GALVESTON LEADS EFFORT TO EVACUATE PEOPLE-AND PETS

In a move applauded by the ASPCA and other animal welfare agencies,
Galveston Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas encouraged evacuating residents to take
their pets with them, even allowing them onto buses as long as the animals
were secured in crates or cages. Other cities, including Houston, have
followed suit.

One of the most important lessons learned in the aftermath of Hurricane
Katrina was that multitudes of pets were abandoned, lost or stranded,
compounding a catastrophe that could have been reduced had residents not
been forced to leave their animals behind.

Thousands of pets in Louisiana, Mississippi and along the Gulf Coast drowned
when Katrina struck. Many more have died of starvation, dehydration or
exposure to toxic water, chemicals and waste. Still others were taken by
fleeing residents to local shelters, many of which were either destroyed or
damaged by Katrina. Those that have survived the storm now roam the streets,
starving. Animals lucky enough to have been rescued are being transferred to
shelters nationwide and it will be a challenge to reunite them with their
families.

In the wake of these horrors, the ASPCA and other animal welfare groups are
now bracing for Rita, which is expected to slam into the Texas coast
Saturday. But lessons learned from Katrina have prepared officials and
animal welfare agencies throughout the state of Texas to take precautions.

Jennifer Harris, a spokeswoman from Texas Governor Rick Perry's office,
confirms that "people with pets are allowed to evacuate with their pets,"
although evacuees on local or state-supplied evacuation buses must have
their pets in a carrier or cage for transport.

The APSCA's National Outreach team is also positioned for Hurricane Rita,
with staff in Texas who are directing resources and assisting with grants
and communications. The ASPCA is also planning response efforts with other
major groups, including Best Friends Animal Society, Humane Society of the
United States (HSUS), Southern Animal Welfare Administrators (SAWA), and
United Animal Nations (UAN).

The Houston SPCA and Harris County Animal Services are playing a leading
role. Houston SPCA has activated a carefully controlled high-volume
transport and transfer system to move large numbers of animals quickly and
safely to large shelters throughout the country, with crates and other
resources provided by the ASPCA. In addition, a staging center for animals
is being established in Lufkin, and many evacuees and their pets are headed
for Austin, Dallas and other inland cities.

Meanwhile, in Louisiana and Mississippi, animal rescue teams and volunteers
serving Katrina victims are far from finished. An emergency evacuation plan
is in place at Lamar-Dixon, where 1,400 animals orphaned by Hurricane
Katrina remain.

U.S. Census estimates on the number of pets in the Galveston County, which
has a population of 266,000, reach as high as 57,000 dogs and 65,000 cats.
At least 35,000 owned cats and dogs are believed to live within Galveston's
46-sq.-mile city limits. However, one million residents along the Texas
coast have evacuated, which could place the numbers of animals affected by
Rita much higher.

September marks the 105th anniversary of the hurricane-sometimes called
Isaac's Storm-that destroyed Galveston in 1900, killing an estimated 6,000
to 12,000 people. The number of animals killed-likely in the thousands,
too-has never been known. As Rita surges and churns toward the Gulf, the
hope is that history won't repeat itself.

--Anita Kelso Edson

One of the other important lessons of Katrina is that some of those
who refused to evacuate were those who refused to leave their pets
behind.  

But then if I had to evacuate I wouldn't leave my pets behind either.

Rep. Tom Lantos, D-CA and Rep Barney Frank, D-MA proposed legislation
Thursday that would require local authorities to adopt pet evacuation
plans for future emergencies such as Hurricanes Katrina and Rita if
the governments want federal aid.
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