Dear Governor Blanco,

Citizens of the world look to Senator Fontenot's pending Pet Evacuation Bill (SB-607) as a model plan for service animals and household pets during a catastrophe. You have an unprecedented opportunity to help your constituents and enhance Louisiana's image worldwide.

Emergency arrangements with no animal component are out of touch with citizens like Scott Sherman, who refused to evacuate without his dogs. Scott is listed among the hurricane dead. The death toll might have been lower if provisions for pets and service animals had been in place.

I call upon the State of Louisiana to fund the humane evacuation, transport and temporary sheltering of animals as provided in SB-607. Please consider the economic offsets. It is more cost- effective to shelter/transport animals than finance crisis evacuations for residents who won't leave without them.

Currently two bills are moving in the U.S. Congress:

(1) HR-3858 requires the Director of Fema to ensure state and local disaster preparedness plans take into account the needs of individuals with household pets and service animals.

(2) S-2548 authorizes the Director of FEMA to make financial contributions to state and local authorities for animal emergency preparedness purposes, including the procurement, construction, leasing, or renovation of emergency shelter facilities and materials to accommodate people with pets and service animals.

On April 14, U.S. Senator Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.), top Democrat on the Senate Homeland Security Committee, told Stamford Advocate reporters: "Hurricane Katrina taught us that many people will not evacuate if they will have to leave pets behind."

As you are aware, hurricane victims were forced to choose between survival and their pets. Last September Denise Okojo clung to her seeing-eye service dog in the shadows of her swamped apartment. When a helicopter team arrived, Okojo was ordered to leave Molly, a Labrador retriever, behind. The blind woman said goodbye to her "eyes" and sole companion.

On April 18, John Bozes carried three empty leashes to the Senate Hearing on SB- 607. The leashes represented Angel Girl, Bullet, and Honey, his family's now deceased dogs.

With pets banned from designated shelters outside St. Bernard Parish, Bozes (who cannot drive due to disability) had found overnight haven at Beauregard Middle School. The next day Sheriff's Deputies ordered people to vacate without their pets, promising them the animals would be rescued. Instead, Bozes watched CNN's Anderson Cooper later report & quot;Dog Killings at Three St. Bernard Parish Schools." As TV cameras surveyed the crime scene, Bozes spotted Angel Girl, Bullet, and Honey lifeless on a bloodstained floor. "I still lay awake at night crying because Angel Girl was all I had," Bozes says.

Unforgivable images are forever etched into our nation's conscience. But Louisiana can now take the lead in legislation to fully implement protocols on rescue/shelter of animals during a disaster. This pivotal human/animal safety issue deserves your utmost attention and financial support.

Thank you,