The Untold Stories of Resilience: Pets During Hurricane Katrina

Nita Hemeter vividly recalls the haunting sounds of barking and meowing, the cries echoing through a New Orleans darkened by power outages. It was early September 2005, just over a week after Hurricane Katrina had ravaged the Gulf Coast. Hemeter, having snuck past a roadblock to rescue her two beloved pets, made the life-altering decision to stay. "I knew there were animals all over that needed help because you could hear them hollering," she said, her voice tinged with nostalgia and sorrow. “It was just awful.”

The Burden of Abandonment

Estimates of pets left behind during Katrina vary widely, but many believe tens of thousands—if not hundreds of thousands—were abandoned. Reports surfaced of rescue workers using helicopters, boats, and buses that often did not accommodate pets. Residents, believing they could return soon, left their animals behind with food and water, only to be faced with unimaginable loss. Hemeter’s son, for instance, thought he could quickly return to his mother’s dog and cat but soon realized the depth of the tragedy unfolding.

"The messaging back then was: Just evacuate, leave your pets behind," stated Randy Covey, an animal rescue manager who spent weeks in New Orleans following the storm. "There was no accommodation for pets in the evacuation."

A Nation in Shock

The trauma was further exacerbated by the heartbreaking visuals of pets and their owners being torn apart. The nation responded with shock as stories of suffering animals and the difficult choices pet owners faced came to light. In 2006, a little over a year after Katrina, federal lawmakers passed the Pet Evacuation & Transportation Safety (PETS) Act to ensure that states included pets in disaster planning. Ana Zorrilla, CEO of the Louisiana Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, summed it up aptly: "If there is a silver lining in Hurricane Katrina—there are so many terrible things that happened—it was that it changed how the country considers the role of animals in our communities.”

Human Lives at Stake

One of the crucial lessons learned by emergency responders was the emotional bond between people and their pets. Studies following Katrina suggested that between 150,000 and 200,000 people chose not to evacuate due to their pets. Polls indicated that nearly half of those surveyed who remained did so because they could not bear to leave their animal companions.

Covey recalled countless stories of people stranded on rooftops with floodwaters surrounding their homes. When rescuers arrived without accommodations for pets, many decided to stay behind, risking their lives. “We heard a lot of stories about those helicopter rescues,” he lamented. “The people would just stay.”

An Unprecedented Animal Welfare Crisis

The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina resulted in one of the most significant animal welfare crises in U.S. history. The Lamar-Dixon Expo Center, located about 60 miles west of New Orleans, became the epicenter of animal rescue efforts, hosting the largest animal shelter and rescue operation the country had ever witnessed. Yet even this massive undertaking could not cater to the overwhelming number of abandoned pets.

Weeks after the storm, rescue efforts transitioned from capturing and evacuating animals to simply providing food and water in place. “There weren’t enough people, nor was there enough space,” Covey noted. The situation painted a stark reality: despite the best intentions of local and federal officials, they were not equipped to handle the scale of animal needs.

A Shift in Emergency Response

The harrowing events following Katrina prompted significant changes in how emergency responders treat pets in disasters. Cesar Perea, an official with the American Humane Society, acknowledged a “monumental shift” in practices post-Katrina, although he cautioned that there’s always more room for improvement. During the Los Angeles wildfires in early 2025, areas were temporarily locked down for human safety, hampering rescue efforts for the pets left behind.

Perea emphasized the need for a systematic approach following human evacuations: “The next logical phase should be: Let’s get these animals out of here and decide how to do that.”

Preparing for the Unknown

More broadly, experts suggest that pet owners must proactively prepare for emergencies. One simple but crucial piece of advice is to stockpile sufficient food and water for both themselves and their pets. “No one’s coming, and you need to be prepared for that,” Perea advised, acknowledging the grim reality of natural disasters.

By sharing these stories of resilience, the ongoing impact of Hurricane Katrina reminds us that the bond between people and their pets is not just emotional—it can have profound implications for survival and safety, shaping how communities respond to disasters in the future. The lessons learned continue to guide disaster relief efforts, ensuring both humans and their four-legged companions can weather the storms together.