Hey Susan, you are about to turn 400! <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

I'm with you, though with over 50 feet elevation between me and the nearest river, looks like I'd be heading for the large hill behind my house (another 1000 feet up)

I understand your position. I also understand I'd be on my own.

-- Craig

I'm with you, Susan.

I'd be throwing our dog, carriered cat, and tortoise into the car, and heading out of town -- BEFORE the roads clog up and the stations run out of gas.

I would not leave my four-legged friends behind. A pet is a friend forever. I owe it to them to get ALL of us out of harm's way, quickly.

-- Craig

What are their chances on their own? Pets, I mean.

Martin,

Kudos to whomever thought that up and wrote it. It's about time that someone actually put the oness on people to accept responsibility for their own actions or lack thereof.

My hat's off to you and yours...

M <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

"What are their chances on their own? Pets, I mean."

I work with a local pet rescue. Pets left behind tend to have short lifespans. The usual owner leaves the dog or cat outdoors, and the dog is often chained or trapped in a chainlink kennel.

If they do happen to survive, the chances are excellent that they become strays. Most pets have no form of ID, no collar tag, no microchip. Many of them aren't used to catching their own food, although many cats can adapt and become semi-feral. Dogs that try to catch their own meal are often shot, or at least maimed until they die, as most states allow immediate shooting of any dog seen chasing wildlife or livestock. Pets that become strays usually fall victim to starvation, predators, more vicious dogs, & cars.

Many/most of the pets in America were acquired impulsively, fed the cheapest junk grain food the owner can find, are not spayed or neutered, and are basically treated like stuffed animals that have been discarded due to lack of continuing interest.

People who think they can leave their pets behind just to find them waiting for them on the doorstep wagging their tails when the family returns home have been watching WAY too much television.

Sue

Depending upon the situation, our team will rescue both pets and farm animals. We clearly place a higher priority on human life, but if we are able to perform a rescue safely for an animal, we will attempt the rescue.

We have successfully rescued two dogs, one over a quarry wall, on a ledge and the other in the middle of a winter storm down a sinkhole. Unfortunately, we have not been as successful with horses; one fell off a trail down an embankment, the other in barn collapse during a tornado. Both had to be euthanized due to the severity of the injuries, length of down time and safety issues.

It is always difficult deciding whether it is worth risking human life to rescue an animal, as no rescue attempt is without risk, but we carefully and with deliberation weigh the risk and what we can do to minimize the risk to our team members.

Certainly no one can fault any individual, Fire/Rescue Officer or team for deciding the risk to human life is not worth taking the risk of a rescue or if the resources are required or better reserved for human life safety.

Pete

Agreed.

Craig/Susan,

Hopefully you live someplace less populated than Houston, Texas. The roads out of town here were at a standstill on Wednesday even though Hurricane Rita wasn't predicted to hit until Saturday morning.

-Blast

I live in SW Houston and evacuated on Thursday with my 2 dogs. I left gas,food and water behind to make room for more them and would do so again.

Bob