With Hurricane Isaac under watchful eye, many cities have been reviewing their hurricane preparedness plans recently. Officials in Corpus Christi, TX asked animal control what their plan was for the shelter pets in case of a hurricane:
“Their hurricane response plan was to euthanize all of the animals, which is totally unacceptable,” Assistant City Manager Troy Riggs said.
Thank you to those at city hall for demanding a Plan B for the community pets when those paid to do the job would not.
Of course killing shelter pets as a means of population control is not reserved for natural disasters in this country but is the standard operating procedure at most municipal facilities every day of the year. A trailer for a documentary on the no kill movement has just been released. Watch it and be inspired to ask what Plan B is in your community.
Holy shit, that’s some “plan”! What I find remarkable is that this response made them take a closer look at the shelter and see that there was more that needed fixing than just the “plan” – and then they went to work on fixing it!
I know. So often we hear of advocates having to fight city hall to make positive changes for the animals. In this case, city hall is the one fighting FOR the animals.
What idiots! I guess they do not know that several shelters in TX have just taken in dogs from Louisiana shelters because of Hurricane Isaac. Who is managing these shelters? Well managing is not the right word since no managing is actually being done!
In the past month I have pulled 2 cats from the nightly euthanasia list. I you placed an order for the perfect cat you would get one of these. Healthy, affectionate, smart, playful – yet the NYC Animal Care and Control was going to kill them in a matter of hours and toss them in the trash. There were over 60 cats on the night I pulled the one of them. I’ll bet almost if not all the cats that night were just as amazing as the ones I have now.
Many of us have told the NY ACC and the Board members that we are here, we’re ready to help, we want a no-kill shelter system in one of the greatest cities in the world, we want to be leaders in compassionate care for our animals and we are ignored. Blatantly ignored, not even politely ignored.
They have no Plan B. They don’t want to work toward any form of compassion. I am constantly pissed off and appalled that the NY ACC gets away with murdering these animals everyday. What do you do when all offers to help change things are met with brick walls? I’m so angry and frustrated!
Anne,
First: thank you for saving those 2 cats.
Second: I don’t pretend to have all the answers and usually I just say what I feel so take it for whatever it’s worth. But my response to your question is KEEP GOING. Don’t give up. Expect resistance, setbacks and frustrations – all intended to cause you to give up. Don’t. KEEP GOING.
Just saw this brief article about a new shelter opening in GA to house animals in emergencies. Worth a look because funding came from FEMA and other communities should also be eligible.
Could be an important part of a Plan B.
http://www.macon.com/2012/08/28/2152926/fvsu-to-open-one-of-a-kind-animal.html
Well I live on the west coast so I dont have much to say on Issac. But it is great if these animals have some place to go during the hurricane, if its true. I remember hearing about dogs being shot during Katrina, for this reason. Did it hear it here? I cant remember. So at least its a step-up?
I’m going to have to find out. I can find numerous pages with advice for private preparedness in the event of a disaster, but none which detail what my local shelters & AC facility will do. Given that I live in a seismically active region and one that’s historically also experienced major fires – like most of California, when it comes to that – seems to me that’s information I could use.
In MD it looks like everyone involved attended a seminar in disaster preparedness courtesy of PetSmart charities. I’m sorry I don’t know too much about it, but the info. may be helpful to people in communities with no “Plan B” http://www.mda.state.md.us/article.php?i=3886
The article states that SART-State Animal Rescue Team is in TX. All the animal control director had to do was research and he/she would find the information on which agencies help in times of emergencies. Usually there are classes to take so one can get certified.
I will definitely ask what the plan is for the the shelter.
A couple of months ago it was posted in our local newspaper, that in the event of a county emergency where residents had to be evacuated, The county now has a tractor trailer fully equip to take in pets, Alot of pets, Probably not all the pets, but it’s better than nothing. Only requirement is you need to bring the animals paper work and tend to your own dogs/cats daily needs. I was actually shocked to see this. The county officials were shocked that they received this.
In yesterdays mail I received a packet of information about a new service. It’s called Caswell Pet Lifeline. It’s designed to help people needing help to keep their pets by providing 30 days worth of pet food. And of course they wanted donations. http://WWW.caswellpetlifeline.org
Personally I don’t trust much of what goes on in my county concerning companion animals and the shelter.. I think I’ll get involved.