What Hurricane Katrina taught us about defending pets : NPR

[ad_1] <img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x1887+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fff%2F19%2F4345de844e98ae45103fc0c08d62%2Fgettyimages-54868446.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x1887+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fff%2F19%2F4345de844e98ae45103fc0c08d62%2Fgettyimages-54868446.jpg" class="img" alt="Tens of thousands — if not hundreds of thousands — of pets were left behind during Hurricane Katrina, creating an unprecedented animal welfare crisis. Dogs, cats, birds and other pets were forced to survive for days or weeks before animal rescue teams could get to them." fetchpriority="high"/> Tens of 1000's of pets — if not lots of of 1000's — have been left in locations like New Orleans throughout Hurricane Katrina as a result of catastrophe response companies advised individuals to depart pets behind. Chris Hondros/Getty Photos conceal caption

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Chris Hondros/Getty Photos Nita Hemeter remembers the barking and meowing, and with the ability to search for from the center of a New Orleans darkened by energy outages to see "each star within the sky."

It was early September 2005, slightly greater than every week after Hurricane Katrina had torn throughout the Gulf Coast — and Hemeter, who'd snuck previous a roadblock to rescue her personal canine and cat, determined to remain.

"I knew there have been animals throughout that wanted assist since you might hear them hollering," she stated. "It was simply terrible."

Estimates vary extensively, however it's believed that tens of 1000's of pets — if not lots of of 1000's — have been left behind throughout Katrina. Rescue employees in helicopters, boats and buses typically did not enable individuals to convey their animals. Many evacuation shelters would not enable individuals to convey them in. Residents like Hemeter's son, who left his mom's canine and cat at residence with meals and water, mistakenly believed they'd be capable of return in just some days.

"The messaging again then was: Simply evacuate, go away your pets behind," stated Randy Covey, an animal rescue supervisor, who spent weeks in New Orleans post-Katrina. "There was no lodging made for pets within the evacuation."

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4425x2950+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F39%2Ff8%2Fd30320e14f6fa07eff739a1e19e0%2F20250723-dsc1023-edit.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4425x2950+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F39%2Ff8%2Fd30320e14f6fa07eff739a1e19e0%2F20250723-dsc1023-edit.jpg" class="img" alt="Nita Hemeter returned to her home in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina to rescue her cat and dog. She stayed for weeks, helping feed, water and rescue abandoned pets. Today, she spays and neuters stray cats in New Orleans." loading="lazy"/> Nita Hemeter returned to her residence in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina to rescue her cat and canine. She stayed for weeks, serving to feed, water and rescue deserted pets. At present, she spays and neuters stray cats in New Orleans. Claire Harbage/NPR conceal caption

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Claire Harbage/NPR The photographs and tales of animal struggling, and of individuals compelled to make the heart-wrenching resolution of leaving a pet or service animal behind, shocked the nation. And in 2006, simply over a 12 months after the storm, federal lawmakers handed a regulation — the Pet Evacuation & Transportation Security (PETS) Act — incentivizing states and companies to incorporate pets of their catastrophe planning.

"If there's a silver lining in Hurricane Katrina — there's so many horrible issues that occurred — it was that it modified how the nation, to at the present time, considers the position of animals in our communities," stated Ana Zorrilla, chief govt officer of the Louisiana Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

"To make it possible for persons are secure," Zorrilla stated, "we now have to care for animals too."

Saving pets saves people One of many key takeaways for emergency responders within the wake of Hurricane Katrina was that efforts to avoid wasting pets additionally save people.

It is estimated that between 150,000 to 200,000 individuals did not evacuate forward of or in the course of the storm. A ballot performed by the Fritz Institute within the months after Katrina discovered that almost half of the individuals surveyed who did not evacuate really stayed due to a pet.

"We heard numerous tales about helicopter rescues from rooftops the place there's floodwaters throughout the home and the persons are on the roof with their pets and the helicopters would come to rescue them and say, 'No, you may't convey your pets,' and the individuals would simply keep," Covey stated.

Practically 1,400 individuals died in Katrina, making it one of many deadliest hurricanes in U.S. historical past. And whereas it is unclear how many individuals died as a result of they refused to depart an animal, there's little doubt it performed a job.

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x2016+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F67%2Fb9%2Fdad68ae84fbb81083b96ff7f2a2f%2Fgettyimages-55381034.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x2016+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F67%2Fb9%2Fdad68ae84fbb81083b96ff7f2a2f%2Fgettyimages-55381034.jpg" class="img" alt="Animal rescue teams from around the country responded to New Orleans in the weeks following Hurricane Katrina. Many dogs and cats were malnourished and sick when they were rescued." loading="lazy"/> Animal rescue groups from across the nation responded to New Orleans within the weeks following Hurricane Katrina. Many canines and cats have been malnourished and sick after they have been rescued. Mario Tama/Getty Photos/Getty Photos North America conceal caption

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Mario Tama/Getty Photos/Getty Photos North America "It turned evident throughout Hurricane Katrina, when requested to decide on between abandoning their pets or their very own private security, many pet homeowners selected to danger their lives and stay with their pets, and a few of them perished," former Connecticut Congressman Christopher Shays stated earlier than the vote for the 2006 PETS Act. "This can be a public security problem."

When catastrophe strikes, take your pet The animal welfare disaster that came about within the days and weeks following Katrina was unprecedented in scale.

A group of animal rescue organizations opened up an animal shelter on the Lamar-Dixon Expo Middle, an equestrian heart about 60 miles west of New Orleans. It was the most important animal rescue and shelter operation in U.S. historical past.

However even this huge operation could not deal with the variety of animals that wanted shelter. Just a few weeks after the storm, rescue efforts shifted from making an attempt to seize and evacuate pets to feeding and watering them in place, stated Covey.

"There weren't sufficient individuals to offer care, there wasn't sufficient area, so the animals would simply be going from one dangerous state of affairs to a different," he stated.

The takeaway for Covey, who nonetheless works in animal rescue within the higher Portland, Oregon space, was that regardless of how a lot native or federal officers plan, they are not going to be outfitted to deal with the entire animal wants if individuals do not convey their pets with them in a catastrophe.

In his county alone, Covey stated, there are an estimated 175,000 canines and 115,000 cats. He has a full-time employees of about 20 individuals.

"There is no such thing as a manner we might accommodate lots of of 1000's of pets," he stated. "So the messaging has modified: When you evacuate, take your pets with you."

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x1993+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F32%2Fb9%2F0755e0574256bf5268c8b9761ec7%2Fgettyimages-55743419.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x1993+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F32%2Fb9%2F0755e0574256bf5268c8b9761ec7%2Fgettyimages-55743419.jpg" class="img" alt="Rescued pets were flown across the country in the wake of Hurricane Katrina because rescue shelters in the region were overwhelmed. Some pet owners weren't able to reunited with their animals for years." loading="lazy"/> Rescued pets have been flown throughout the nation within the wake of Hurricane Katrina as a result of rescue shelters within the area have been overwhelmed. Some pet homeowners weren't in a position to reunite with their animals for years. Marianne Todd/Getty Photos/Getty Photos North America conceal caption

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Marianne Todd/Getty Photos/Getty Photos North America Cesar Perea, affiliate vice chairman of rescue on the American Humane Society, stated his group has seen a "monumental shift" in the way in which that emergency responders deal with pets and pet homeowners in disasters post-Katrina, however there's nonetheless room to develop.

In the course of the Los Angeles wildfires in early 2025, for instance, Perea stated there was a interval when the affected areas have been locked down after the entire individuals had been evacuated, which briefly hampered rescue efforts for the pets that had been left behind within the fast-moving blazes.

After people have been evacuated from a catastrophe space, Perea stated, "The subsequent logical section ought to be: Let's get these animals out of right here and resolve how to try this."

Extra broadly although, Perea stated individuals have to be ready to care for themselves and their pet companions throughout a pure catastrophe, by ensuring they've sufficient emergency meals and water for each.

"I all the time inform my family and friends after they ask me how one can put together themselves, the very first thing I say is nobody's coming and you must be ready for that," he stated. "It's kind of of a doomsday remark and a horrible factor to consider, however it's the fact of the world we reside in."