As well as being National Dog Responsible Ownership month, September is also National Disaster Preparation month. Do you know what to do with your pets if there is a disaster in your area? Or what to do with them if there is an evacuation? We only have to think back to situations involving fires, floods and hurricanes to see the number of pets that ended up separated from their families, distressed or abandoned.
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Identification
I think this is an important first step to prepare for a disaster or emergency. Without proper identification if something happens and you get separated from your pet it could end up being extremely difficult to get them back! All of my pets have microchips with up to date information on it. I also have personalized collars with their names and my phone number on it.
So if you have your pets microchipped you should ensure that you have updated that information. It’s not necessarily something many people think to do if you move or change your phone number! Having a GPS collar for your dogs can also help track them if they do manage to escape.
I keep my dog collars by the front door since I don’t keep them on while we are at home. I am in a constant battle to keep collars on the cats though! And I get the breakaway ones so they can’t get hurt or hung up when they are out and about. But inevitably I seem to need to order a new one about every week…
A Place To Stay
If something happened and you had to leave your home do you know where you would go? I have two LARGE dogs and three cats, so it’s not a simple solution to find someone willing to take all that on! But I do have places that I can go and bring my entire crew with me. It will be a pretty packed car ride! I really should think about getting a bigger one…
Hotels may also not accommodate animals so have a list handy of hotels that are pet friendly. And look into the little details since I know a lot of hotels have weight/size restrictions for dogs! The last thing you would want is to arrive somewhere to be told you can’t bring your pets in leaving you scrambling to find a new place.
DON’T leave your pets at home if you are told to evacuate. You don’t know how long you will be away and it’s not safe to leave pets behind at all. And don’t wait until the last minute to leave. You may need to separate your animals or consider boarding them either at a vet or elsewhere for a period of time. I saw videos of dogs being boarded during the fires in BC this summer. Check out the BC SPCAs article on it HERE to see what happened there.
Buddy System
In the case of an evacuation while you are not at home, have a plan in place to have a friend or neighbor pick up your pets. If an evacuation is immediate you may not have time to return home to collect them yourself. This could lead to dire conditions for your pet. Left inside without food and water and a potential disaster looming.
Make sure your buddy knows how to get into your house, where to find collars, leashes, food, litter boxes, crates etc. And most importantly some of your pet’s favorite hiding places! My cats are MASTERS of hiding but I know their usual spots! It may involve tossing a mattress or two off a bed as anyone who read about Whiskers and his vet avoidance tactics can attest! You can read that one HERE.
You can also use your buddy in case of power outages in extreme heat or cold, or just to help out if you get stuck and can’t get back home to care for your pet.
An Emergency Inside The Home
Something like a fire inside your home also needs to be considered. Do you know how to get your animals out of the house quickly and safely? This one really bothers me because I’m not sure what I would do with my big dogs if we couldn’t get out through the main floor. Getting them to the ground from the upstairs level would be physically impossible for me. Unless I can teach them to use a rope ladder…I’d like to see a training video on that!
I have a window cling on my front door that lists all the animals I have in my house and their names. This gives me a little peace of mind in case something happens when I am not at home and lets responders know who’s all in there. My Dad lost one of his Golden Retrievers in a house fire a while back, so I want to do all I can to keep my critters safe.
Emergency Kits
An emergency kit is important to have on hand! It can include a pet first aid kit, any medications and of course food and water supplies. Keep this in an easily accessible place and make sure that you keep the food and water fresh. A good rule of thumb is to have up to a week’s supply available but as we saw with the fires out west this year that still wasn’t enough.
Your buddy should also know where to find this in case you need their help! I think a week of food and water for my furry crew would about fill the trunk of my car…But I always have a lot of food on hand and a large camping water jug that I can use!
Staying Home
For some people, they may choose to ride out a disaster in their home. Have an area of your home designated as a “safe” room and move emergency supplies there as soon as you hear of a disaster. Round everyone up early and have them secured with crates or leashes so that they can’t escape.
It can be just as scary for your pet to ride out a disaster. By making sure that you have a plan in place you can have some peace of mind. Disasters can and will happen, and we should do the best we can to keep our pets as safe as we can!
Do you have any other tips on being prepared for a disaster? Be sure to leave us a comment below!
