Include Pets and Animals in Emergency Preparedness - Pets & Animals

Unprecedented numbers of natural disasters such as fires, floods, hurricanes and earthquakes have left countless pets homeless, hungry, and often, hurt, struggling to survive their injuries.  Emergency preparedness should also include your pet.  Is the pet small enough to transport should your family be required to evacuate your home?  What if your home is destroyed?  What plans do you have to find your animals should they be lost for a time?  What about animal care once they have been located?

Your Animal Care Kit Basics

It is imperative to keep items in your animal care kit that will keep your pet happy should you have to spend time in close quarters with them.  Animals stress out as well as humans; and stressed or hurt animals, no matter how much they love you, can be unpredictable in an emergency.

The basics to keep in your kit are: vaccination records (make sure to keep vaccines up to date), food, water, a chewy toy or a favorite blanket (items of normalcy), medications.  If the pet is small, a kennel per animal since it isn't wise to throw two stressed animals into the same small area!  Hamsters and other small pets already have their own cages and there should be no problem in small areas or to transport in a vehicle.  Large dogs such as retrievers, dobermans or great danes, need special care.

Plan to Locate Your Lost Pet?

Should your pet become lost after a disaster, how will you find them?  You have to consider them expendable or non-expendable and that is a personal decision that you need to make early so that you know how to prepare your family should their beloved pet be lost or killed.  Does your pet have a micro-chip locator?  Tags?

Be Kind to Your Pet: Prepare

Many pets are simply abandoned simply because there is no way to care for them after a natural disaster.  For most families, the first priority is caring for their immediate family. Although pets are considered family members by many families, most families make sure that their parents, children, and other family members are safe.  The pets can get lost in the shuffle or simply become expendable and replaceable. These pets are taken in by strangers, shelters, and often euthanized after a time.  The kindest act is to include your animals in your emergency action plan before disaster strikes to create the greatest chance for your animals to survive and perhaps be found.