Are Your Pets Apart of Your Emergency Plan?

We all assume that we will be prepared in the event of a disaster, but are you prepared for taking your pets with you? Would you have the same plan for them as for your loved ones? In the case of an emergency people are panicked and often forget about their little furry friends, pets should be treated as family in events causing evacuation from your home.

In the event of a disaster you should have a backpack full of sullies to survive for a couple of days, but does that bag include supplies for your pets? Like humans pets need food and water too, this means that you should be prepared with bottles of water, dry food maybe some canned and most importantly you have a collar, leash and means of identification for the animal. If you are forced to evacuate your home and you are directed to a shelter make sure they are a pet friendly facility. The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) organization strongly suggests that you do not let your animals loose if officials advise you to leave them behind. Rather letting them loose making them fend for themselves in the arms of a disaster PETA recommends keep them in your and make sure you leave plenty or water and food for them that they have easy access to. PETA offers many programs that can train you to be prepared for your pet and even a kit for you pets which includes: collars, leashes, current photos of the owners and their animals, vet records, at least a five day food and water supply. Having these few items packed away can help you and your pets in the long run if you were to be impacted by a natural mishap. PETA also offers stickers to place around the windows of your home to let officials know that there is animals in the house in case a mishap happens while you are not there. It is encouraged to write what types of animals are in the house to help officials narrow down what they should look for.

One of the worst things you can do to your pet during an emergency is having them fend for themselves. Letting them loose is a risky choice because they could run away or even be killed with no protection from their owner. Your safest option of keeping your pets alive is to have plan in keeping them safe. It may be time to get your pet micro chipped so if they are to run away they will easily be found, most vet offices do it when you bring your pet in for their first checkup.

The best plan of action that you can do your for your pet is to sit down with members of your family to discuss and create a plan for you animals if a disaster were to happen, because we cannot predict disasters we can only wait for them.

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