boat have reluctantly left behind countless dogs and cats perched on roofs, hoods of cars and any other available dry surface. Their orders were to pick up human, not animal, cargo.
The reasoning was based on logistics rather than callousness. Many of the temporary shelters that are housing thousands of displaced New Orleans residents throughout the nation prohibit pets.
This hard line has stymied the rescue effort in New Orleans. Would-be rescuers have watched in amazement time and again during the past week as pet owners refused to budge from flooded homes without a dog or cat.
That may change in the coming days as a fledgling effort to locate abandoned and stranded pets builds momentum. Police are giving animal rescue groups permits to search houses for pets.
So far, animal rescue groups have fielded more than 3,500 requests from people looking for lost pets as a result of Katrina, according to the International Fund for Animal Welfare.
The group said Thursday that it had rescued 43 dogs, 41 cats, a snake, a bird, an iguana, a hamster and a 300-pound potbelly pig named Ruty in the New Orleans area in the past two days.