Pawprints of Katrina

By Cathy Scott

This is the story of the pet rescue efforts following Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. When people were evacuated after the city flooded, they were not allowed to bring their pets and were forced to leave them behind, abandoned and left to fend for themselves. Many of these animals drowned, starved or were injured and didn't survive. A fortunate few were rescued by animal shelter employees and volunteers who entered flooded and abandoned neighborhoods in search of pets. Thousands of pets were rescued due to the efforts of these dedicated people but only about 15% were reunited with their families. This is because the animals had no ID tags to help the shelters track down their people. Apparently, many of the dogs left behind were what are called "yard dogs," not really a part of the family, just left outside to bark at strangers and protect the house, so the people who owned these dogs didn't care if they got them back or not. And of course, there were many, many abandoned cats. According to this book, some 100,000 to 250,000 animals were left behind in the New Orleans area and only some 20,000 were rescued. The shelter people did the best they could working under difficult and dangerous conditions, often trying to rescue animals that had become wary and wild after weeks of being on their own.

It's a sad and harrowing story, reading about the struggles to save abandoned pets. Many were saved and many more weren't and because of that new laws have been enacted to provide protection and shelter for pets during an emergency. But, as the book points out, owners need to make provision for their animals and especially make sure the animal has some form of identification, whether it is tags or a ID chip placed under the animal's skin. If you are going to have pets, you need to be responsible and provide for your pet's safety, just like you would for your children. Pets are dependant upon their owners; even the toughest and meanest yard dog needs a responsible and caring owner.

I found this book to be informative and enlightening and made me realize I should get an ID chip for my cat. Although he is strictly an indoor cat, if we ever had to evacuate and he got lost in the melee, the only chance we would have of getting him back is if he has an ID chip. If you care about animals, then you will probably get a lot out of reading this book.