How to Make a Pet Disaster Preparedness Plan
By Lucy Hughes Reviewed by: Pawrade Team
H urricanes. Tornadoes. Wildfires. Floods. Earthquakes. Blizzards. Landslides. Heatwaves or extended freezing temperatures. In the last 20 years, and especially in these last few years, natural disasters of epic proportions have struck various parts of the United States. Sometimes, you’ll have days of warnings before a natural disaster hits, like a hurricane or an impending blizzard barreling toward your location, where you can take a few days to prepare to either shelter in place or evacuate. However, natural disasters such as tornados and wildfires happen at a moment’s notice, requiring you to act right then and there at the moment without time to think, let alone grab your shoes and car keys!
Can you say you know for certain how to keep your pets safe in a natural disaster? If not, learn how to make a pet disaster preparedness plan, recent changes in pet evacuation procedures, and what to put in an emergency pet evacuation kit. What Is Pet Disaster Preparedness? We consider our dogs and other pets to be crucial members of our family, not just accessories or afterthoughts. We have a moral obligation to do whatever we can in our power to keep our pets safe in natural disasters. Creating a pet disaster preparedness plan will help ensure you know exactly what to do in a natural disaster or another emergency when you only have moments to act. With a bit of pre- planning and preparation, you’ll be ready to get your pets safely through a disaster with all the resources you need. Before we talk about how to prepare, it’s important to learn about one of the most tragic natural disasters in recent history – Hurricane Katrina – and the silver lining for pet disaster preparedness that emerged from this terrible storm.
specifically Louisiana and the New Orleans area. It was not an easy road for everyone involved, including people evacuating with pets. At the time, most emergency facilities and evacuation and rescue transportation options did not accommodate hurricane preparedness for pets, forcing people to make heartwrenching decisions for their beloved companions of whether to save themselves or remain with their pets. While exact estimates are notoriously difficult to gather, it is thought that approximately 2000,000 to 600,000 pets were either killed or abandoned as a result of Hurricane Katrina or its aftereffects, many due to drowning and starvation. In addition, almost 50 percent of those who chose to stay put during Katrina did so because they did not want to leave their pets behind, ultimately resulting in human deaths as well.
The Pets Act Of 2006 Horrific images of suffering pets clinging to floating detritus and
wandering abandoned streets, children sobbing as their dogs were ripped from their arms captivated the nation, and the scramble to tackle the monumental task of pet-owner reunification spearheaded serious changes to the way the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and other agencies respond to natural disasters. The Pets Evacuation and Transportation Standards (PETS) Act was introduced on Sept. 22, 2005, and signed
Hurricane Katrina Aftermath Changed Pet Evacuations For The Better The pivotal change in keeping pets safe and together with their humans came after Hurricane Katrina, a devastating Category 5 event in 2005 that decimated 5 states,
Missouri Pet Breeders Association | Page 33
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