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Public Support Pushes Along LA Pet Evacuation Bill – But More Help is Needed.

April 28, 2006, 12:0AM MT

By Michelle Buckalew

by Claire Davis

by Claire Davis

Note:The Senate Finance Committee hearing on the Louisiana Pet Evacuation bill was not held Monday. It is going to be rescheduled, but a new date has not yet been announced.

Thanks to unprecedented grassroots support, the Louisiana Pet Evacuation Bill sped easily through the state Senate Judiciary Committee earlier this month.

But there is more work still to be done, as legislators now face the challenge of how to fund the progressive bill, with a hearing scheduled Monday in front of the Senate Finance Committee.

“This is one time in my life where I have seen a grassroots campaign really work,” says Cathy Wells, a drafter of the bill and researcher for the Senate Committee on Environmental Quality. “If it had not been for the constant bombardment of letters, emails, faxes and phone calls, we would not be where we are today.”

Wells says the flood of public support has swayed many senators to back Senate Bill 607, which is sponsored by Sen. Heulette “Clo” Fontenot (R-Livingston). She says supporters of the bill should keep up the pressure through Monday, if they want to see it clear the hurdle of the finance committee. “I have been here since 1982, and I’ve not seen any other bill other than an abortion bill get as much grassroots support. Pet people are passionate people,” Wells says, noting that supporters of the bill overwhelmed the email server and fax machine in the governor’s office, shutting them down several times.

The bill calls for the state Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness to develop emergency operation plans that provide for the humane evacuation and sheltering of pets.

These plans are to include the establishment of multiple “side-by-side” emergency shelters that would allow pets to be housed near their owners, as well as requiring that service animals always be evacuated along with people with disabilities, and that all other pets be evacuated along with their owners, whenever it can be accomplished without endangering human life.

“We’ve been very impressed with Senator Fontenot’s recognition of the fact that pets should evacuated with their families, and should go to the same shelters where their families will reside,” says Paul Berry, chief operating officer of Best Friends. “They have also proposed multiple shelters along the perimeter of the disaster zone, and that makes very, very good sense.”

The bill also requires that pets in carriers be allowed onto public transportation during time of emergency, or that separate transportation to shelters be provided. In addition, it mandates that the state establish an identification system that will ensure that owners are able to find their pets if they are separated from them during an evacuation. “With this bill, the LA state legislature is providing a well-informed and much-improved standard of emergency planning that should be considered by every state in the nation,” Berry says.

The bill has been the subject of an intensive public relations campaign, led by New Orleans’ resident Shannon Moore, founder of Save Our Pets. Moore organized a rally in Baton Rouge the day before the first hearing on the bill, which brought about a hundred supporters, and many of their pets, together to support the legislation. Many of the people who attended the rally had lost their pets in the hurricane, and brought empty leashes to symbolize their loss.

"I felt strongly that people needed to say their stories and get them out, that their loss has got to count for something,” Moore says.

“If we can get this bill passed, then what happened to them, their experiences, can be used to make sure this does not happen again.”

Moore has also been urging bill supporters all over the country to contact state legislators, the governor, and most recently, the state commissioner of administration, who has a lot of influence on state budgetary decisions.

“People need to contact the governor and the commissioner of administration and tell them to help fund this bill, because if it doesn’t have funding, it won’t make it out of committee,” Moore says. “They need to emphasize that this is not just an animal issue, it is a human and animal issue, and the eyes of the world are watching Louisiana. If we can get this passed, we would be setting an example, and hopefully every other state would follow.”

No one really knows yet how much the bill will cost, according to Wells, although it will likely be several million dollars. She says this price tag will be a major hurdle for the bill as it reaches the finance committee, although members of the committee are reluctant to oppose the measure because of all the support expressed by the public.

However, Russ Mead, an attorney with Best Friends, testified at the April 18 judiciary committee hearing that volunteers and national animal welfare organizations would defray much of the cost of the legislation. “I’d like the senators to think of this bill as no-cost,” Mead testified. “The money is clearly there because of the outpouring of support that will come from the national community.”

Some funding may also come from the federal government, if a Senate bill passes that would authorize FEMA to make contributions to the states for the financing of emergency preparations for animals. The April 18 hearing was fraught with emotional testimony, which demonstrated why the legislation is so important.

State Treasurer John Kennedy said that in the aftermath of Katrina he was helping to load buses at an evacuation site on Interstate 10, and that in a period of six hours about 15 people refused to get on the buses without their pets.

Kennedy recalled a conversation with one hurricane victim who told him: “I’ve lost my house, I’ve lost my car, and I’ve lost my job – and you are not going to take my dogs. Pets in the world today are an extension of the human family,” Kennedy told the committee. “I know what I would do (in that situation) and I think I know what many of you would do.”

The testimony of one Katrina evacuee in particular brought many at the hearing to tears. Vietnam veteran and double-amputee William Morgan described how floodwaters lifted him to the 14-foot high ceiling of his home in Gentilly.

He testified that he tried to knock a hole in the attic, but had to give up and dive down through the floodwaters to swim outside. After a breath of fresh air, the 72-year-old Morgan swam back into the house to rescue his standard poodle, “Morgan LaFay,” whom he could hear desperately struggling inside. (See photo above of Morgan LaFay on rooftop.)

Man and dog clung to an adjacent roof together for 14 hours before the Coast Guard arrived. Although rescuers assured Morgan they would rescue his dog, they sped away as soon as they had pulled him to safety. “I could hear her howling for blocks away,” he said. “This is a terrible thing to have happen. Had I have known they wouldn’t take my dog with me, I would never have gotten in the boat.”

Morgan’s story has a happy ending – Best Friends rescued Morgan LaFay days later and the two have since been reunited. But Morgan said his experience should not be repeated. “We have to exercise compassion. They may not be people, but to a lot of owners (their pets) are the best thing they have,” he said.

In order to support the Pet Evacuation Bill, please contact:

Jerry Luke LeBlanc, Commissioner of Administration
P.O. Box 94004
Baton Rouge, LA 70804
Phone: (225) 342-7000 or (800) 354-9548 (toll free)
Fax: (225) 342-5653
Email: doacommissioner@la.gov

Governor Kathleen Blanco
Office of the Governor
Attn: Constituent Services
P.O. Box 94004
Baton Rouge, LA 70804-9004
Phone: (866) 366-1121 (toll free), (225) 342-0991 or (225) 342-7015
Fax: (225) 342-7099
Email: contact@la.gov

Comments

Posted May 01, 2006, 8:16AM by Kathy

I hope Louisiana passes the Pet Evacuation Bill. I also hope other states follow through on their promise to have evacuation/emergency plans for animals, too.

I'm in Tennessee and after seeing how the animals were ignored by emergency services and most of the public when all those tornados went through at the beginning of April, I do not have much confidence in the 'powers that be'.

The shred of hope I do have is with the animal welfare community - WE are the ones who have to make sure there is a comprehensive plan and make sure we're ready to see that it's enforced when the emergency occurs. Which could be at any minute...anywhere.

Posted May 01, 2006, 1:31PM by catmomma

I faxed my 2 letters earlier today. Just this morning, I was thinking what I'd do with my 3 cats should something terrible happen (Texas). I hope I never have to think about it!

Posted May 02, 2006, 11:12PM by Beverbedd

Compassion is the love that is expressed in the hearts of those who love, and is the love that one receives from that.

There is a need for the public to support the LA Pet Evacuation Bill to show that mercy and compassion must not be left behind when the hearts of pet owners beat on without them.

I submit my support for the LA Pet Evacuation bill wholeheartedly and I pray along with my family for the return of our four cats who are still missing after the Katrina flood In New Orleans, La.

Please pray and help those of us who mourn for our missing pets by supporing the passing of the LA Pet Evacuation Bill.!!

Thank you.

Posted April 29, 2006, 12:25PM by shannonginson

Lets ALL Support this bill be contacting The Commissioner and Governor.

Every person who contacts those 2 people makes such a huge difference.

We MUST speak for the animals.

Posted April 30, 2006, 4:14AM by shannonginson

Thank you for this update!

EVERY person who sends a letter or email or fax or makes a call makes such a HUGE difference that they could really make the difference on whether this Bill passes or not.

Louisiana is in the hands of everyone, everywhere who CAN make an enormous difference.

We need everyones' help.

Posted April 28, 2006, 4:30PM by sdblazin

I support the effort on this completely. Our four legged comrades are an important part of our lives. They should be protected, especially when they do not have a voice and totally rely on the speaking to assist them for survival.

Posted May 17, 2006, 1:44PM by doggoneguy

Please read my comments on April 30th. Article ..perhaps it will help..

Posted June 20, 2006, 4:24PM by ILuvBambi

I will post this comment again just so everyone out of state will know the truth. I live in New Orleans and it was on the news a couple nights ago how they plan to evacuate pets and owners. You can bring your pets in carriers but your pets will go on one bus and you go on another. Your pets will be housed in a shelter with other pets and you will be housed in a shelter with other humans and without your pets. THATS RIGHT IT'S TRUE. People are still gonna be seperated from their pets and put them in the hands of strangers. I would rather stay for another Hurricaine then me go on one bus and my two beautiful cats on another. Don't get me wrong pet owners are greatful for the evacuation bill but it is not all peaches and cream. Im from here and I was here during katrina and I stayed here in New Orleans 9/days after Katrina hit. I had to be air lifter out in a helicopoter with my two cats. And the only reason i got my two cats out was because I refused to leave without them and after nine days they finally listened and took a few pets out.

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