Better response in disasters helps reconnect pets, people

During Katrina, nearly half the people who needed rescue refused to go without their pets, and first responders would not take them — even service animals. Now, U.S. law requires every Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster plan to include a way to evacuate pets.

The lessons from Katrina helped prevent Hurricane Sandy, which devastated the Jersey shore in 2012, from becoming catastrophic for pets, said Dick Green, senior director of disaster response for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.