Staying with animals in Katrina was a deadly choice for some, and the hurricane left other owners seeking SHELTER FROM THE STORM
People do all they can to keep bond unbroken
By KAREN NELSON
Roselyn Desrochers was swept away trying to hoist her Chihuahuas to safety during the Hurricane Katrina storm surge that obliterated Waveland.
Searchers found her body two months later, three miles from where she had lived in a doublewide mobile home one block from the beach. The dogs died with her. She was 57.
"That's the only reason why she stayed," said her daughter, Josie Brown, who lives in Louisiana. "She said there was no place to take them."
Animal advocates, lawmakers and civil defense leaders now recognize animals figure strongly in the decision to evacuate to safety.
There were people in New Orleans who would not leave flooded houses without their pets, even in the days after the storm. Areas of Florida have long recognized saving animals saves people and includes a place for animals in emergency plans.
And now, in the wake of Katrina, Harrison County will have its first pet-friendly shelter in place for the 2006 hurricane season. But for most of the Coast, the issue is still unresolved. Pets aren't allowed in Red Cross shelters because of safety and hygiene concerns.
In Jackson County, Civil Defense Director Butch Loper said, "I don't have enough shelter for the people I have living in trailers. You think I'm going to worry about a dog or a cat?"
But Tara High, executive director of the Humane Society of South Mississippi, said, "Hurricane Katrina made it crystal clear that the human-animal bond is strong. People died."
The relatives of seven who died in Katrina told the Sun Herald their loved ones stayed because they didn't want to leave a beloved pet.
Of the seven, four were 60 or younger. One was 81, one was 75 and one was 66.
And there are the many people who almost died.
Veterinarians along the Coast have story after story of clients who stayed and were lucky to live, but only after harrowing experiences.
Ava and Ed Carson have a home and three cats in the Pinehurst subdivision of south Jackson County. Many of their neighbors stayed because they didn't expect high water in their area.
But Katrina's surge would flood the Carson home. Ava, unable to swim and limited by two neck surgeries, fought to keep her cats dry in pet crates atop a floating loveseat while her husband beat a hole in the ceiling so they could climb into the attic.
Struggling, they dropped the crate holding the youngest cat.
"There was four feet of water under my shoulders and I couldn't lift her," Ava Carson said. "He got the other two onto the edge of the attic. He came down the ladder and pulled the pet taxi out of the water, opened it and pulled the unconscious cat out.
"She was gone. Her eyes were rolled back," Ava Carson said.
But the cat lived. Ed Carson used CPR and very mild mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on Moxie Muffin, the 2-year-old former stray they had adopted.
The times and advice are changing
It used to be pet owners were advised to get themselves to safety and leave their pets at home with enough food and water to last for three days, Tara High explained.
"Now the advice is 'If it's not safe for you, it's not safe for your pet,'
" she said. "Take them with you."
But that brings up the question of how.
Not all of the 14 hotels in Jackson listed as pet-friendly on the pettravel.com Web site accept pets.
A check of eight of those listed found one had only 15 rooms that accommodate pets, two don't allow them, one allows only small pets but has been known to make exceptions during evacuations and four require a pet fee ranging from $10 to $75.
Of the 12 hotels in Hattiesburg listed by the city's Chamber of Commerce, only two will take pets with no restrictions. One allows pets weighing less than 30 pounds, one charges a $25 pet fee and one might make an exception during an emergency. Seven do not accept pets of any kind.
But as people moved north from Katrina's predicted landfall, some sheltered leaving their pets in the car and some found help at businesses along the way.
Dr. Chris Duke with Bienville Animal Medical Center in Ocean Springs said kennels and vets opened their businesses to displaced pets and their owners all the way to the north part of Mississippi and Alabama.
"When all was said and done, there was a lot of compassion shown from people up and down the roads," Duke said.
Coast veterinarians learned the risk of sheltering animals on the Coast.
Many have decided leaving animals south of Interstate 10, is not a good option. More than one clinic or kennel was inundated by Katrina and animals were lost.
People who boarded animals at vet clinics or other places, such as the gym at Keesler Air Force Base, which housed 150 pets for employees and families and stayed dry, still had to deal with large numbers of animals in one area with no water or electricity for days or weeks.
And leaving them at home proved to be a sad solution for an untold number of people.
Gautier Fire Chief Mike Gray packed Gracie, his 3-year-old Lab mix, in her pet crate and covered her with a blanket because she was afraid of bad weather.
"I was home until well after dark on Sunday night. She was with me," he said. "Before I left, I made sure her kennel was cozy and she wouldn't be scared. I left her happy. When I opened the door, she went right in."
He pushed her into her usual place under the breakfast counter, packed a sleeping bag and headed for Central Fire Station to ride out the storm.
By midday that Monday of Katrina, he knew his house was flooded and his dog was lost.
"We couldn't get very far from Central Station," he said. "In every direction, there was water. That's when we realized."
South of the railroad tracks there were whitecaps in the residential areas.
Later, wading through the water and debris around his home, he couldn't even reach the kitchen at first.
"I had to climb over things to get in like washing machines," Gray said. "Stuff was in a big jumble."
And Gracie? His worst fears were realized.
"She was washed up in her kennel," he said. "Twenty feet from where I left her."
What Louisiana is doing
A Senate panel in Louisiana agreed this month that creating a plan to rescue pets from hurricanes would also prevent the loss of human life, but has not decided how to fund such an effort.
What Louisiana is considering:
• Issue identification tags for pets in case they are separated from their owners during evacuation. The cost is estimated at $2 million to tag animals and run a database.
• Require that blind people be allowed to evacuate with their seeing-eye dogs.
• Require the state to identify suitable animal shelters near shelters that house evacuees.
• Use the state transportation department in part to transport animals to shelters.
To view Senate Bill 607: http://legis.state.la.us/
- ASSOCIATED PRESS
Gautier Fire Chief Mike Gray gets a big wet kiss from his new 5-month-old puppy, Wally, at their home Tuesday. Gray lost his 3-year-old Lab mix, Gracie, in Hurricane Katrina, which flooded his home.
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