Would you abandon your Cavalier?

Somehow, my co-workers and I got on the topic of Hurricane Katrina today and how people were forced to abandon their animals during the rescue efforts because they weren't allowed in the boats. Someone asked me what I would do if help came and there was no way I could take Kingston with me. They looked shocked when I said I would either insist on taking him along or find another way to safety.

I'm sure there are a million and one opinions on this. I'm just curious...What would you do?

oooh ...I can't see myself leaving my little ones for floods ,fire,earthquake etc..I would hope never to be in that position..gives me nightmares just thinking about it!

I'd hide him in a bag! I'm sorry for those with children and a dog, I guess they had to leave the dog.

I would have left days before the worst hit. I would have at least moved my irreplaceables (which dogs are) somewhere else.
I went on vacation to New Orleans and they had a hurricane warning-- we left.

WoodHaven said:

I would have left days before the worst hit. I would have at least moved my irreplaceables (which dogs are) somewhere else.
I went on vacation to New Orleans and they had a hurricane warning-- we left.

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Yes actually thinking about it, I would have left in time too.

Sandy -- that is definitely the right answer for me too!

On the other hand there were those too poor and without the means to get out. I could never have left the dogs or the cats -- it is an impossible choice and an impossible situation. I think if it is a choice of life or death, rescue or slow starvation -- people sometimes are forced to make impossible choices that haunt them the rest of their lives.

I would hope to never be in a situation like that, but seeing as I have never even put my dogs in a kennel in the 20-some years I have been out on my own I could never abandon them. My theory is, if I can't take them or have a family member watch them, I'm not going.

I just hope and pray that I will never be in that situation. I just don't think I could leave them. It really would haunt me forever. Judy and Dixie

Thats why I live in New Mexico,no natural disasters here.

I hope I would never have to be in that situation in the first place, reminds me of the floods we had here last summer and of how many times my vet had to go out to help people rescue their cats and dogs that they had left behind in caravans etc I really think that this is one those times where you can't really answer until you are in the situation yourself, BUT when it's something like a predicted hurricane etc, Yes, I'd have been out of there at the very first warning, dogs, kids and all!!

I dont think i would know what to do.Thank god we dont get situations like that here.Its hard to say what you would do,you would have to be there.

When Miami was hit by Hurricane Andrew in 1992, there were many on Miami Beach who chose to die rather than leave their pets behind. Some of them did survive the storm but many did not. Years later I was in a class with the woman who had directed Emergency Management at the time and she said she would go to her grave with the blood of the ones who did not make it on her hands.

She did something positive with her guilt, though. She planned for and pushed ordinances through which permitted the creation of two pet friendly shelters. Now all people have to do is preregister their pets and bring them with food and water and secure crates and they and their pets can all be safe together.

I have preregistered for the past few years but have not needed to evacuate. You can be sure that I will make those arrangements for me and my gang again this year. I would urge all those in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties to do the same.

As for your actual question, if I had to either save myself or die with my dgos, I would hope that I would choose life. But I don't know. I can only hope and pray that it never comes to that.

I dont think ANYONE should be judged at all.No ones knows what they would do.We all make discisions and not everyone agrees to them..

Phew what a question..... Im glad in this country we dont get such weather. Situations happen so fast and sometimes and there is no time to make such decisions, but I think I'd opt to stay to help my dogs. That said, Id have been out of there before anything could put me in that situation.

Only those people who have suffered in such times, know the burden of carrying the guilt with them the rest of their lives over decisions they have had to make in a hurry through no fault of their own.

God forbid I never have to be in that position.

No judgement should ever be made to anyone who leaves pets behind...Guilt is the biggest judgement of all.

HERE,HERE,well said.....

We have tornadoes here and there is no leaving or days of knowing it is coming-- you get emergency rations and you burrow in the safest area of your home. I am a planner by nature. I would probably have an evacuation plan and be one of the first to leave. I could not live with the consequences of leaving my pets.

Julie - great that she took a tragedy and created something positive out of it.

I'm with Sandy...given that we've gone through 2 major wildfires causing evacuation. Each time we've had the dog gear and the dogs ready to go at a moment's notice. That's assuming you have the advance notice to get out.

As much as I love my babies I would hate to think of what it would do to my family and friends if I chose to give up my life for my dogs. I would do everything possible in my power to take the dogs with me.

What an awful decision to have to make though. I can't imagine the guilt people felt when they had no option. I would never judge anyone for making this kind of a decision. You can't know what it's like unless you are there.

First, let's all pray that we never have to make that decision. I would hope that I couldn't (wouldn't) leave my dogs or cats behind. I've always said you never know what you're going to do should an emergency situations arise. Sometime there are mandatory emergency evacuations and you can't take anything but yourself and human beings. Let's just hope we never have to find out.

That being said, we have the occasional hurricane or tropical storm make it all the way up the east coast to Maryland. We had tropical storm Isabelle just about 4-5 years ago. I live on a peninsula, the east side of the peninula got slammed hard. I know several people that lost everything. I live on the west side. We had extremely high tides that day and the water was up into my yard. I have never saw the water that high, neither had my uncle who lived there 60years.

It was kind of scary. My back fence, which is 150 feet away from my house was covered with water. The water was coming up the back of my house, it was about 1 foot up the foundation, I started to pack up my stuff, dogs and cats included. Then I looked out back and a fish jumped 10 feet from my back door. Time to go. I waited about one hour and the water started to recind. Seems like it was gone in no time. It was a little scary for a while there.

You can have an unexpected emergency in any physical location. For example, the UK has nuclear power plants that are known to have had problems in the past -- ie Sellafield -- and would also affect all of us in Ireland if there were a meltdown (our govt even sent out iodine tablets in case of a meltdown and there are emergency plans -- bad ones IMHO! -- all based around Sellafield problems as it faces onto the Irish Sea).

The UK and Ireland have had hurricane level winds, serious floods, and earthquakes.

Predictions are all for more severe weather patterns in the future. So while many of us can feel fortunate that we haven't had to face such a dire situation as happened in New Orleans, there are always possibilities, everywhere.

i've thought thru some emergency procedures with my animals -- have for example trained all the cats to come when called and every morning this is practiced when I give them food -- as they'd be the hardest to find and gather to get away. I always keep a couple of broken apart crates in the car and easily accessible in the house (eg under the bed and the sofa; the rest are in the attic).

I always hope I'll never have to put any of that to practice and definitely hope I'd never have to face the choice of abandoning the animals though!

I to hope never to be in that situation - I would plan to leave long before the worst hit, but my heart goes out to everyone who did have to abandon their pets - I would rather stay and die with my pets then leave them behind, just as I wouldn't leave a child behind, I could never leave my furkids!