Animals left behind can get injured, fall ill, starve and hamper human evacuation and rescue efforts
(May 9, 2011) – As residents of Natchez, Mississippi and surrounding areas prepare for the Mississippi River to flood, United Animal Nations (UAN) encourages residents to bring their pets with them when they evacuate. Animals left behind during floods can drown, get injured, fall ill, starve, die, and hamper human evacuation and rescue efforts.
Families threatened by flooding are encouraged to:
“For both human and animal safety, people should never their pets behind when disaster strikes,” said UAN president Nicole Forsyth. “Animals left to fend for themselves during floods or other catastrophes suffer terribly, and evacuees can compound their own stress by worrying about the pets they left at home.”
Through its volunteer-driven Emergency Animal Rescue Service (EARS), UAN provides free temporary sheltering for communities that become overwhelmed by natural disasters or animal cruelty seizures. UAN operated temporary shelters for animal victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005; flooding in Cedar Rapids, Iowa in 2008; and flooding in Fargo, North Dakota in 2009. A team of UAN volunteers is currently caring for animals displaced by flooding in Kennett, Missouri.
MEDIA CONTACT: Alexis Raymond, (916) 429-2457 or araymond@uan.org
Founded in 1987, United Animal Nations focuses on bringing animals out of crisis and into care through a variety of programs, including emergency animal sheltering and disaster relief services, financial assistance for urgent veterinary care and humane education.
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