House Wants Plans to Protect Pets from Disaster

The Federal Emergency Management Agency says plans are in place for this year's hurricane season. Apparently the House of Representatives agrees that reforms have been put in place at all levels of government to protect people in the event of another catastrophe like Katrina, because they've moved on to the issue of saving pets. Monday, the House passed the Pets Evacuation and Transportation Act (H.R. 3858), which mandates that states and localities develop plans for dealing with pets in the aftermath of disasters to qualify for FEMA funding.

“This bipartisan legislation is necessary because when asked to choose between abandoning their pets or their personal safety, many pet owners chose to risk their lives and would continue today to risk their lives and remain with their pets,” said one of the bill's co-sponsors, Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn.

Rep. Lynn Westmoreland, R-Ga., was among the small group of lawmakers who voted against the measure. "This is not a federal responsibility, it's a federal infringement on state authority," Westmoreland spokesman Brian Robinson told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "And it just seems silly on top of it."