The team estimates that at least 50% of the evacuees left without their pets. Despite repeated warnings from local officials of catastrophic flooding,

"Outrage following Hurricane Katrina, when people were forced to evacuate without their pets, prompted the national passage of H.R. 3858: Pets Evacuation and Transportation Standards Act of 2006. This law ensures that both local and state emergency plans are to include companion animals.

Such legislation leaves no excuse for anyone leaving a pet behind during the Hurricane Ike evacuation or any other emergency situation.

“Any pet owner who willfully left their pet behind, chained up outside or left in crates, after advanced warnings of catastrophic flooding, should be charged to the fullest extent of whatever cruelty laws are on the books there in Texas,” said Paul Berry, Best Friends, CEO. “Such careless, thoughtless neglect for another life is absolutely inexcusable.”

http://network.bestfriends.org/rapidresponse/news/28980.html