Here is a video from IFAW, featuring Bill from the Animal Rescue League of Boston:
Rescue technicians Bill and Mark are back in Boston now, in part due to the well-organized animal relief efforts.
I’ve seen a number of news articles about animal disaster relief and it’s shocking how many people in the comments sections say that the owners don’t deserve their animals back after they abandoned them. During an emergency, it can be extremely difficult to take pets along. Some authorities won’t let you take them; many shelters won’t admit you with cats or dogs (this has started to change since Hurricane Katrina, but still persists).
I know that if Hurricane Sandy had hit Boston, I would have shoved Smirnoff and Bacardi into a carrier, filled my backpack with cat food and litter and traveled to wherever I could go that would accept all of us. But that’s not always possible. Sometimes people think they’re going to be evacuated for just a couple days (in which case it’s not unreasonable to set out enough food and water and leave a pet behind, especially for cats who are extremely environment-sensitive) but then find themselves unable to get back for weeks. Sometimes they just aren’t physically capable of taking their pet with them.
What we need is compassion in these circumstances. People who leave their animals behind still love them, as you can see in the video above. For people who are no longer able to take care of or find their lost pet, then we should try our best to find a good home for that animal. But when we can reunite, it’s the right thing to do.
Ten Thousand Kittens 
I just got an email from the Humane Society saying that they had rescued an emaciated dog, chained to a fence, shaking. The rescuers found three terrified kitties inside the house that had feces all over the place. Turns out the house was due to be demolished because it had been condemned. The occupants were some elderly couple who were taken to the hospital. But how long had the poor dog been chained up to be so emaciated? Clearly the hurricane was the best thing for those poor animals so they could be taken to a shelter and cared for. I guess the elderly couple must have had Alzheimers to live like that and not feed their pets. Poor things. Hope the animals find a good home.
Don’t get me wrong – disaster relief can turn up some bad situations that already existed pre-storm. Those are a different case altogether.
Yeah I know. I thought it was interesting that I got that email from the Humane Society after your post today. It makes my blood boil when I read that animals have been abused.
And where are the neighbors?!?! How could the neighbors ignore a chained/starved dog? I don’t get it??? I called the ARL on my neighbor’s dogs because I suspected neglect. According to Bogel (sp?) the dogs were fine, but I was still glad I called – better safe than sorry.
P.s. I’m going to re-blog on my site, if you don’t mind, let me know if you do.
Reblog away 🙂
thanks.
Reblogged this on GiRRL_Earth and commented:
And these are the other victims of Hurricane Sandy, the one’s you don’t often hear or read about but they matter, at least to those of us who view our pets as family members.
Our cat gets treated like she’s a person. She acts like one at times, too!
Ha-Ha! I hear you. I currently have 5 and they are all so unique and clearly own me. 🙂