some Katrina pet owners had a choice

So it's more humane to leave your animals to fend for themselves in what is certainly a no-way-out situation?

Why do you assume it's a no-way-out situation? Dogs are not infants - they are much more resilient. A dog can go a week without eating and be okay. A good dog's immune system can put up with a lot more shit than a human's can. There are plenty of examples of dogs "making it" even within this tragedy, so why people are saying it's a "no chance" situation, I don't really understand.

My dogs are very tough, they're built for extreme situations - if any dog could hack this kind of thing, it's them. Faced with the choice I would remove their collars to avoid hanging themselves on debris and let them go to at least give them a fighting chance, with hopes we'd be reunited at some point. My dogs are microchipped and love people - if they wound up in a shelter at some point, the chipping system would allow them to be tracked back to me regardless of where I wound up.

Cats survive in nature all the time as well. My cat is microchipped, and like Idjiit, would leave the window open and hope with all my heart we found each other again. Expecting people to shoot their pets is bizarre.

My brother left his cats behind because he thought he would be back in a day or two. The only reason he left is because he has a two year old daughter. A lot of people left, thinking they would be right back.

It's not quite the same as the New Orleans situation, but my wife's parents went to florida, leaving a dog in the backyard and a cat in the garage in Waveland, MS. They got 6 feet of water in their house, the large trees that were in the backyard are knocked over, the whole place is just a mess. When they got back, the dog was sitting in the backyard and the cat was hiding in a cabinet, near the ceiling in the garage. The dog seems fine. The cat won't have anything to do with the people anymore, but otherwise he seems fine. Just an example of animals being awesome.

Also, someone would have to shoot me and drag me away, before I would leave my cats, but I'm not like most people.

It sounds like people are thinking that residents will just be able to go back in within a few days and everything will return to normal. Going by reports (which is all any of us can really go by) it's likely to be months before the city is drained. I don't know about you, but to me leaving my pets on their own, in a massive area floooded with contaminated water, with no food or shelter, in the heat and elements for what could very likely be several months.... That really doesn't sound like much of a chance to me.

As these people were facing the choice, there was no way to know how long it would really be - hindsight is 20/20. But it still doesn't mean much. Dogs that survive past the initial flooding may end up in shelters, may be adopted by people rebuilding the town, and may just tough it out. Remember, they're animals. Dogs survived for eons without us, and it seems pretty clear that given the right situations they go right back to being dogs and not just pets. Unfortunately, this can sometimes mean getting involved in a pack and becoming a nuisance, but I really think you're underestimating a dog's ability to survive in these conditions.

Were these reports readily available to the people who were making these decisions in their homes without phones or tv or radio? I doubt it. The day after the hurricaine hit the news reports were all saying that New Orleans was spared. It wasn't until the tides continued to rise and the levees broke that it was stated that the city was really in trouble, so many people probably did think they would be back before there pets were in real trouble.

Has it really gotten to the point where some poster sitting in the comfort of his/her dry home can say (with a straight look on their face) that people should be shot for not killing their pets?

Get a fucking grip.




[Edited on Sep 12, 2005 by PantBloink]

The internet gives me a fucking headache. People are just plain amazing.

People with headaches should be shot!

Only if it's for my own good, which in this case it is. People on the internet have no hope of ever making sense, therefore I will never be saved. KILL ME NOW PLEASE.

i would just like to reiterate that i was referring to the CURRENT situation.
people who are being "forced" to evacuate and cannot take their pets.


however, at the time i am posting this, i am reading reports that people are being allowed to take them with them now.

so, this thread is moot at this point.

I'm nice enough to animals, but they are JUST ANIMALS.

Fuck saving the animals when there's still people that need to be saved.