According to the policy, enforced by local, state and federal officials, evacuees are not allowed to take their companion animals with them to evacuation centers, so pets are typically not rescued along with their human owners.
The pet abandonment policy was carried out with often ruthless efficiency in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, according to reports.
Stories of pets being torn from the arms of sobbing children, seniors being forced to choose between their lifesaving medication and their furry companions and the blind being told that their service dogs would not be allowed at evacuation centers made national headlines.
For example, a story first reported by the Associated Press, told of a young boy who tried to board a rescue bus at the New Orleans Superdome with his dog. According to the report, a police officer took the animal away and the boy "cried until he vomited," said the Associated Press. "'Snowball, Snowball,' he cried."
Many pet owners refused to abandon their loved ones, even if it meant foregoing rescue. In one such instance, as reported by
The Los Angeles Times, a mother and her son were to be rescued, but the boy refused to abandon the family pets. The mother, Patricia Penny, is unsure whether her son, Billy, survived.
Stories like this had many in the media wondering if the "no pets allowed" policy was actually contributing to the human death toll in New Orleans.
Some pet owners, desperate for a way out, were given a grim choice: leave their pets alive to possibly starve or kill them on the spot. Guns carried by rescue workers were frequently used to carry out the killings, said various news reports.
