I am not sure if I could just leave my pet behind (I have a cat & 2 turtles). I would probably set the turtles free and hope they could find food for themselves but my cat would HAVE to go with me or I wouldn't.
i met this guy the other day at a dept. party. he is up from new orleans and staying here indefinitely. he left before the city flooded, and left his dogs, and then had no way to get back down to get them. one has been rescued, found in ohio, and they are flying him down on friday. his (the dogs) sister has not been found. i don't think that i could leave my dog. the cats, now thats another story.
Tough spot, but sorry... Personally i feel when reality hits the fan you gotta do what you can to help you and any loved ones or other humans out. If anyone put another human in jeapordy because of a pet, that's just ridiculous. No room for that elderly gent sorry, i got foofy, and muffy filling up the boat. Priorities people, animals are pretty resourceful, and when it comes to survival are not as stupid as most humans.
I hate to say this, but in general... People are parasites. People are really scum compared to animals. People will work you for everything they can get from you, and then cast you out like an old orange peel. They give very little. Animals, on the other hand, are almost always happy to see you, know when you're upset and are willing to comfort you, are excellent companions that don't judge you for your shortcomings, and all they ask in return is a little kindness. Yeah, it's a dim view of the human race. But....in my experience pets have been much greater companions than the vast majority of the population. Retail work years ago and tech support has taught me that people are dumb, ungreatful beasts as a whole. I've always said....people suck, individuals are what's important. Pets fall right below individuals and a long way above people. *shrug* For what it's worth, I'd feel better about myself saving ANY animal, wether it was mine or not, because THEY are really the helpless ones in this situation. And as for pets being resourceful...generations of breeding their instincts out of them to make them good house pets? And they're more resourceful than a human who can think and reason? I doubt it. /me dons his asbestos underwear for the upcoming flame fest.
As awful as this sounds, it looked from those pictures that the dogs were faring pretty well in a flood zone for un-escorted pets, almost to the point where I'd say they were doing better than a lot of the people were at the same time or at least having a somewhat easier time getting around through that wreckage. Generations of breeding will not completely eliminate an animals natural instincts - they are there when needed. When it comes to survival, dogs can often times have more common sense than humans can...sad, but true.
True that a good percentage of animals will have some of those instincts intact, but can we say the same for animals like Chihauhas (sp) and other small dogs, declawed cats, birds in cages, etc etc? Not likely