aacproject18-blog

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Sources

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/9223167/ns/health-pet_health/t/sad-story-little-boy-his-dog-grips-us/#.WtfTgBMbPBL

https://www.thisdogslife.co/a-guide-for-dog-owners-on-how-to-prepare-for-a-natural-disaster-8-23-2015/

https://www.aspca.org/blog/lessons-hurricane-katrinas-legacy

https://www.mnn.com/family/pets/stories/why-hurricane-katrina-was-shift-pets-rights

https://www.buzzfeed.com/davidhgrimm/how-hurricane-katrina-turned-pets-into-people?utm_term=.ptd2WdX66#.hiqJPDB99

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/animalia/wp/2017/08/31/how-the-chaos-of-hurricane-katrina-helped-save-pets-from-flooding-in-texas/?utm_term=.b6f251ff50b6

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/in-sight/wp/2016/10/06/heartbreaking-images-of-the-pets-left-behind-during-hurricane-katrina/?utm_term=.7486f3f43be5

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Disaster plan for pets created by the ASPCA.

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Books Published in Response to Katrina

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Katrina’s Aftermath Directed Future Policy

Graphic images of pets without owners (mostly dogs), abandoned and struggling to survive, motivated serious change in disaster policy. The  Pet Evacuation Transportation Standards (PETS) Act of 2006, requires first responders to help owners and their pets in emergency situations, and authorizes local governments to receive funding for shelters that accommodate animals. Other bills introduced after Katrina include the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act that designated FEMA as the lead agency for pets in disasters, and the Animal Emergency Planning Act which requires business that rely on animals to have contingency plans in place in case of an emergency (however, this bill never passed). 

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The images of animals stranded and abandoned in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina were surprisingly graphic. This article features a photo of a man’s corpse being consumed by a dog. Other articles featured pictures of deceased dogs and horses. 

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Cats were also missed out in news coverage of pets displaced by the hurricane.

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Images from Hurricane Katrina also rarely focused on other animals struggling in the wake of the disaster. More than 10,000 cattle died or were displaced in Louisiana. Horses and other livestock were also displaced.

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Pictures like the ones above are much rarer to find; news coverage often focused on pets that had been abandoned rather than owners with pets they refused to leave behind

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Article from CBS News (2005)

“The boy was among the thousands sheltered at the Superdome after the hurricane. But when he went to board a bus to be evacuated to Houston, a police officer took the dog away. The boy cried out — “Snowball! Snowball!” — then vomited in distress. The confrontation was first reported by The Associated Press. Authorities say they don’t know where the boy or his family ended up.“

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--Many people who decided not to evacuate took their pets into account; most shelters and hotel accommodations (provided by FEMA) did not allow pets; people were instructed to leave pets behind when evacuating 

--Disaster protocol, at local, state, and federal government levels did not include directives about pets, leaving first responders confused about whether to save pets

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Comments on this video include:

it's the owners fault that dogs cant behave around other people.

its owners were from New Orleans, which means that the chances are they were bad owners. The dog's anger is probably from either owner abuse or just poor raising - at least, that's what I think

When you go some where else from the hurricain you dont leave your poor animals their!!!!!

I dont give a damn i would never leave my dogs alone even if we have to evacuate,

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Race, Class, Katrina

However, the tragedy of Katrina became quickly entangled in issues of race and class, as New Orleans and the hardest hit surrounding Gulf Coast areas were largely poorer, communities of color. The looting and crime that was reported by the national media after the storm has now been discovered to be generally inaccurate and overblown. Oftentimes, it seemed the public eye was turned more on their owners than their animals.

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Hurricane Katrina was one of the most destructive and costly tropical cyclones to make landfall in the United States. The human toll was enormous, but the animal toll from this storm truly caught public attention in a significant way. Around 250,000 dogs and cats were displaced during the storm, according to estimates by the ASPCA, and images of pets stranded in the flood waters, or left behind in abandoned homes filled the news every night in the aftermath of the storm.