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For Immediate Release
September 20, 2006 |
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House Passes Lantos/Shays
PETS Bill, Sends to President
Washington, D.C. – The House of Representatives today
unanimously passed the Pets Evacuation and Transportation
Standards (PETS) Act (H.R. 3858), authored by Congressmen
Tom Lantos (D-CA) and Christopher Shays (R-CT). Lantos and
Shays, Co-Chairs of the Congressional Friends of Animals Caucus,
have been working to ensure that in any future disaster, local
communities and states will have a plan to deal with pet owners
and their pets or service animals during an evacuation.
The bill will now proceed to the President for his signature.
"Two-thirds of American households own pets and, when
Katrina hit, many pet owners had to choose between their own
safety and the safety of their pets. The PETS Act will help
us ensure that during future emergencies we have plans to
protect pet owners and their pets,” Shays said. “I
am grateful to have worked closely with the Humane Society
and Mr. Lantos to help bring this bill over the finish line.”
"The Congress has taken an important step in ensuring
that Americans will never again be forced to make an impossibly
difficult choice: leave their animal behind while they flee
a disaster or take their chances by staying in a disaster-stricken
area with their pet," said Wayne Pacelle, president and
CEO of The Humane Society of the United States. "We are
extremely grateful to Rep. Lantos and Rep. Shays, and Sen.
Stevens and Sen. Lautenberg, for leading the way to ensure
that no pet is left behind."
The PETS Act requires local and state emergency preparedness
authorities to include in their evacuation plans how they
will accommodate household pets or service animals in case
of a disaster. Local and state authorities must submit these
plans in order to qualify for grants from the Federal Emergency
Management Agency. Click here
for more information on the bill.
The bill is endorsed by the Humane Society of the United
States (HSUS), the American Society for the Prevention of
Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), the Doris Day Animal League and
the Best Friends Animal Society.
Click here to read the Lantos/Shays letter to Department
of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff.
Follow these links for additional information about the bill:
http://www.house.gov/shays/news/2006/may/maypetsbill.htm
http://www.house.gov/shays/news/2006/april/aprilpetsbill.htm
http://www.house.gov/shays/news/2005/november/novpets.htm
http://www.house.gov/shays/news/2005/september/septpet.htm
Contact: Sarah Moore, 202/225-5541
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