June 7, 2006

California considers livestock evacuation bill 

The California Legislature is considering a measure that would require emergency relief workers to take animals into account when evacuating areas threatened by flooding waters, earthquakes, wildfires and other disasters.

The bill by Assemblyman Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, would require the state Office of Emergency Services to incorporate animal evacuations into its operational plans.

The Assembly approved Yee's bill 76-1 and is awaiting Senate consideration.

Critics panned the measure as a waste of public finances and emergency personnel should focus solely on saving human lives.

Still the legislators hands may be tied. Congressional law now dictates that federal emergency grants would be cut for states that do not take animals into account in their evacuation planning.

Assemblyman Ray Haynes, R-Murrieta, who cast the lone dissenting vote, said the Legislature should not use limited taxpayer money to come up with contingency plans for animals.

Haynes said it was foolish to consider saving animals when saving humans alone was hard enough.

He noted that farmers usually insure their livestock against disasters, thus the responsibility to evacuate their animals should fall to them.

Still, evacuating animals is especially challenging for small independent farmers, said Noelle Cremers, director of natural resources and commodities for the California Farm Bureau.

Previous experience have shown that people simply refuse to leave their animals in the midst of a disaster, Cremers said, adding that it is important that these issues are resolved before the next emergency strikes.