To the rescue, wading through floodwaters in Texas

HSUS Rescue — Rescuers in Texas carry cats from floodwaters produced by Hurricane Harvey.
Photo: AP/HSUS

During Hurricane Katrina, in 2005, it felt like the Humane Society of the United States and other animal groups not only fought surging waters, rain and wind, but also some government agencies and key private agencies whose leaders just didn’t get it when it came to animal welfare.

In the early stages of that response, some first responders had instructions not to take animals to safety, despite the pleadings of their caregivers.

Human shelters — which filled up because of mandatory evacuation orders — excluded animals, causing some people to refuse to leave their homes, because they wouldn’t abandon their best friends.

The inattentiveness to the bond between animals and the people who care about them put everybody at risk, and it undermined and complicated the disaster response.

It also meant animal protection groups had to mount the largest-ever pet rescue operation to find pets trapped in homes, especially in New Orleans, which would be shuttered to its residents for weeks because of the levee break and massive flooding.

A dozen years later, we looked on the immense damage that Hurricane Harvey has wrought in Texas and Louisiana — dropping more than 14 trillion gallons of water over an area larger than the state of New Jersey. This time, though, it was evident there’s been a sea change in attitudes towards pets.

The government and human-focused charities get it now, recognizing that for disaster response to work, they must take into account the animals and the human-animal bond.

It’s the right thing to do for the animals, which shouldn’t drown or die from abandonment, thirst or hunger.

And it’s right for the people, who love their animals and consider them members of the family.

We cheered rescuers who were out to save our pets and horses, to help animal shelters and wildlife rehabilitation centers in the path of the storm, and to keep our communities whole.

But we also must recognize the certainty of as-yet unseen tragedies.

In late August, after Harvey’s first landfall, HSUS teams in Texas were doing rescue and response in Dickinson and League City, both in Galveston County. We’d already been to Corpus Christi, Rockport and Texas City.

We also were doing transport. Working with San Antonio Animal Care Services, Wings of Rescue and GreaterGood.org, we flew 53 animals to St. Hubert’s Humane Society in New Jersey one day. The next we sent about the same number of animals to partners in Washington state.

Later, animals were sent to Oregon, Wisconsin, Illinois and elsewhere.

The damage estimate for Harvey is $160 billion — which would make it the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history, and equal to the combined total of Katrina and Sandy.

The flooding has damaged so many homes and that’s going to create a housing crisis for people — and a similar crisis for animals.

All of that means the animal protection groups are focused not only on short-term rescue needs but also on long-term needs.

Wayne Pacelle is the president and chief executive officer of the Humane Society of the United States. This commentary appeared first on "A Humane Nation," the HSUS blog.