Abstract
Simple SummaryNinety pet owners and 27 non-pet owners who lived in mandatory evacuation zones during the 2011 Hurricane Irene were surveyed about whether or not they evacuated and about their experiences during the hurricane. Although pet-ownership was not statistically associated with evacuation failure, many pet owners who chose not to evacuate still claimed that they did not evacuate because of difficulties with evacuating their pet. These findings suggest that more work needs to be done in order to make evacuating with a pet easier.Pet ownership has historically been one of the biggest risk factors for evacuation failure prior to natural disasters. The forced abandonment of pets during Hurricane Katrina in 2005 made national headlines and led to the passage of the Pet Evacuation and Transportation Standards Act (PETS, 2006) which mandated local authorities to plan for companion animal evacuation. Hurricane Irene hit the East Coast of the United States in 2011, providing an excellent opportunity to examine the impact of the PETS legislation on frequency and ease of evacuation among pet owners and non-pet owners. Ninety pet owners and 27 non-pet owners who lived in mandatory evacuation zones completed questionnaires assessing their experiences during the hurricane and symptoms of depression, PTSD, dissociative experiences, and acute stress. Pet ownership was not found to be a statistical risk factor for evacuation failure. However, many pet owners who failed to evacuate continue to cite pet related reasons.
Highlights
Evacuation failure during an emergency is a common problem that can have disastrous consequences for individuals and public safety personnel
One study conducted after mandatory evacuation orders were issued due to flooding in Yuba County, California found that the largest contributing factor to compliance with evacuation orders was having children in the house—households with children were twice as likely to evacuate as households without children
Club in May 2006 [9], only a few months after Hurricane Katrina, found that 62% of respondents said they would defy mandatory evacuation orders in order to remain with their pets during a hypothetical emergency
Summary
Evacuation failure during an emergency is a common problem that can have disastrous consequences for individuals and public safety personnel. Evacuation failure puts other people at risk, since first responders to the emergency are put in danger as they go to rescue those who failed to evacuate. A Gallup survey of Hurricane Katrina survivors identified several factors that were associated with increased risk of experiencing pet loss during the storm. Club in May 2006 [9], only a few months after Hurricane Katrina, found that 62% of respondents said they would defy mandatory evacuation orders in order to remain with their pets during a hypothetical emergency. In light of the passage of the PETS Act and allegations of its impact as questionable, the aims of our current study were threefold: First, we attempted to identify any demographic risk factors for increased evacuation failure in a similar manner as Heath et al [1,2]. We seek to re-examine the psychological impact of natural disasters and discover any significant differences between pet owners and non-pet-owners, evacuees and those who failed to evacuate, those who lost their pets and/or experienced damage to their homes, and across any of the other variables for which we collected data
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