Animal Rescue Efforts Slow: PETA calls for government accountability

[leftchick]

Group campaigns to have the plight of animals included in hearings set to begin Thursday

September 12, 2005, 6 p.m. Update: PETA Team Grows by 10 Members; Congress to Hold Hearings This Thursday

<snip>

This Thursday, the House of Representatives Government Reform Committee will hold hearings on the federal government’s response to Katrina. Please ask the committee chair, Rep. Tom Davis, (http://tomdavis.house.gov/davis_contents/center/contactus/) and its ranking minority member, Rep. Henry Waxman, (http://www.waxman.house.gov/contact.htm) to make the plight of animals affected by disasters such as Katrina a part of their hearings. Let these public servants know that the suffering of Americans was only heightened by the federal blockades that prevented humane agents from coming to the animals’ rescue and by evacuators’ widespread insistence that animals be abandoned to die. Tell Davis and Waxman that the United States must set an international example and that animals’ interests and the interests of their guardians must be taken into consideration in any disaster response plan.

PETA also took out a full-page ad in the Washington Post emphasizing the suffering of animals and their human companions during Katrina and its aftermath, and asking for people to contact Congress and President Bush. See the full ad at: http://www.helpinganimals.com/pdfs/petakatrina.pdf.


http://news.bestfriends.org/index.cfm?page=specialreports&catid=04061773-BDB9-396E-9001EF6EC01318A4&mode=entry&entry=4CA535C3-BDB9-396E-9B24432FC2BC81B3&stid=1

Also see this thread from nicknameless...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4742186

[Canadian Socialist]

1. This might perk you up

Mon, September 12, 2005
Animal experts on rescue trek

By MIKE D'AMOUR, CALGARY SUN

A small group of Calgarians is preparing to race to the U.S. to help save some of the forgotten victims of hurricane Katrina -- tens of thousands of abandoned pets and other animals.

Led by canine expert Brad Pattison, the six-member team of dog behaviour specialists hopes to leave soon for Louisiana, where the confirmed human death toll from the hurricane stood at just under 200 yesterday afternoon.

Pattison said it's estimated 50,000 trapped and abandoned pets are surviving on their own in the disaster area after owners were forced to leave them behind.
<snip>
http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/Calgary/2005/09/12/1213241-sun.html

[leftchick]

2. well sort of..

If the US lets them in. :(

[Bryn]

4. Bless Your Heart!!!

I saw on Dr. Phil Show today showing there were more dogs there and he was saying since they drank toxin water, they were going to die anyway. Ugh!! He shouldn't have said that!

[justiceischeap]

6. That's not necessarily true.

Existentially, yes, they are all going to die just as we will. It seems all these animals are doing okay so far but what the future holds on the future knows.

[CAcyclist]

15. The Dogs are Not Dying From Toxic Water

They are dehydrated and starved but I haven't heard of any animals dying specifically from the water. (my creds - I am a veterinarian and I am referring to a discussion list I belong to which some of the disaster vets are posting to.)

[Beaverhausen]

16. won't they die from the e coli in the water?

and that other virus?

[CAcyclist]

18. They Could Get Sick

but they won't die - at least they are not very likely to.Dogs are much more resistant to gastrointestinal bacterial infections than people are.

And the virus , vibrio, is a human virus and won't affect dogs.

[Beaverhausen]

20. oh- that's good to know

one small ray of hope. :hi:

[CAcyclist]

22. It 's Like The Saying Goes

The animals just make us vets look good. Or something like that.

:hi:

[justiceischeap]

3. Airlift brings stranded animals to Bay Area

About 50 furry evacuees from Louisiana arrived in the Bay Area on Sunday afternoon. And, 1,000 more are on the way.

While human survivors of Hurricane Katrina have trickled into the Bay Area on their own, animal lovers have organized a major airlift of cats and dogs orphaned by the storm.

The first group of nervous and weary travelers left Baton Rouge on Sunday on a chartered Continental Airlines plane. The plane flew first to San Diego, where it dropped off 50 dogs, and then to San Francisco International Airport, where it delivered approximately 30 pooches and 20 kittens, said officials from the Marin Humane Society, which is helping shelter the animals.

...

Texas oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens and his wife, Madeleine, paid the estimated $50,000 fee to charter the jet on Sunday, and donors are being sought to fund the transportation later this week for another 3,000 animals, with 1,000 each going to the Bay Area, San Diego and Houston.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/09/12/DOGS.TMP

[Alex146]

5. I'm sorry, I really don't care.

People are dying.

People= more important then animals.

Everything was done wrong and this is no exception but honestly there are such larger problems. PETA should find more constructive uses of their time, such as the extinction of Animal Species at an alarming rate.

[Beaverhausen]

7. so if you don't care why did you post on this thread?

I care about all living things.

[justiceischeap]

8. Got news for you, PETA can do more than one thing at a time.

I don't understand why people lash out at an organization whose sole purpose is summed up in its name. Next you'll be blaming PETA for the federal governments slow response which cost hundreds if not thousands of lives. How many people has PETA killed in their efforts to bring compassion to all beings? Zero, that's how many.

[Solo_in_MD]

10. PETA is a lot like Sinn Fein

in that they have a "dubious relationship" to people advocating violence. Just as in Six Counties, the disavowals ring hollow. For now I will stick with the ASPCA.

[leftchick]

12. oh please!

why post in a thread about what PETA is doing to save animals if you think they do not? Advocating violence? Yeah, I am seeing a LOT of that in LA today.

Why not keep the anti-PETA rants for another non-emergency time? Animals lives are at stake here. Who gives a fuck who is asking for help? It is all for the sake of the souls who have no voice!

Damn!.... :eyes:

[Skip Intro]

13. They don't want anyone to take away their MEAT!!!!!!!

on edit -

I'm guessing.

I like you do not understand the hatred for these people. I've seen the venom here at the mere mention of PETA. Just don't get it. Espeically what they are trying to do here, in Katrina's wake.

"Stop trying to save those starving animals!" - ????????????????

:shrug:

[leftchick]

9. rescues of the living have ended. It is recover the dead time.

Why not rescue some live animals before recovering the dead human bodies? And why post in a thread about animal rescues if you do not give a shit? really?

[Bryn]

11. I Care!!!

I care greatly for animals. PETA speaks for them and their rights. My pets are a part of me and I would have wanted them to be saved. This is not about "People are more important than animals". It's about pets being left behind and need help there. If you can't understand this....

[DixieDem]

23. Me too!

I find these either/or posts very disturbing. I really wonder about people who put limits on compassion!

[shireen]

19. SOMEONE NEEDS TO SPEAK OUT FOR THE ANIMALS. THEY DESERVE IT!!!!!!!!! nt

[CAcyclist]

14. I Don't Trust PETA, But They Are Right

The situation is dire at least at LSU and the staff there needs relief and lots more volunteers, esp trained techs and veterinarians. The feds should have sent federal vets and not expected the Humane Society to handle the entire thing.

The website I reposted the following emails from does not allow us to post their emails onto public sites, but I haven't been able to get an email directly from the doctor in quesion. He sent me a word doc and I have a mac. So I am breaking my word and posting these emails but without identifying names and numbers.

The general public can help by demanding the feds to step in - this should be a federal response from FEMA and APHIS.



NEW 108. Posted by View VINner Profile on 09/11/05 13:32 ET

here is an update for noon 9/11
The situation is bad this morning. We NEED help. I need vets and techs.
If anyone can get here soon, please call me either through the SA clinic 225-578-9600
The Lamar Dixon facility was shut down last night by the public health authorities, so you can imagine how bad that was. Incoming animals were shifted to the Parker Expo center on the LSU campus, and last night hundreds arrived covered in toxic material and people in hazmet suits had to wash them down. The situation at Parker was stablizing and then this happened. Parker Center is now desparate - vets were needed desparately this a.m. so I sent the vets that were helping me in the ICU overflow over there. I keep on thinking that everything is about to get under control and then it gets more desparate. At any moment, the cavalry could arrive and it all gets solved, but that has not happened. If anyone can get down here stat or within a few days, we could use them. CALL ME

Reply to this message only
NEW 114. Posted by View VINner Profile on 09/12/05 0:10 ET

where the F is everybody???!!!!
Gonzalez is slammed to the point public health had to close it last night because there was so much feces. Parker center is slammed to the point a vet is surrounded by 8 dogs trying to attack her, to the point sewage is backing up, to the point a vet who is 7 months pregnant is kind enough to come and help and can't be turned away because help is desparately needed. I AM TALKING ABOUT THIS MORNING - TWO F'IN WEEKS AFTER the initial episode - not two days. Is there an organized response to this crisis? Cause if there is, I sure am not seeing it. To me it's a simple situation - there are two groups that need immediate help - people and pets. It's not rocket science. Maybe confusion for a few days, okay a week. BUT TWO WEEKS?! WHERE is everybody? this is the US, the richest country in the world and this lame response is criminal and pathetic.
Whoever said for people not to come down unless they were invited is DEAD WRONG. I am sorry, but I've been here over a week and got lulled into thinking the situation would get better. Today was the worst day I've seen. Where the F is the AVMA response team? Where is the Feds? are the USDA vets around the country consumed with health certificates and making sure that the forms accompanying dogs to England have the i's dotted? Are the military vets that overwhelmed with the parade horses? Is somebody worried about their turf? Gee, I'm so sorry but too damn bad - animals are suffering, the people who are trying to care for them are overworked and its going on TOO DAMN LONG.
Tell you what, get some boots on the ground down here, everyone lend a hand, and we'll worry about it later if you are not needed every minute, cause I sure as hell have had enough of 14-18 hour NONSTOP days.
Our federal and state government and veterinary response to this crisis is crap.

[Obamarama]

17. Oh wonderful. Now we get to hear from the peanut gallery....

What are they upset about...the little league team that sent all their brats earmarked for a fundraiser down to New Orleans to help feed the relief workers??

:sarcasm:

Yes, I know it's about the poor pets, but PETA is such a caricature it's hard to take them seriously no matter what they say.

[leftchick]

21. you may not have faith in PETA

but if you look at the links provided in this relief/rescue effort PETA is front and center and working in conjunction with many other rescue groups to save the Animals in desperate need. Best friends posted this call for help from them.