Saving Animals from Hurricanes

This easy-to-read text describes what happens to animals during hurricanes. Hurricane Katrina in 2005 was a turning point for how animals would be treated during catastrophic events, and the concern of individuals across the world for the pets left behind led to federal legislation requiring that animals receive consideration during future disasters. This book tells the rescue stories of some of the animals left behind when their owners had to evacuate, relying in part on stories told earlier in other books for children. The book describes the rescue efforts briefly alongside heart-rending photographs of the trusting eyes of pets and dogs swimming through water or perched on boards or car roofs waiting for someone to save them as well as joyful images of dogs and cats reunited with their human family. Clearly, the Herculean efforts of the men and women who worked so hard to bring the dogs, cats, and other living things out from the flood waters in New Orleans and along the Gulf Coast can be termed heroic. Even farm animals such as horses and chickens and aquarium residents such as dolphins and alligators needed care during the crisis, and the author provides simple details about all of these animals and their rescue. He even describes the massive animal shelter and rescue operation set up in Gonzales, Louisiana, after Hurricane Katrina, the largest animal shelter and animal rescue operation in U. S. history. Young readers—and their animal-loving parents—will savor this one up—and they should. After all, the animals with which we share our lives are important members of our family.