Should we attribute deaths to hurricanes instead of stupidity?

[Yllaria]

So how about the old folks who have heart attacks while trying to clear heavy debris? Hurricane death?

[Labtrash]

Off the track of the OP, but I’d like to address the question of pets…

My wife manages a dog “kennel” (actually more than that, but I digress) here in coastal SC, with room for 90 dogs.

Whenever a hurricane gets close, they have to let everyone know the following, and have them sign a waiver for the following reasons:

-The facility is less than 2 miles from the ocean
-If mandatory evacuation occurs, they CANNOT STAY WITH THE ANIMALS (Sorry, but my wife’s life is more important than your Fido’s)
-If the hurricane hits directly/close/shit happens, power may be shut (NO AC)
-Utilities may be shut off (NO WATER)
-It may be DAYS before someone can get to the shelter, depending on local/state authorities letting everyone back in
-they have an “agreement” with local fire/police to check on the facility, but can’t guarantee that they will.
-Basically, your dog is on its own until it’s over

They STILL fill up quickly

So it’s kind of a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” scenario

[aruvqan]

@chique

This is a recognized issue in disaster relief and many agencies are working on solving the problem. It is quite common for shelter residents to sleep in their cars in the parking lots: it’s where they keep their pets, after all.

One of the things the Red Cross is trying to do is set up “dual use” shelters. Many schools these days are built with a gym and a fieldhouse. If we can set up a shelter in the gym, we can use the field house as an animal shelter (or vice versa).Minnesota has gone so far as to set up animal decontamination sites. The last time the nuke power plant held a disaster drill they had two decon lines - one for pets, one for people.

And please don’t think the “no pets” policy is heartless. Think of Aunt Tilly and her adorable pomeranian. You know, the pomeranian that doesn’t like little kids. Or of the weird guy down the street with the pit bull mix. Or of the little old lady with six cats…and the evacuated child who goes into anphylactic shock around cat dander.

A couple of months ago I attended a public health disaster drill with another 30 or so organizations. The social services representatives were shocked when I said no one allows pets into a shelter. The only person at the table who thought it a good idea was the veterinarian.

<boggle> sheesh, do what I do…I have 2 penguin cages {ok, stop giggling now :rolleyes: , we had a roommate who worked for the Mystic Aquarium, and some penguins arrived in these lovely 24"x36"x48" wire mesh cages} so we can put the cats in one cage complete with a litter pan, and little feed and water bins that clip onto the wires. We could theoretically use the deceased iguana’s cage for the cats, and use the 2 penguin cages to hold the chickens, would be crowded but as a short term thing not that much more inhumane than abandoning them to the elements…they each held 4 penguins for transport, and we only have 10 chickens right now <burp> and chickens actually like snuggling together in a giant bird lumpen mass. If you have 2 cats, one of the larger dog crates would work admirably, and you could have the owners with caged pets set the cages up in the field house in rows. I know we could stack all 3 cages together and other than the noise of a miffed rooster they would be perfectly safe to have sitting in a shelter.

Dont most cat owners have at least one cat carrier to take fluffy to the vet? I know a fair number of dog owners have crates [ especially people with fairly expensive smaller dogs like that pommie] We got our original cage [the one that ended up being use for IguanaPop] when we lived in virginia because we would have to transport 3 cats with us in case of an evac, and used it a few times for that, and once when we had the house insect bombed for roaches when we first bought it.