After the advent of the disaster Hurricane Katrina in the year 2005, Federal Government has enacted a number of new laws for ensuring the protection and safety our canine friends with four legs. Animal welfare organizations have prepared a contingency plan for emergent situations and they have provided extra shelters for housing these animals in case such a situation occurs again.
In October 2006 US President Bush signed the federal law known as the Pets Evacuation and Transportation Standards (PETS) Act. This law stipulates that FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) should include the individuals’ requirements as well as the needs of their service animals and companion pets. This act also specifies that the funding required for evacuation rescues during emergency or disaster must be budgeted for by the Federal Government budget as well as in local disaster plans. This act permits FEMA to help in rescuing service animals and dogs prior to, during and after the occurrence of the disaster.
In order to ensure the safety of animals whenever disaster occurs the states also participate in this effort and this is apart from the Federal PETS Act. To facilitate this, these states have passed their own new pet evacuation laws or modified the existing ones to incorporate such a clause.
In June 2006, Louisiana enacted a bill which allows the state to help in evacuating, sheltering or giving any other assistance required for the pets whenever such a disaster occurs. All the service animals and dogs will be provided with a barcode tag; the owners of the pets also will be provided a copy of these tags so that they can find them after everything becomes normal.
In order to ensure that the animals in their areas are not abandoned or left behind states such as California, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York and Vermont have made a good plan of action for countering any disaster situations.
The policy on animals has also been changed by American Red Cross. They have been establishing shelters across the country to house them in individual rooms or alternately in another area in that same location by joining hands with various area animal welfare departments.
The various departments of animal control post in the Internet photos as well as details of these dogs; this facilitates the owners to identify their dogs and get reunited. If you require more information on this you should talk to the local animal department of your city or county.