WASHINGTON, Sept. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Doctors from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine sharply criticized federal authorities carrying out the New Orleans evacuation for forcing evacuees to choose between their possessions and their companion animals.
A 98-year-old woman was forced to abandon her dog -- her only companion for many years. A small boy’s dog was taken from his arms; he was told by police that animals could not be saved.
A 34-year-old nurse was forced to choose between bringing her dogs with her in an evacuation boat and bringing medicines for her husband -- a liver transplant patient.
PCRM psychiatrists said that being forced to leave animals behind aggravates the trauma the flood victims have already endured. For many, companion animals are like other family members. “The evacuation process is already slow and difficult. It is only more painful when evacuees are forced to leave their animals behind, condemning them to a slow death by dehydration,” said PCRM ethologist Jonathan Balcombe, Ph.D.
Abandoning animals is illegal under Louisiana law.
Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine
CONTACT: Media Contact - Ms. Simon Chaitowitz, communications director forthe Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, +1-202-686-2210, ext.309; or +1-202-302-0462
Web site: http://www.pcrm.org/
