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of the people and the animals. Because companion animals and
humans depend on each other, evacuating animals is part of caring
for the needs of people.
In addition, there are public safety reasons why animals must
be evacuated. Research has long documented that leaving animals
behind creates additional safety risks. Residents will often put
themselves at risk by re-entering evacuated areas to rescue their ani-
mals. Following a spill of phosphorus and liquid sulfur in Dayton,
Ohio, in 1984, for example, residents attempting to retrieve animals
created traffi c jams that blocked evacuation. Risks of a more serious
nature were involved following an incident in Weyauwega, Wis-
consin, in 1996.^35 At 5:30 A.M. on March 4, 1996, a train derailed
while passing through Weyauwega. Fifteen of the train’s cars car-
ried propane, and fi ve of these caught fi re. At 7:30, concerns about
potential explosion prompted emergency responders to order the
residents of Weyauwega’s 1,022 households to evacuate. Emer-
gency personnel anticipated that the response would take several
hours. Fifty percent of the 241 households that included animals
left them behind, believing they would not be gone for long. But
because of the unpredictability of disaster response, the response
took much longer. Shortly after the evacuation, 40 percent of pet
owners reentered the evacuation zone illegally to rescue their pets.
Following protocol, emergency managers prevented residents from
attempting to enter their own homes. A group of citizens made a
bomb threat “on behalf” of the animals, which directed consider-
able negative media attention at the response. Four days after the
evacuation, the Emergency Operations Center organized an offi cial
pet rescue, supervised by the National Guard and using the guard’s
armored vehicles.
Following Katrina, state and federal authorities prohibited
teams of professional rescuers from entering the city in a timely
fashion. Using paternalistic rhetoric of protecting rescuers from
violence, authorities delayed the rescue of animals and contributed
to the deaths of untold numbers of dogs and cats. Animal rescue
teams undergo thorough training, and all professionals and many
volunteers have FEMA credentials. They understand that they are