I had a great opportunity to preview MINE, a film in the Independent Lens series, hosted by Maggie Gyllenhaul on PBS.
MINE, directed by Geralyn Pezanoski, will air on Tuesday, February 16 at 10 pm; please check your local PBS listings. I’m not going to pretend that MINE was an easy film to watch, but it’s an important film about many things — the human and animal bond, how pets live (or not) during disasters, and race and class differences in society.
Spray-painted markings indicate those homes where pets were found to let rescuers know to give them food and water or take them to one of the area’s makeshift rescue shelters. Image by Heidi Poor/ITVS.
As a pet owner, I was horrified to watch (yet again) how people were forced to leave their pets behind in order to be rescued from the aftermath of the hurricane in New Orleans in 2005. Other animals were left behind with food when people evacuated before the hurricane expecting to be able to return in a few days. It can be easy to judge those people, but they also loved their pets and perhaps didn’t have the resources to take them along, especially when many hotels weren’t accepting pets.
When filmmaker Geralyn Pezanoski heard about the rescue efforts of pets trapped in houses or on roofs, she decided to document the extraordinary undertaking of saving the Katrina pets.
MINE tells the story of how pets were rescued and how, in many cases, they weren’t reunited with their owners who desperately wanted them back. The film presents both sides of several cases of two families loving the same Katrina pet. Determining the rightful owner in such unique and complex circumstances can be tricky. The families who adopted the Katrina pets didn’t know that someone out their was looking for their dog. Some of the cases have beautiful, touching resolutions, and others will leave you scratching your head in wonder or disgust.
In any case, MINE brings to light the serious flaws and gaps in animal rescue work during disasters. It’s not the fault of those working hard to save the lives of the animals. The problem is a lack of central organization or standards and government help in the effort. In many cases, the lives of so many beloved pets were left in the hands of volunteers who did the best they could.
Please mark your calendar to watch MINE on PBS on February 16. It’s a 90-minute investment we all need to make for our pets.
(Image by Heidi Poor/ITVS)
Post from: Blisstree