my dogs go with me.  I'll sleep in my car before I'll go into a shelter that won't let me take my babies.  I just couldn't live with myself if I left them behind to face danger alone.  They trust me to take care of them.  And my husband feels the same way. The very first thing we take in a crisis is the dogs. Then the cat (she's a pain in the butt, but she's our pain in the butt, besides we can feed her to the dogs if we run out of food ;-)).  Then any valuables we have time to grab. But they go first.  

One thing that truly breaks my heart in New Orleans is the animals, and thinking about all of the animals that people had to leave behind, because they had no car and the buses and shelters don't take pets.  I had to stop reading what you wrote halfway through at the part about shooting dogs.  I won't be able to sleep tonight if I think about that.

The big risk in our area is fire.  My husband and I have already talked about where we would meet if the worst happened, and agreed that if there is even a remote risk of a wildfire in our area we are taking the animals to work with us.  Three dogs will cramp our style a bit, but we won't leave them if there is any known risk.