CNN.com - Galveston calls for voluntary evacuations - Sep 20, 2005

"Buses were to begin running Tuesday for people who can't leave on their own....

Residents may take pets in cages along on the buses, Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas said. "We found that so many people didn't want to leave New Orleans because they didn't want to leave their pets behind," she said...."

Thank you! I admit that if I was in that area, I would refuse to leave my home too if my pets had become lost. My pets are like substitute children. I could not leave them behind. At least they are finally acknowledging that some people think of pets as more than "just animals".