Comments | ancarett: Dogs Are People, Too

ancarett

Dogs Are People, Too

Sep 11, 2005 13:18

From the NYT comes this gem of an article: ( Full text here with occasional shout outs of my own )

Comments 9

elspethsheir September 11 2005, 17:46:06 UTC

And that's the pathos for me -- I would not leave my animals to die and I can understand why others would feel the same way.

Yup, same here. I couldn't leave Mai. The stories that have come out about these pets break my heart.

arkansasesby September 11 2005, 19:37:46 UTC

I wouldn't leave my pets behind either and they would have to point a gun at me to get me to leave without them, most likely. I was thinking about this earlier this week and I was thinking, "What would I do if they told me they only had room for one dog? What if they told me I couldn't take any of them?"

I have no children, no husband and I'm an only child, so I have no brothers or sisters. I'm more alone than most people in general -- and my dogs are my major fight against that. They are my children. Forcing people to leave behind their animals is just as cruel as seperating them from their children.

nutmeg3 September 11 2005, 20:32:58 UTC

This is one of those problems with no solution. My cats are my children, and I can't imagine leaving them behind, yet do I have the right to say there's no room in the boat for a person because I'm taking my cats? And I don't want to die, yet I also wouldn't want to live knowing I'd condemned them to death. On a personal level, I can only pray it's a decision I never have to make. But in terms of the kinds of disasters that are going to occur in the future, the only thing I can hope for is more coordinated efforts between human- and animal-rescue organizations, so everyone is saved and then reunited. But I know that's never going to work perfectly, which is heartbreaking.

ancarett September 11 2005, 21:42:59 UTC

I agree that when it's a case between people and animals, you have to make tough decisions. However, many times it seems to have been that people were being told they would only be evacuated without animals, even when there wasn't space restrictions, simply because of procedure. Then they wondered why many people refused (and still refuse!) to evacuate. . . .

cbackson September 11 2005, 21:34:40 UTC

In Georgia, at least, the state veterinarian created a system of animal emergency shelters about five years ago precisely to avoid situations like this. And they can take all kinds of animals, from cats to horses.

For once, I was impressed by the government's foresight...

sisterpandora September 12 2005, 00:48:08 UTC

Just to put the word out, not to argue with the information posted. The ARC has four basic rules for those in a shelter, no drugs, no alcohol, no weapons, and no pets. I am a dog lover, but thanks to all those classes, I know why they can't go with their humans in this case. (I learnt something useful! [if heartbreaking.]) (Just 'cause I know why doesn't mean that I'm happy about it either ( ... )