Reply #: "If you want people to leave, let them take their pets". [View All]

[Dover]

This was something that was apparently learned from Katrina and other disasters and was stated by, I think, the mayor of Galveston on the evening news. The local news showed buses full of people and their animals (in kennels) leaving the area. If this is how all the evacuations are being handled in preparation for Rita, that is a very good thing. Pets are family and some people who might ordinarily not evacuate, may be more inclined to do so in order to save their beloved pet.
I don't know how much of what I'm hearing on local Texas news is hype, but it does seem a very orderly and well planned evacuation with the added advantage of Katrina's wrath demonstrating the foolishness of riding it out in the hurricane's path. And the rescue centers are still up and stocked from taking in Katrina evacuees, so they are ready to go for the most part and volunteers have had some practice.