WC asked a very valid question set:
>Someone mentioned yesterday with all that is going on, that the Judging
>emails are silly.  Well, personally with the dead and dying humans.....
>mothers, fathers, grandparents, and babies.......I think it is a little
>silly to be thinking about animals and sending bedding.  Shouldn't we be
>helping the pet owners first?  Seems to me a human life should have a
>bit more value then an animal's life.  Don't get me wrong, I love my
>animals and would do anything in my power to save them.  But their are
>alot of humans that are suffering and that need our help also, consider
>helping them also.
 
Actually, WC, many of the people who are helping animals are also helping
people -- and not just indirectly.
 
People who care usually tend to care and donate for both.  It's the
people who aren't caring at all, or who only care about how they
personally appear in relation to this tragedy who are the real concern.
 
Convoys carrying pet supplies also often also carry human supplies.
 
For some people, their pets are all they have left.  That is one reason
the IFC has made itself available to try to find help for these people.
Just yesterday there was a frantic series of phone calls and e-mails
working to help a non-ferret vet stabilize the ferret of an evacuee, and
help find a ferret vet to do more.  When a person has lost so much to
also lose a loved companion is just hardship upon hardship, and no one
should have to have pain like that if someone can help it be avoided.
 
There are also human health aspects to providing animal care.
 
With all sorts of animals in close contact vying for resources the risk
of rabies taking off is markedly increased, so are bites to humans.
 
There are diseases humans share with other animals (zoonotic diseases)
which can take off if an outbreak in the animal population is allowed
to occur, and there are indicators of others growing in risk -- such
as IF increased bird fatalities point to West Nile flaring.
 
There are animals who would become otherwise dangerous to humans if their
needs are not addressed (including moving out or destroying some directly
dangerous animals such as poisonous snakes and alligators), or in some
cases (as with the burgeoning rat problem now in New Orleans) if there
is not a concerted kill-off, as sad as that is.
 
You will find a very interesting and informative article in:
http://www.avma.org/press/releases/050902_hurricane_katrina.asp
including
>"Veterinarians often look at populations as well as individual
>patients. With so many to care for, veterinary medicine becomes a
>model for human medicine," Dr. Childers explained. "In addition,
>veterinarians play a critical role in preserving public health,
>which will be an overriding concern in the aftermath of this disaster."
 
>Health concerns identified by VMAT include clean water, food safety,
>wild animal bites, rabies, mosquito control to prevent West Nile virus,
>diseases from stagnant/contaminated water, care for mass casualty
>animals such as farm animals, as well as care for surviving animals,
>both domestic and wild.
 
So, animal care is not just a kindness toward those who have lost so
much already, but it is a public health issue, and as such it helps
save human lives, too.
 
The fact of the matter is the love and helping by definition are not
wrong.  Worry instead about those who don't.
[Posted in FML issue 4993]