And your little dog, too

Phyllis DeGioia is an editor at VeterinaryPartner.com and, of course, a dog-lover. Like most of us, she has watched events along the Gulf Coast unfold while worrying about the animals as well as the people. As report after report came in about people who were forced to leave their pets behind -- or who refused to go without their pets -- she found herself asking: Does it have to be that way? Why can't emergency response plans include family pets as well?

She thinks there's a possibility here for change to come, and she calls that possibility, "The Snowball Effect," after the story of a dog named Snowball, widely reported to have been torn from the arms of his young owner as the child was evacuated.

DeGioia's plan: A grass-roots effort to push the Red Cross into changing its "no-pets" policy in some of its shelters, so families will not have to be separated. Here's more on her plan, posted on Veterinary Partner. It's worthy of your support, and of your taking the time to let the Red Cross know of your views on this matter.

Of course, some of the views being expressed now decidely do not recognize that many people truly do consider their animals as part of their families. There's this piece from Slate, which had me feeling sorry for author Timothy Noah's dog, who not only is out of luck in a pinch, but isn't exactly anywhere near the top of the author's priority list now, considering how little he cares about taking the time to train her not to bark while on leash or jump up on strangers.  (Tip from a dog-trainer: The fault here, Mr. Noah, is not your dog's, no matter what you think.)

Partly in response, this piece from Newsday offers a sensible, solution-oriented approach to having animals evacuate with people. Instead of worrying about stressed dogs biting people, argues author Karen Dawn, what's wrong with keeping inexpensive fabric muzzles in disaster kits? She also notes this sad little irony:

...We also read the quote from Michael Brown as he left his post as director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. It began with, "I am going to go home and walk my dog." His policies stole that last sweet comfort from those who had nothing else left.

Indeed.

Final note: VeterinaryPartner is owned by the Veterinary Information Network (VIN), an online service by veterinarians, for veterinarians. As mentioned in a previous post, VIN launched a fund-raiser for the animal-relief efforts by the veterinary schools at Louisiana State and Mississippi State. So far, the veterinary community on VIN has raised more than $100,000. -- Gina Spadafori