I cried today for three reasons. It is the seven-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. New Orleans is again getting battered by another hurricane, Isaac. And for the first time, I saw rescuers take people's pets into the boat with them.

This dramatic rescue video [3]shows 70-year-old Fred Leslie and his four dogs being pulled out through a vent in the attic of his two-story home. He will never have to wonder what happened to his dogs, whether they drowned, starved or were rescued but difficult to trace.

After Katrina, many dog lovers took in abandoned dogs. Sadly, they assumed the worst about their owners. I got into many an Internet and group email battle with these well-intentioned yet ignorant folks.

If this had happened to Leslie seven years ago, his dogs would not have been allowed in the boat with him. You can be sure the rescuers would not have allowed him to stay, either. He would not have been given a choice.