FOLLOW THIS 5-STEP DISASTER PLAN FOR YOUR PETS When Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast in 2005, the master plan to evacuate people from its path did not include pets of any kind. The news during the emergency was peppered with abandoned dogs and cats left to fend for themselves. There was even an example of a boy’s dog being taken from him as he boarded a bus. The mental impact of these directives was long-lasting and traumatic, as it was estimated that nearly 200,000 animals were left behind to fend for themselves during Katrina (only about five percent were reunited). A 2009 University of Massachusetts study found that the post-traumatic stress following a natural disaster was c