Originally posted by Pit Chick
I did say I wasn't attacking you and I am truly sorry for your losses, you obviously did what you felt you had to do. IMO it's not what I would have done. Some natural disasters are more predictable than others and living in an area where they are known to happen is a good reason to plan ahead. (Maybe I should have worded it like that in the first place.) I'm sorry for hurting your feelings Fox-Gal, that wasn't my intention.
I wanted to say, Yes you did say you where not attacking me, I understood that, but never the less you hurt with your words. I opened up to one of the worse times in my life and instead of realizing that, you second guessed me, by saying I should have had a plan, should have a means to transport all pets. I going to load Goats, dogs, cats and everything in one trailer? Do you realize what would have happened, just with the dogs and goats alone, that's sure death. As for a plan, first time in over 100 years central Florida got hit with a major hurricane, so it was not something we ever expected to hit us. One of the reasons we moved inland from the coast, safer. Predictable??? hardly, one hours notice and it turned from where we where safe to where the eye was heading toward us.

As for the rest of your post, how was I not to think it was aimed at me? No reason to leave pets behind you said, something I did. Rent a u-haul..somthing I didn't do and goes with the statement about having something big enough to transport my pets with. And my favorite "For people to leave behind one dog just because they aren't allowed in hotels or shelters is even more inexcusible"
I left behind more then one pet, I said there was not a hotel in the world that would take in my crew, so how could I not think that statement was for me.

I too always said I'd never leave a pet behind and if any one would have told me I would, I would have said they where wrong and meant it. My goal in posting was to say, never say never, not to be judged for my choice. Because as I found out, once the time comes and you are faced with it, never can change real fast. To remove all my pets, would have surely been a death to some, to stay would have also been death to some and even us, maybe. Plan are not, when you feel that death is a sure thing no matter what route you take, your thinking changes and you do what you can, with the best goal in mind, right or wrong. And in my case the death was a lot less, because of the choice we did make, I have no dough about that.

As it was said here, Florida in a long skinny state and even if we had decided to hit the road, with all our pets, driving your way out of a path of a storm bigger then the whole state, isn't likely to happen and the risk is to great to chance it.

So to you Pit Chick, thank you for saying your sorry, I appreciate that. The hurt of the words is still there, of course, but thats mine to deal with.

To finn's mom, petslover and Kay, thank you. As to leaving here, most likely not, not sure yet, but to ever opening up again, no, I won't do it again. Even thought Pit Chick did not mean to hurt me with her words, it did and I don't want to go through that again.

To Val and special thanks for you kind words.