magazine
... a publication about animals and the people who love them.
From the Editor:
Leave my pet behind?
Not a chance
I read somewhere recently that 47 percent of pet owners would refuse to be rescued in a disaster if it meant leaving their animals behind. I’m one of them.
I have watched tragedies like Hurricane Katrina and cried not only for the people, but for their pets that had to be left behind. Video of dogs desperately clinging to the highest point of a roof as waters crept ever closer makes my stomach turn. The thought of a precious cat scurrying up a tree in hopes of finding dry land brings tears to my eyes.
For me, just leaving the house to go to work every morning can be tough. As I close the door, Nelly is standing there looking at me with her big brown eyes that seem to be saying, “Where are you going, Mom? I want to cuddle with you and spend the day playing together.” It’s all I can do to tell her I love her and close the door as quickly as my heart can manage. (There’s usually a treat involved, more to make me feel better about leaving than to reward her in advance for being a good girl.)
In 2011, we spent the night in the basement when we learned tornadoes could be ripping through our area. You can bet Nelly was curled up with us on the futon.
Our neighborhood was spared; however, others in the Tri-Cities were not. Thirteen people lost their lives regionally. The numbers were even more devastating in other parts of the country from other storm systems.
I could never bring myself to get in a rescue vehicle and watch my pup stare at me, or worse, chase after me, as I abandoned her for my own safety. My husband would say I’m crazy. He loves Nelly, too, but recognizes the importance of saving human lives.
But for me, it comes down to a promise. Nelly showed up at the local animal shelter after being abused by a man who claimed to love her.
She was afraid of her own name, so much so that she would urinate the second someone said it. (It had to be changed when she arrived at the shelter.) When someone’s foot came near her, Nelly would cower in a corner of her shelter cage as if she expected to get kicked.
When I found her there while on a completely unrelated assignment for work, I fell in love. I made my husband visit her and he fell in love, too.
When we adopted her, we promised Nelly we would love her — really love her — for the rest of her life. We would never allow her to feel frightened in her own home and would never abandon her like her first owner so callously did.
I don’t break promises. And if it came down to it, I’d rather sit on the roof of my home with my dog praying for some kind of miracle than turn my back on her in the midst of a disaster, breaking a promise that has made our relationship what it is today.
That’s why I consider our story, When Disaster Strikes, and absolute must-read for every animal owner in the area.
Sorely missing for decades in our region, special Disaster Animal Response Teams are being created in Washington and Sullivan counties so that animals, whether they be pets or livestock, have somewhere to go when there is an environmental threat to their safety.
Kitty Juul, who has spent years working in the field of disaster preparedness, confessed to me that despite knowing the importance of getting to safety in times of danger, she, too, could never leave her two dogs — or as she refers to them, her “four-legged children” — behind.
I suspect that is a large reason why she, a Johnson City resident, is helping to create the local DART team in Washington County. If you read no other story in this issue of Happy Tails, please read this one. And consider getting involved in the DART program. Together, we can give our furry family members the protection they deserve when disaster strikes.
Loyally,
Kristen Swing, Editor
