Giving pets more than a snowball’s chance

One of the most heart-wrenching events reported after Hurricane Katrina involved police taking a small white dog from a sobbing boy as his family boarded a bus to leave the hellish Superdome. For a while, Snowball sightings eclipsed even Elvis. The dog was everywhere and nowhere at the same time. MSNBC and other media outlets later reported Snowball had been returned to her owner; just as many Web sites discredited the reunion story.

Either way, the story of Snowball and 3,000 other pets rescued in the post-storm melee changed the state’s policies towards pets in emergencies. Parish plans now call for owners to take their pets with them—wherever they go.

More than just adopting a pet-friendly façade, the new strategy was crafted to save lives and manpower: The more people who safely arrive with their pets to shelters before the storm, the fewer will need rescue post-landfall.

In his pre-Gustav briefings, Gov. Bobby Jindal repeatedly encouraged pet owners to contact their local parish Office of Emergency Preparedness to arrange transportation to the pet shelters. Even pet owners with their own transportation were able to stop at shelter-information points to receive a reservation for the nearest shelter with openings. Evacuees with large animals were referred to their local LSU AgCenter county agent for information about horse and livestock accommodations.

By 5 a.m. Saturday morning, the Louisiana State Animal Response Team (LSART) volunteers gathered at Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry’s (LDAF) Baton Rouge office to deploy into both the southeastern and southwestern coastal parishes.

More than 160 trucks were outfitted with pet crates to handle the evacuation. In response to the suffocation deaths of animals in Katrina transports, LSART’s groundbreaking research established parameters for truck drivers to stop before carbon dioxide levels become dangerous to the pet passengers. As Louisiana Department of Social Service representatives registered families for bus and shelter services, and LDAF, Muttshack, LSART and other animal rescue volunteers readied pets for tandem transports to shelter facilities adjacent to the owners’ accommodations.

By Sunday morning, LDAF spokesman Sam Irwin says 350 pets and their owners had safely arrived at a Shreveport shelter; the Alexandria shelter had received evacuees and pets as well. While demand was low Sunday evening, the Monroe Civic Center opened to pet owners with their own transportation in need of lodging. While individual parishes, the state and volunteers coordinated transporting pet owners and pets out of harm’s way, the care of those pets remained the owner’s responsibility.

Agriculture Commissioner Mike Strain, DVM, cautioned owners that the pet shelters are not “stop-and-drop” kennels. “Once you get your pet to a shelter, you will be expected to provide care for your dogs and cats during your evacuation,” Strain says. That includes food, cat litter, exercise, water, vaccinations, medication and flea and heartworm prevention.

It’s still too early to assess Gustav’s effect on Louisiana’s pet population, but the state’s new policies give pets and their owners more than a Snowball’s chance for a happy ending.

The LDAF office remains open 24 hours a day for consultation on pet and livestock issues. Call 922-1234 or 800-558-9741.

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Besides her 20 years of experience as an editor and writer, Adrian E. Hirsch is a charter board member of Spay Baton Rouge, a nonprofit that spays/neuters feral cats and the pets of low-income residents to stem overpopulation; the Baton Rouge coordinator of Gulf South Golden Retriever Rescue, a nonprofit that rescues golden retrievers from shelters and owners, fosters and finds permanent homes for the dogs; and (along with her twin daughters) a member of Tiger HATS, a n LSU Veterinary School service organization that offers animal-assisted therapy.