I think there is a lesson here for the people who do the after-action reports on the mess in N.O. Many of the hold-outs I've seen being rescued said the reason they didn't leave was because they didn't want to leave their dog, cat, or in this case, bird. I know I would have had a hard time abandoning my dog.

It probably would have sounded silly before the fact, but if the authorities had made provision for people to evacuate their pets, there would have been many fewer hold-outs who now require a much higher level of resources to rescue.