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Press
Release
Contact:
Allen
& Linda Anderson
POB 26354,
Minneapolis,
Minnesota 55426, USA
PH:
952-925-3309
Cellular: 612-770-7971
or 612-802-6179
FAX: 952-925-4729
E-mail:
angelanimals@aol.com
Websites:
www.rescuedsavinganimals.net,
www.angelanimals.net,
and www.writingontherun.com.
For
media review copies and permissions
to
reprint, contact: Monique Muhlenkamp,
Publicity Director,
New World Library,
1-800-972-6657,
ext.15
Hurricane Gustav Means Save Your Pet, Save Your Life
With Hurricane Gustav bearing down on the Gulf Coast on the third
anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, animal rescue experts urge people to prepare
for disaster and evacuate with their pets. A Zogby International study found
that 44 percent of those who stayed behind when Hurricane Katrina hit did so
because they wouldn't abandon their pets. Animal rescue and disaster
preparedness for pets has become vital for saving human and animal lives.
Minneapolis, MN
-- With Hurricane Gustav bearing down on the Gulf Coast, animal rescue experts
urge people to prepare for disaster and evacuate with pets. A Zogby
International study found that 44 percent of those who stayed behind when
Hurricane Katrina hit did so because they wouldn't abandon their pets. Animal
rescue and disaster preparedness for pets has become vital for saving human and
animal lives. Allen and Linda Anderson, pet experts and Minneapolis-based
authors of the award-winning book "RESCUED: Saving Animals from Disaster," (New
World Library, September, 2006), provide practical suggestions to pet owners for
fast evacuation in the wake of any emergency.
Linda Anderson says, "We just received a frantic call from a woman in
Mississippi asking us where she could take her pet because she had to evacuate.
The hotel the woman had found wouldn't accept pets. It's unbelievable, three
years after Katrina, that there still aren't enough pet-friendly hotels. People
died because they wouldn't leave their animal family members behind and had no
place to go with them. This kind of tragedy can't be allowed to happen again."
Yet even though Hurricane Katrina precipitated the largest animal rescue
operation in history, chronicled in Rescued, and the PETS Act provided federal
incentives for states to include pet evacuation in disaster planning,
complacency has returned. Most people are simply not prepared with a pet
disaster kit that contains food, water, photos of their pets, and medications or
a list of pet-friendly hotels along evacuation routes. This means they are
putting their lives, the lives of their pets, and the lives of animal rescuers
at risk.
Allen Anderson says, "When we did interviews for Rescued in New Orleans, we
visited Animal Rescue New Orleans (ARNO). The executive director there told us a
story that we'll never forget. She explained that volunteers in search of
abandoned animals after Hurricane Katrina found an entire family that had
refused to evacuate because they couldn't bear to leave their pets behind. The
family's pet, starving and nearly dead, was lifted off a woman's lap by the ARNO
rescuer and brought to their shelter. The entire family had perished. We all had
tears in our eyes while listening to this tragic story. People choose to stay in
or return to dangerous situations rather than abandon their pets."
A husband-and-wife writing team with the popular Angel Animals book series,
the Andersons drew upon Allen Anderson's eight years as an Atlanta police
officer and his position as director of safety for an international nonprofit
organization to focus on how to stay safe through an emergency. The couple
interviewed hundreds of animal rescuers and survivors of the Gulf Coast
hurricanes. Allen Anderson says, "Tragedy is compounded when people feel guilt
and severe depression over loss of a companion or service animal. Laws and
policies regarding the value of rescuing animals have not caught up with the
reality that pets are family members living in two out of three American
households. Disaster escalated after Hurricane Katrina and again in Lebanon when
people wouldn't evacuate from a war zone due to the no-pets-allowed policies."
Among other vital pieces of information, the Andersons discuss are:
- The five crucial questions everyone with a pet must ask to assess if they
are prepared for disaster
- • What essential elements are needed in a pet preparedness kit for an owner to
evacuate safely and quickly in the event of a house fire, neighborhood chemical
spill, terrorism threat, evacuation order, or natural disaster such as
hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, floods, and earthquakes
- • How to have a family emergency disaster plan that includes pets
- • What should be in a person's car or a safe deposit box that could save lives
- • What questions to ask of local, state, and national emergency planning committees, fire and police departments, and legislators to make sure people
have support for pet evacuation and sheltering in disasters
- • What will get a person into a shelter or rescue vehicle and why they and their pet could be turned away.
Animal Rescue for Gulf Coast 2008
Below is a partial list of organizations expected to be involved in animal
rescue for Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. The Andersons can supply
additional contacts that will help reporters who want to cover the Hurricane
Gustav story for the media. The couple hopes that the media will get word out
about how to keep pets safe and near their families through a disaster
situation.
- United Animal Nations
- MuttShack Animal Rescue Foundation
- Louisiana SPCA
- Humane Society of Louisiana
- Animal Rescue New Orleans
- Audubon Zoo
- Houston SPCA
- Humane Society of South Mississippi
- Pets America operates with Texas Veterinary Medical
Rescued: Saving Animals from Disaster has been called a must-read for every
pet owner and anyone who has considered volunteering for animal rescue.
"The authors stress that owners must take primary responsibility for their
pets and that rescue volunteers should be properly trained ... their advice is
well taken." -- Publisher's Weekly review, 7-24-06
"Compelling, fascinating, and most important -- highly moral." --Ben Stein,
author, actor, commentator
"A finely written, touching, and important book." --Karen Dawn,
DawnWatch.com, author of Thanking the Monkey: Rethinking the Way We Treat
Animals
"It is important to tell their stories so we can learn from both the
successes and disappointments of that unforgettable ordeal." -- John Ensign,
DVM, United States Senator, Nevada, from his foreword for Rescued.
# # #
New
Book Honors Courage and Compassion of Animal Rescuers
Compelling, fascinating, and most
importantly -- highly moral.
--Ben Stein, author, actor,
commentator
American
Humane applauds the Andersons' tireless efforts to pay homage
to the hundreds
of individuals from scores of animal welfare groups
who gave so much to rescue
the animal victims of Hurricane Katrina.
--Marie Belew Wheatley, President & CEO, American Humane Association
Believing
that domesticated pets are family
members and that by helping
them
one is also helping people,
the Andersons detail what has
been
learned from Katrina
and provide instructions for
readers in the event
that
they face an evacuation. The
authors stress that owners must
take
primary responsibility for their
pets and that rescue volunteers
should
be properly trained. . .their
advice is well taken.
--Publisher’s
Weekly review, 7-24-06
Operating beneath the radar in most American cities everyday, animal
rescue came to the fore after Hurricane Katrina. An estimated 5,000 volunteers
went to the Gulf coast to save 600,000 stranded animals. They joined in an
unprecedented effort that brought hundreds of animal organizations together for
the largest animal disaster rescue in history. In their new book, RESCUED:
Saving Animals from Disaster (New World Library, September 2006, 360 pages,
resources, index, color photos, $16.95), Allen and Linda Anderson,
Minneapolis-based authors of the popular Angel Animals series, show that animal
rescue has become a vital element in disaster preparedness for a nation where
two out of three households have pets. In RESCUED, the Andersons
document what human beings do for each other and for animals with inspiring
and revealing interviews of 200 volunteers, Gulf Coast residents, and animal
organization leaders operating in communities across the country.
Allen
Anderson says, “Animal rescue volunteers don’t get keys to the city for their
tireless work. They get licks, kisses, grateful eyes, and wagging tails. These
displays of appreciation keep them going through conditions that you couldn’t
pay people to endure. When they reunite a pet with a family member again or
find a good new home for a homeless animal, the rescuers say this is reward
enough. These volunteers and animal organizations are truly amazing in their
humanity and dedication. They show human beings at their very best. We honor them
with our book and give information to pet owners and volunteers that will save
lives in future disasters.” The Andersons and their publisher are donating a
portion of the proceeds from RESCUED to animal rescue organizations.
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Animal rescuers set to go in after Gustav