Thursday, September 29, 2005

New legislation won't leave pets behind in evacuation

A bill in Congress, called PETS (Pet Evacuation and Transportation Standards Act) would ensure that states include steps for pets to be evacuated along with their families during a disaster. States that do not include such a provision would be ineligible for FEMA funding.

Hurricane Katrina showed how many people had to choose between being rescued or staying with their pets. Many elected to stay. Those who were evacuated, in some cases, were people requiring their service pets, but had to leave those animals behind. The PETS legislation would be certain such situations would never occur again.

The HSUS reports that over 4,300 pets have been rescued from New Orleans and the surrounding areas. But hundreds, if not thousands, have died. Animal rescue teams are still in the area trying to get every last animal out that they can.

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