The Charleston Daily Mail reports that officials with the state Department of Agriculture, Animal Health Division, is compiling a list of kennels, animal hospitals, and other pet boarding facilities, that will take in pets during emergencies.

The initiative is in response to an Oct. 28 rail car spill in Huntington that resulted in the evacuation of 500 homes. Because the emergency shelter set up to house the residents didn't allow animals, some people hid in their houses because they didn't want to abandon their pets, said Joe Starcher, state veterinarian and director of the Animal Health Division.

"It's unrealistic to think that people would leave them to their fates in an emergency."

It sounds great for the state to do this, but I'm not convinced this is going alleviate any problems. That is, if there is some kind of emergency, and everyone in town is panicking, and all the streets are jammed with cars trying to get out of town, who is going to first make a stop at an animal boarding facility, before high-tailing it to the local evacuation shelter?

And what about the people at the animal boarding facility? Do you have faith that they will risk their lives to stay with your beloved dog while everyone else is leaving town?

Somehow, these evacuation shelters need to make room for pets too. Certainly having pets there will create further problems, with barking, and allergies, and poop. But we're not talking about people staying at these shelters forever.