Hurricane & Emergency Protection for Pets, Post Katrina

Hurricane Pet Shelters

After the 2005 hurricane season, hundreds of pets were left stranded on the Gulf Coast. Just last month, Congress took action to protect animals from future natural disasters. The Pets Evacuation and Transportation Standards Act was passed to ensure that state and local governments provide for pets in their emergency plans. Locally, emergency planners have been providing for pets for quite some time, but admit there is more that can be done to help our furry friends. Of course, these updates could present a challenge. Carl Laundrie, spokesman for Flagler County said, "You could understand a group of several hundred people and their pets could damage a gym floor, we have to work with the school board if it's required that every shelter has pets, we'll have to work something out with the schoolboard" If counties do not provide for pets, they could stand to lose FEMA funding.