Note: This is day 24 of National Preparedness Month. Follow this year’s campaign on Twitter by searching for the #NPM11 hash tag.
This month, as part of NPM11, I’ll be rerunning some edited and updated older preparedness essays, along with some new ones.
# 5861
Katrina Headed For New Orleans in 2005
When Hurricane Katrina set its course towards the city of New Orleans in 2005, hundreds of thousands of people were told to evacuate on very short notice. Many of these evacuees were pet owners, and they quickly learned that evacuation busses – and most emergency shelters – were unable to accommodate their beloved animals.
For many, this led to an agonizing decision.
To stay and ride out the storm, or leave their pets behind with food and water for a couple of days, and pray they would be allowed to return in that time.
Something that we know, became impossible for most residents.
In the days and weeks that followed the storm, thousands of animals were rescued from miserable conditions by volunteers, such as those working for the North Shore Animal League. You can read a number of these rescue accounts by clicking on the image below:
In the wake of the tragic images and heartbreaking stories of loss coming from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita that year, Congress passed what is called the PETS Act, which amends the existing Emergency Assistance and Disaster Relief Act to:
“. . . . ensure that State and local emergency preparedness operational plans address the needs of individuals with household pets and service animals following a major disaster or emergency.”
The PETS Act authorizes FEMA to provide rescue, care, shelter, and essential needs for individuals with household pets and service animals, and to the household pets and animals themselves following a major disaster or emergency.” - PETS Act FAQ
Which means that most counties now have some availability of Pet-Friendly emergency shelters . . . but space is always limited, some require advance registration, and not all pets owners can be accommodated.
A quick look at my own county’s (Pasco, Fl Pop. roughly 500K) plan shows that they `will designate one of its schools as an animal shelter. Pet owners, however, will stay at a separate, nearby shelter The shelter is for dogs and cats only.’
And neighboring Pinellas County (pop 900K) has plans for 3 pet-friendly shelters (pre-registration required), which they believe will accommodate a total of about 700 dogs and cats.
Which means you can’t count on getting into a pet-friendly shelter at the last minute. These shelters should be your last resort, not your first option. You need to be planning now on how you will provide for your pets during a disaster.
May 14th was National Animal Disaster Preparedness Day, and FEMA asked that you take the time to develop a plan. They provide advice on how to do that at:
Information for Pet Owners
From the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), we get this advice (a h/t to Readymom for letting me know the old Humane Society link was dead):
Make a Disaster Plan for Your Pets
Plan ahead and keep your family members—people and pets—safe in case of an emergency or disaster
Get ready: Planning and disaster preparedness
And from the American Red Cross, we get this checklist for keeping your pets safe during and after disaster.
(Click image to Enlarge)
And lastly, I’ve found a couple of sites that attempt to provide state and national contact information for pet owners looking for evacuation information.
While I’m sure the following sites make every attempt to be accurate and up-to-date, you’d be well advised to confirm the availability of any pet-friendly services in your area, since local plans can change.
For Floridians, a county-by-county list of pet-friendly evacuation shelters:
FloridaPets.net 2010 Pet-Friendly Emergency Shelter Guide
Another site with good information, and a national listing of contact information for pet-friendly emergency shelters is:
Pet Evacuation, Pet Friendly Emergency Shelters, Disaster Preparedness for Pets
Disaster preparedness, for your family and for your pets, isn’t something to start thinking about once the ground starts shaking, the water starts rising, or storm warnings are raised in your area.
To give yourself, your family and your pets the best chances for survival in any disaster, Ready.gov is quick to remind us to:
