There are some shows I really shouldn’t watch because of how they effect me. Anything to do with animals, especially dogs, hurt, abandoned, etc makes me cry because of the relationship I have with my own dogs. After Hurricane Katrina, I saw many shows about animal rescue of those pets left behind. It got so bad my husband would make me turn the channel if one of those shows was on.

But Monday I was compelled to watch one on PBS. I’m sure it’s old but I had never seen it. It’s like a drug for me. I have to see the people that risked their own lives to save the helpless pets left behind. If I could have been one of those people, I would have been. While I don’t think that the people who got stranded shouldn’t have been helped, that was the first concern of the government so the animals needed it more at that point.

All the dogs and cats they showed made me cry every few minutes. It was heartbreaking to see beloved pets that had to be left behind trying to survive. Not understanding why they hadn’t been taken, where their owners had gone, confused about these people that were there to save them. My own dogs kept coming up to be, trying to comfort me, not knowing why I was upset. I’ve said to my husband every time I’ve watched one of these shows that we would not have left our dogs in that situation. I don’t care what the rescue people would have said. Those dogs are my children right now and I couldn’t do that to them or myself.

The guilt the owners must have felt would be horrible to live with. And this one show said there were something like 15,000 pets left behind and only like 8,000 of them were rescued. Some of that I’m sure was because they didn’t survive. Either the hurricane itself, or the one to three weeks it took for the rescuers to find them. I know those people feel even more guilt than the owners that found their pets again. I wouldd if I hadn’t been able to stay or take them.

I would have been one of those that snuck back in and took them out anyhow. They even showed an older gentleman who did that to save his cat. He did find her alive and happy to see him. And all he took was his cat and several toys, food, and other stuff for his beloved pet. None of his own possessions.

After watching this kind of show again, I am determined that if there is a next time, I will be able to go and help those animals that need it. I will cry whenever I see a pet I can’t save or didn’t make it in time to, but I know I will be making a difference with those that I can.