Pawprints of Katrina: Pets Saved and Lessons Learned Book

I'm a volunteer with a disaster animal rescue team, I have a degree in emergency management and I write a disaster preparedness blog. So, I started this book with the intent to gain some insight to large scale disasters because while I haven't been on something the scale of Katrina I have done quite a bit here in Florida. I was disappointed in reading a series of disjointed stories that seem to have little regard for any type of time line continuity. Even the final chapter, Lessons Learned, was vaguely written barely acknowledging the roles of groups and almost completely glossed over the PETS Act which came out of Katrina. The PETS Act sharply changed how communities plan their shelter operations concerning those with animal companions. Finally, the one point that I will not cut any slack on is her appendix on Pet Disaster Planning. In it she writes, "If you have to leave your pets, make sure they have access to the food. Leave the toilet lid open in case the bowl is their only source of water." NO RESPONSIBLE PET OWNER SHOULD BE EVEN THINKING ABOUT VOLUNTARILY LEAVING ANIMALS BEHIND. PLAN AHEAD AND PLAN ACCORDINGLY, IF YOU CAN'T DO THOSE TWO THINGS THEN DON'T GET AN ANIMAL COMPANION. THEY DEPEND ON YOU AND ABANDONING THEM IN A MOMENT A DANGER IS CRUEL AND INHUMANE.

I'll now step off my soapbox.