By Executive Director, Kerri Burns
August 2005: I had been watching the weather reports and preparing our team to deploy in case Hurricane Katrina did hit land. There had been so many hurricanes before that had been predicted to hit land at a higher category than it actually did. So we did not expect this to be much different, but then again that is why they are called disasters. You can’t predict the wrath.
Our team was deployed to be in the field and rescue the animals that were left behind after the flooding. I remember the horrible smells and sights as we went from house to house in boats, trucks, by foot, whatever means allowed us in the areas to check for any animals that may have been alive.
Some animals had been sitting for days on top of overturned dressers or any furniture that was above the water line in hopes their family would come back for them. Many people and animals lost their lives during this disaster. But the biggest reward was finding an animal, seeing the trust and thankfulness in their eyes, and getting them safely back to the temporary shelter. They were safe and cared for by thousands of volunteers. The ultimate joy was when the owner and pet was reunited after such a long separation and a complete unknowing if they’d ever see each other again.
Each day I would walk through the shelter and think to myself, what if this was my animal? How would I feel and how would my “child,” my dog, feel? It broke my heart when I allowed myself to step into either one of those shoes or paws. The teams and volunteers rescued about 10,000 animals in that one disaster and many were reunited with their families and others were up for adoption.
Simple lessons learned:
- Hug your pets everyday
- Have a plan to take your animal with you if you are evacuating your home. Have food, water, medications, etc. ready to go at a moment’s notice
- Micro-chip your animals and keep all information updated
- Have an out of state phone number along with your phone number listed on the tag
- They will miss you more than you know if they are separated from you and their home
- Animals can go into depression and be afraid just like humans and show just as much joy and love as humans
- Live in a state that there are no disasters (just kidding about this one)
Many things in regard to how animals are treated during times of disaster have changed since hurricane Katrina, but the first step in keeping a pet safe starts with you.
