Article on the Pet Crisis in the Gulf Coast

"Kid gloves for pets in disaster"

Rescue plans - Oregon agencies make provisions for animals in the event of an emergency evacuation

Monday, February 11, 2008

PETER ZUCKERMAN

The Oregonian

Next time a tsunami, flood or earthquake strikes Oregon, rescuers will try to save pets and livestock as well as people.

As required by a 2007 state law and post-Hurricane Katrina federal grant rules, public agencies across Oregon are adding dogs, cats, cattle, horses, sheep, chickens -- possibly even snakes and rats -- to emergency-management efforts. Some plans call for animal refugee camps set up next to Red Cross shelters.

The changes will increase costs and the demands on emergency workers, but proponents say rescuing animals is the responsible and ethical thing to do -- for people as well as animals.

Hurricane Katrina provided several lessons. Many residents might refuse to leave without their pets. People forced to evacuate without their animals tend to return before it is safe. Dogs left to fend for themselves could become vicious and attack rescue workers, disaster victims or other stranded pets.

The humane treatment of animals, even in times of emergency, has become a mainstream American value.

"Now people take animal rescue seriously," said Oregon Humane Society spokesman David Lytle. "Katrina was a wake-up call, and this is one of the things we learned."

Clackamas County -- home to 365,000 people, 87,000 cats, 80,000 dogs, 58,000 livestock animals, 9,000 horses and an estimated 1.8 million chickens -- is one of the first counties in Oregon to rework its disaster plan. "Helping pets during disasters is helping people during disasters," declares the county's updated plan. "No one should have to choose between evacuating to safety or remaining with their pets in harm's way."

County officials hope to team with other Portland-area agencies to buy a mobile emergency animal shelter (basically a big truck with kennels), an animal ambulance and supply van, and three giant tents to create animal refugee camps near Red Cross shelters, which forbid pets.

About two-thirds of U.S. homes contain pets, with untold thousands more people keeping horses, livestock and other farm animals. "It's a lot more to worry about," said Gene Juvie, emergency management assistant director for Clackamas County. "A lot more."

The Katrina effect

Hurricane Katrina left as many as 50,000 pets stranded throughout the Gulf Coast, many through forced evacuation of their owners. Some pets drowned; some died of dehydration or starvation; some were killed by other animals. But many were saved thanks to the nationally televised efforts of animal lovers from across the country.
The Oregon Humane Society chartered a passenger jet to New Orleans and sent several drivers there, bringing back 151 cats and dogs and finding homes for all of them.

"The public will no longer tolerate disaster planning and rescue and relief operations that do not account for the needs of animals," said a statement issued about a year after Katrina from Wayne Pacelle, president of the Humane Society of the United States.

According to a post-Katrina Zogby survey of 3,185 adults nationwide, about half said they would refuse to evacuate ahead of a disaster without their pets, and 57 percent said official disaster rescue efforts should include animals.

In October 2006, President Bush signed the Pets Evacuation and Transportation Standards Act. Last year Oregon legislators passed a law requiring agencies to provide for animals in their disaster plans. Later this year, the Oregon Department of Agriculture will join the effort with a series of summits to help cities and counties update their plans.

Floods and farms

In the Northwest, where lowland floods come every winter, farms are a particular concern.

In the 1996 Tillamook floods, more than 8 feet of water spilled into Joan Marti's dairy barn. She risked her life to save her cows, swimming through sludge and leading them to higher ground.

About one-third of her herd died. The loss was devastating, and not just because the 86 cows were worth $2,000 to $3,000 each. "It was my moral duty to make sure they're well taken care of," she said, still upset more than a decade later.

This winter's floods were a different story. Encouraged by local and federal disaster policies that now include animals, Marti had a cow evacuation plan, backup generator and large earthen mounds -- elevated bovine safety zones -- partly subsidized by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Federal Emergency Management Agency.
None of her cows drowned.

Building on such success, the Tillamook Police Department is putting together a reverse 9-1-1 system that can place automated calls to hundreds of farmers at once, warning them of rising water or other potential emergencies.

When Vernonia flooded last fall, emergency managers coordinated with businesses and volunteers to drop off hay and other supplies at a covered basketball court, creating an emergency livestock food bank. The state veterinarian stood by for anyone who needed help.

Firefighters in Clackamas County Fire District No. 1, typically the first responders in an emergency, now carry pet resuscitation kits provided by the Bernese Mountain Dog Club of Oregon. They are tailored to fit a range of muzzles and whiskers.

Deputy Chief Scott Weninger emphasized that people will always have priority, but times have changed.

"They expect us to save their animals now."

Peter Zuckerman: 503-294-5919; peterzuckerman@ news.oregonian.com