Pets At the Ready

California’s wildfires underscore the need for pet owners to have a disaster plan in case of emergency

By Barbara Geehan
CTW Features

Pet disaster kits should include; medications, medical records, leashes/carriers, current photos of your pet, food, water, bowls, litter, vet contact information and toys.

Two years after Hurricane Katrina devastated parts of Louisiana and Mississippi, and precipitated the largest animal rescue operation in U.S. history, we’ve learned a lot about how to help pets during disasters. Laws have been passed, city disaster drills often include pet rescue and municipal organizations have begun partnering their resources.

Individual pet owners, however, still do not plan for possible catastrophe.

“I ask people if they have their pet evacuation kit ready, and these are real pet lovers, and they get a blank look,” says Linda Anderson, who with her husband, Allen, writes books on the relationship between animals and people. “We just do not think it will happen to us.”

But the wildfires raging across California and the endless video of displaced pets are evidence that natural disaster comes in many forms, always unexpected and always requiring instant action.

A recent poll of readers of United Animal Nations e-Journal found that:

• 51 percent had not assembled a pet disaster kit

• 34 percent still have not identified places where they could evacuate with their pets

E-Journal readers are likely to be more emergency and disaster savvy than the vast majority of pet owners, so the numbers among the general population are likely far lower.

Two in three American homes have a pet, Anderson says. “And according to a study in Time magazine, 91 percent of Americans live in a moderate to high disaster zone, whether a natural disaster or terrorism. This (a calamity) could happen to anyone,” she says.

Even if you don’t live in what is normally considered hurricane or tornado country a plan is essential. During this past summer, there were floods in Texas and Missouri, fires in California and horrific tornadoes from Florida up the central Plains, and even in Brooklyn. Many had to evacuate quickly.

Even if you live in an area that’s never suffered a major natural disaster, an evacuation emergency can hit.

“Maybe it is the police or the National Guard pounding on your front door at 3 a.m., telling you that the nearby chemical plant is leaking deadly fumes and you have to leave now,” Anderson says. “At the most, you might have five minutes to escape.”

Her message to every pet owner: ”We better learn how to prepare.”

Anderson knows a lot about the topic. Along with most of the world, she was glued to the television as Hurricane Katrina stories unfolded. “I was appalled at what was happening with the animals,” she recalls. Then, she started hearing about people making plans to go to the area to help. Volunteers, from animal organizations to individuals across the country, took vacation time, packed up and headed to disaster areas to see how they could help the thousands of animals left to fend for themselves.

Anderson and her husband quickly decided this massive effort needed documenting. They wrote “Rescued: Saving Animals from Disaster” (New World Library, 2006), which was published last year. Since then, its companion Web site, www.rescuedsavinganimals.net, has become a well-recognized resource for animal rescue and preparedness sites and tips.

The book, with input from the Web site of the Humane Society of the United States, lists what a pet disaster-supplies kit should include:

• Medications, a first-aid kit and medical records, all stored in a waterproof container

• Leashes or carriers to transport pets to safety

• Current photos of your pet to distribute if you get separated

• Food, bottled water, bowls, litter

• Name and number of your vet, and details on your pet’s feeding schedule and medical conditions in case you have to board your pet temporarily

• Pet bed and toys

“They hopefully will never need it,” Anderson says. “But if you do, it is there.”

Can you get your pet and your family out in five minutes? What if you are not home when disaster strikes? What is your back-up plan?

“If we found one thing in Katrina, it is that people will stay behind with their pets, and many died,” Anderson says. “Entire families perished. One volunteer had to take a kitten off a woman’s lap. She died, the kitten survived. This was a wake-up call.”

The good news from this disaster is that organizations and local governments are taking these lessons to heart and constructing plans for animal rescue. The bad news, Anderson says, is “we are still talking to air getting individuals to plan.”

You can find Rescued at your library or bookstore. There are personal stories from some of the 5,000 volunteers who worked to save 600,000 stranded animals. The book also lists many disaster preparedness sites with tips on how to protect your pet. The listings includes:

• The Humane Society Of the United States

• American Red Cross

• The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals

• Farm Sanctuary

• Muttshack

• Alley Cat Allies

The book also lists hundreds of rescue organizations, pet insurance providers and places to find pet safety products.

Copyright © CTW Features

Comments	Date

Name:
Email:
Comments :