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Yes more pet stuff. I dont think a lot of people appreciate how much people love their pets. I know with me Warner and Indy is what motivated me when I was first ill. I couldnt bear to leave them behind in a disatster.
A Lesson From Katrina: Pets Matter
Disaster Plans Include First Aid, Evacuation Options for Four-Legged Victims
By William Wan
Washington Post Staff Writer Monday, January 2, 2006; Page B01
Jason Wesley has always considered herself a sensible woman, the kind who keeps flashlights and bottled water handy -- just in case. But she never thought that instinct would one day lead her to the floor of a veterinarian's office, giving mouth-to-mouth to a fake dog.
That's where she ended up after Hurricane Katrina, enrolled in a pet first aid class and handed the fake dog and instructions to save it. Thinking of her puppy at home, she put her mouth to the plastic snout and began to blow.
This is the emerging field of disaster planning for pets, filled with doomsday scenarios, four-legged victims and people who love them.
For years, despite an estimated 69 million U.S. households with a pet, animal advocates have been relegated to the fringes of emergency planning. After Katrina, however, and the sight of people in New Orleans refusing to evacuate and in some cases dying with their pets, emergency officials are starting to take animal rescue seriously.
By saving the pets, advocates said, owners can be saved as well.
In Calvert and Montgomery counties, planners are trying to establish emergency pet shelters alongside those for humans. On Capitol Hill, five representatives have proposed making pet disaster planning mandatory by tying it to federal funds. Meanwhile, many pet owners have begun to make plans.
"People are finally realizing that this is a serious issue," said Lynne Bettinger, a Red Cross-certified instructor in pet first aid.
( Rest behind the cut )
A Lesson From Katrina: Pets Matter
Disaster Plans Include First Aid, Evacuation Options for Four-Legged Victims
By William Wan
Washington Post Staff Writer Monday, January 2, 2006; Page B01
Jason Wesley has always considered herself a sensible woman, the kind who keeps flashlights and bottled water handy -- just in case. But she never thought that instinct would one day lead her to the floor of a veterinarian's office, giving mouth-to-mouth to a fake dog.
That's where she ended up after Hurricane Katrina, enrolled in a pet first aid class and handed the fake dog and instructions to save it. Thinking of her puppy at home, she put her mouth to the plastic snout and began to blow.
This is the emerging field of disaster planning for pets, filled with doomsday scenarios, four-legged victims and people who love them.
For years, despite an estimated 69 million U.S. households with a pet, animal advocates have been relegated to the fringes of emergency planning. After Katrina, however, and the sight of people in New Orleans refusing to evacuate and in some cases dying with their pets, emergency officials are starting to take animal rescue seriously.
By saving the pets, advocates said, owners can be saved as well.
In Calvert and Montgomery counties, planners are trying to establish emergency pet shelters alongside those for humans. On Capitol Hill, five representatives have proposed making pet disaster planning mandatory by tying it to federal funds. Meanwhile, many pet owners have begun to make plans.
"People are finally realizing that this is a serious issue," said Lynne Bettinger, a Red Cross-certified instructor in pet first aid.
( Rest behind the cut )
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