New Orleans filled with dead and near-dead animals, many abandoned by their humans
As of yesterday, volunteer animal rescuers in New Orleans have been ordered, presumably by law enforcement, to stop breaking into people's houses to rescue stranded pets. The volunteers are continuing to break into houses they believe to have been condemned. The idea that breaking a window to try to save the life of a starving, frightened creature during the aftermath of a disaster is somehow wrong is the height of insanity.
What the rescuers are finding is horrible. There are animal corpses everywhere, both inside and out. One dog was found dead in a heap of debris; one was hanging dead from a fence, strangled by his leash. Some are alive, but so weak that they cannot stand up. The animals on the street are so frightened that they have become very aggressive, and rescuers have to be very careful while feeding or handling them.
A very large number of people did not return to the city to get their pets, but left them, yet again, to die . First abandoned to starvation and drowning by FEMA and then again by their human companions, they are yet another expendable population in the City That Care Forgot.
What the rescuers are finding is horrible. There are animal corpses everywhere, both inside and out. One dog was found dead in a heap of debris; one was hanging dead from a fence, strangled by his leash. Some are alive, but so weak that they cannot stand up. The animals on the street are so frightened that they have become very aggressive, and rescuers have to be very careful while feeding or handling them.
A very large number of people did not return to the city to get their pets, but left them, yet again, to die . First abandoned to starvation and drowning by FEMA and then again by their human companions, they are yet another expendable population in the City That Care Forgot.
posted by Diane at 11:00 AM
3 comments
3 Comments:
I can't imagine not saving an animal. It breaks my heart to know that they will just let them starve and die alone. I used to live in the country and people were always dumping their pets in my front yard. I ended up with a lot of cats living in my barn, and a couple of extra dogs. What amazed me about the animals, especially the dogs, is that for days they sat by the road waiting to be picked back up and after a few weeks, they finally resolved to make my house their home and not a doggy restaraunt/watering hole.
By
zelda1, at
3:40 PM
Jeez. They're domesticated! They're dogs and cats, not wolves and coyotes and mountain lions. They NEED people. Not want, need.
Hearing the number of rescued animals (which I've never heard as more than a few thousand) and thinking about what percentage of homes have pets and what percentage of folks must have managed to get theirs out, I've been waiting for news like yours. It seemed like there were a lot of animals unaccounted for. What a tragedy.
By
Anonymous, at
5:43 AM
This is so sad. It breaks my heart too. When I think how much I adore my own dog (I cannot imagine loving anyone more), I can't fathom the concept of leaving her behind. I think you'd have to shoot me, first.
Of course, I have never been in the situation these people were, so I can't speak for them. But it speaks volumes about our society and how much we don't value other animals (I always keep in mind that I am one - why the huge distinction? And dogs and cats are even in our family of mammals).
That ignorant concept of cats or dogs being "released to the wild" always freaks me out as well. They are domestic, as miz geek says, just as much as we are! They fare no better on their own, in fact, they fare much worse.
Oh the lack of humanity.
By
Unknown, at
11:16 AM
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