Pet parity: governments need to have an emergency rescue plan in place for pets as well as people.

In the months following Katrina, images rotated regularly on CNN's Anderson Cooper 360 and MSNBC's Scarborough Country. Desperate dogs paddling their way through toxic waters. Filthy felines scavenging inside scorching hot houses. Grisly carcasses scattered along soggy streets. Animal lovers around the nation were aghast and appalled at the gruesome imagery.

Hurricane Katrina made all levels of government aware of the need to have an emergency rescue plan--not only for the residents of ravaged areas, but for their animal companions.

"The amount of damage caused by Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita was unprecedented, and a new need arose: animal evacuation," says Commissioner Bob Odom of the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry, who coordinated with state and local officials as well as animal welfare groups during the rescue efforts.

Animal welfare organizations flocked to the scene, yet there was no formal chain of command. Preliminary rescuers prohibited animal lovers from taking their pets with them. Because of this, many dog and cat owners refused rescue. Even service animals were turned away.

LEGISLATIVE ACTION

State lawmakers took notice and began drafting legislation that addressed the need to recognize that our furry friends also require attention during disasters. Senator Heulette "Clo" Fontenot of Louisiana had a bird-eye's view of the issue, thanks to his research assistant Cathy Wells, who was a volunteer pet rescuer after the hurricanes hit. He sponsored legislation that provides a disaster operation plan for service animals and household pets. The bill was signed into law in June.

Assemblyman Leland Yee sponsored a similar law in California. "If service animals are left behind, the cost to replace them are a serious financial and emotional burden to individuals with special needs," he says. There is an "emotional and dependent link between human beings and pets."

A study conducted shortly after a 1997 levee break in Yuba County, Calif., revealed that 21 percent of residents did not evacuate because they did not want to leave their animals; 80 percent of those who returned without authorization did so to rescue their pets.

"I never realized that animals are sometimes the only thing a person has," says Fontenot. "Animals give unconditional love and are part of a person."

Fontenot's enactment is lauded as the model law for pet lovers everywhere. Among other provisions, the legislation provides for three major concerns: service animals must be evacuated along with their owners; every parish (or county) should have a designated emergency evacuation area for pets; and those who board animals professionally must have a prefiled evacuation plan. The bill also specifies that once animals are rescued, they are sheltered in an area with food, water and sound veterinary care.

MODEL FOR OTHERS

"The Fontenot legislation is a powerful model that other states are giving serious consideration to replicating," says R. Bill Torgerson, vice president of the American Humane Association. "Having clear local responsibility for including pets in evacuation and disaster planning and execution is the most significant component of this legislation."

Senator Fontenot says that "animal welfare groups got behind the bill so well that they started inundating the fax machines at the governor's office, and the fax machines and e-mails of every legislator involved. I had guys knocking down my door wanting to be a co-author of this bill."

Lawmakers in Florida, Hawaii, New Hampshire, New Jersey and Vermont also enacted laws that provide more protection for animals during emergencies. Bills are being considered in at least five other states and two federal bills are pending that would require states to have emergency plans for pets and provide funding.

No one is sure about exact numbers during Katrina, but the numbers of residents who refused to leave their pets and those who were forced to abandon their animal companions is believed to be staggering. An estimated 235,000 animals died during the Gulf Coast disaster.

"This is not a coastal issue," warns Senator Fontenot. "Every state has the potential of having a mass evacuation like this. It could be a snowstorm in the north, or maybe an earthquake, some type of chemical explosion in an area--it could be anything that could cause a mass evacuation. If your governmental agencies do not recognize the human-pet bond--and that people will put themselves in danger because of that bond--then government is not doing a service to the people."

Janna Goodwin tracks animal issues for NCSL.