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10,000 evacuated in Canada floods as rescuers search for pets
More than 10,000 people have been evacuated from their homes in eastern Canada in recent days as spring floods broke record levels set in 2017, officials said Monday, warning that it could take weeks for the waters to recede.
Meanwhile an operation is underway to rescue pets from homes in the area that had to be abandoned during evacuations.
[...] In the rush to flee the rising water scores of pets were abandoned.
Eric Dussault, whose Animal Rescue Network is spearheading the effort to find the marooned pets, said an emergency shelter has been set up and people with training in animal rescues and expertise in cat and dog behaviors have been sent door to door.
"We have a huge number of animals we need to evacuate. We're working with a list of hundreds of animals supplied by their owners," he said.
About 40 animals were rescued since late Sunday, but the group was too late to save a dog, a guinea pig and another unspecified animal believed to have drowned or died of hypothermia.
"Flooding is incredibly stressful on animals," Dussault told AFP.
Quebec province had about 9,000 people displaced; New Brunswick had about 1,000.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by ilsa on Tuesday April 30 2019, @03:11PM (4 children)
How TF do you just leave your pets behind? They're part of your family. If they mean so little to you that you feel ok just abandoning them like an old couch, then you shouldn't have pets to begin with.
It's not as if this was a fire consuming their homes and they were fleeing in wild-eyed panic. They had plenty of time to put together supplies, food, etc, to support their pets.
(Score: 5, Informative) by datapharmer on Tuesday April 30 2019, @03:54PM (1 child)
A dike was breached, so the water likely rose very quickly - it is quite possible they were fleeing in wild-eyed panic. If it was an outdoor cat or a dog that got panicky and couldn't be put into a vehicle they might have been faced with save my family or die with my pet. I'm not trying to justify anything, just saying it wasn't necessarily as black and white a situation as you make it sound.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 30 2019, @10:11PM
Yeah, I'm not delaying escaping the waters, endangering my wife and kids (LITERAL family), to try to climb a tree to rescue the cat.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 30 2019, @10:00PM (1 child)
Did you ever try to fit a polar bear into a family car?
(Score: 2) by ilsa on Wednesday May 01 2019, @02:31PM
Of course!
1) Open the car door
2) take out the elephant
3) put in the polar bear
4) close the car door