The title above comes from a press release issued by Riley Care. Riley Care is the name of a website that sells dog products, and uses "safety" as a shtick towards selling more stuff.

But what Riley Care is referring to when it talks about states having to help pets during natural disasters is the passage of the PETS Act.

I covered the PETS Act in detail last year, and summarized it as federal legislation that does very little to help pets. While I support the PETS Act in general, the law itself is toothless. You can read my analysis here.

Here is a snippet of the analysis I wrote, in case you don't want to read the whole thing...

But this legislation doesn't require states to implement these plans. That's mainly because the federal government doesn't have the authority to force states to do so. It can do other things to encourage implementation, such as withhold federal aid funding. But then again, how it would look if the federal government held back assistance for healthcare just because the State didn't provide emergency shelter for pets? I doubt the people would stand for that.

The reason why I'm addressing this again is because I'm seeing articles and opinions published here and there claiming that states are now required by law to assist pets in natural disasters. WRONG!

The law doesn't require states to do this at all. It simply requires them to create a plan. It doesn't require them to effect the plan, or to fund the plan, or to actually carry it out in a time of disaster. The reason why is because the federal government HAS NO AUTHORITY to do so. States are self-governing, and autonomous.

Moreover, the PETS Act is not meant to help pets. Rather, to help PEOPLE with pets. It's goal is to assist people who are with dogs, cats, birds, hamsters, etc. But not actually provide shelter and aid to animals.

The reason why I'm adamant about this is because laws like the PETS Act, and propaganda such as this press release from Riley Care, tend to make people complacent. Complacency is the biggest problem we have in dealing with natural disasters. People don't make their own disaster plans because they expect the government to rescue them. What Riley Care published doesn't help our situation one bit.

If you're frail and weak, then you ought to have your own plan in place to help yourself and your dog.