Giving Compass' Take:

• Neela Banerjee at Inside Climate News writes on how people express their ideals caring for animals amid crises such as hurricanes, flooding and otherwise. 

• What are the ways that donors can get involved in animal advocacy work?

• Here's the latest on animal cruelty being a federal crime. 

After Hurricane Michael roared ashore in Mexico Beach, Florida, with a 15-foot storm surge, Hal Summers tucked his cat, Mr. Red, into the crook of his left arm and headed for high ground at his parents' home—an elevated, exterior bathroom on the far side of the house, reachable only by an outdoor walkway.

A man named Frank, his parents' 73-year-old neighbor who had also refused to evacuate, joined him, along with his two dogs.

Hal's plan to sit out Hurricane Michael in October 2018 had unraveled within minutes of the storm making landfall as his parents' house filled with water. In the tense, touch-and-go hours that followed, Hal and Frank demonstrated what emergency planners learned the hard way in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in 2005: Some Americans love their animals so much they're willing to risk their lives for them.

When Hal stepped outside onto the wooden walkway, part of it collapsed and he plunged, with Mr. Red against his chest, into the dark water.

"When I fell through the walkway, we both went down immediately, and my first reaction was to hold him up above my head," Hal said. "I was scared. I thought he'd get scared and jump away. But I still had him in my hand, and I thought, 'I'm not letting go of him.'"

Read the full article about the bonds between people and animals by Neela Banerjee at Inside Climate News.