The key to taking care of your pets in the event of a disaster, is planning ahead for the “what if?” For most of us, our pets are part of our family. When creating a family disaster plan, we must include them.
Store Essentials
Whether you live in an area that has earthquake, tornado or hurricanes, you probably have a preparedness kit. Everyone should have one as you never know when strange weather or a fire or other emergency may come to your area.
A preparedness kit usually contains a week or 10 days of essential food and water for your family. This should also be true for your furry family. Dry and canned pet food should also be kept in your kit stored in a dry, cool area. Check your supplies on a routine basis, replenish with fresh additions and use up the older ones as needed.
Keep a clean bed or blanket in your kit for your pets, especially if you live in colder climates. And, keep a couple toys and chews for entertainment purposes.
Crates at the Ready
In case you need to leave your home in an emergency evacuation situation, keep one crate or kennel for each of your critters available, near an exit door. Mark the kennel in some way with your pet’s name and your name, a cell phone and address.
When the kennels are where they are suppose to be, you don’t have to waste time thinking about it, you can simply pick up your pet and put them in a safe environment. This is also good, if you need to hand off your pet to someone else, who they may not know. It keeps the pet and the handler safe.
Let Everyone Know What Pets You Have
There are a lot of window stickers available to post who your pets are in case of an emergency. This is important to keep outside, in a few locations around your home. If there is an emergency in your home and no one is home, it lets emergency workers such as fireman know what types of pets you have that are in need of rescue.
We never know when a disaster might strike the area in which we live or our home independently. The best case for your family, human and otherwise, is to be prepared for whatever “could” happen.
