Prepare Your Pets for Hurricanes

Don't Forget to Prepare Your Pets for Hurricanes:

Our continued thoughts and prayers go to the people and pets affected by Hurricane Sandy.  Thank you to all the brave first responders risking their lives to help others in need.  

We want to remind everyone to please have an emergency plan in place to include your animals. 

"The likelihood that you and your animals will survive an emergency depends largely on emergency planning done today."

Plan for pet needs during a disaster by:

• Identifying shelter. For public health reasons, many emergency shelters cannot accept pets.  Find out which motels and hotels in the area you plan to evacuate to allow pets well in advance of needing them. There are also a number of guides that list hotels/motels that permit pets and could serve as a starting point. Include your local animal shelter's number in your list of emergency numbers. They might be able to provide information concerning pets during a disaster.
• Take pet food, bottled water, medications, veterinary records, cat litter/pan, manual can opener, food dishes, first aid kit and other supplies with you in case they're not available later. Before you find yourself in an emergency situation, consider packing a "pet survival" kit which could be easily deployed if disaster hits.
• Make sure identification tags are up-to-date and securely fastened to your pet's collar. If possible, attach the address and/or phone number of your evacuation site. If your pet gets lost, his tag is his ticket home.
• Make sure you have a current photo of your pet for identification purposes.
• Make sure you have a secure pet carrier, leash or harness for your pet so that if he/she panics, he/she can't escape.