Evacuating Animals

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

As the hurricane approaches I can't help but think of you all who live along the East Coast tonight.  

Did you know that the most common reason residents refuse to leave their homes are pets!  FEMA encourages you to evacuate and take your pets with you.   Do not leave them behind. 

Most shelters or many will NOT not take pets!   Find out in your area Red Cross Pet Shelters who do or make other arrangements.   But do NOT leave them. 

Estimates for Katrina vary but it is believed that a  quarter of a million pets were left behind and out of those about 15,000 were rescued.  

Don't say " This won't happen to you."   We live with a false sense of security so often we are not prepared.

Tonight take just a few moments to Pack in a Water Proof Container:

• 3 days of food in a waterproof
  
• 3 days of water
  
•  medicine
  
• a copy of all medical records
• collars, identity tags, and rabies should all be on the collar.
  
• dog first aid kit 
• anything that you need for sanitary issues--Poop bags, cat litter, and bleach for clean-ups.  You may also be able to purify water with bleach. 
  

Place these items in crate for Grab and Go

If all else head to OHIO and we will all go to the dog park and play to wait out the storm!

[shelly]

Thanks Joanne for those details. I will keep these handy! I don't think we are going to get hit hard where we are, and Earl is already dwindling down to a category 2... but the wind and rain we will get worries me a bit. "Miss Priss - Tori-Marie" does not like to go out to pee and poop if the ground is too wet. I've tried boots, but she won't keep them on... so it's suck it up and get your feet wet. I hope Earl just continues to blow east of us.

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

I just felt the need to give y'all a funny but serious related story.

When the flood happened in TN in May, my friends were evacuating (their home had to be completely redone due to flood damage). Here's what they took (had about 10 minutes notice):
1. their infant baby
2. frozen breast milk/pump/diaper bag
3. three rescue dogs :)

Nothing else. Shows you what really matters in life.

All of our East Coast DKers: be safe - I am glad it isn't going to be as strong as they initially thought.

[Denise & Hunter!!!]

Great advise Joanne!!!! What a great thing to point out - I just cannot imagine being in that situation. It always breaks my heart to hear of all the pets left behind.

[Linda and Murphy]

As someone who lived through Katrina, thank you for this, Joanne. I live on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain but on the water. I work for Tulane and ended up evacuating with my 14 year old son to the primate center. We lived there for a month.(Our 15 year old Brittany died the month before so we only had our cat.) There were so many trees down and the closest place with electricity was Baton Rouge (gas!!).
There is one story that still haunts me. After 3 days we made it out and to Baton Rouge to get supplies. We were in Walmart and I began I conversation with a lady waiting on her 10 yr old son to get out of the restroom. She had gone with her son to Pass Christian, MS, to look for her mother that day but couldn't get off of the interstate. (How she got there I don't know, and we had no real communication so I didn't know how bad it really was) Her mother lived a block from the gulf and wouldn't leave because she had 6 dogs and cats. I later found out that there was nothing recognizable for 2 miles inland. Katrina had wiped it all away.
I got Murphy the following summer and as soon as I could I had him micro chipped.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Linda and Murphy,
Your story haunts me too. A Month? OMD.
Emergency Management is a new field ( since 3 Mile Island ) with only recent research and a long way to go for improvement. Because of what you ALL went through with your animals improvements are being made but we still have a long way to go.

A neighbor of mine was in charge of the force for Bernard Parish and gave a talk to those of us in Emergency Management areas about the animal situation in Katrina. This big burly man, with years of experience could barely control his tears when it came time to talk about what happens to families and their animals. Of all his time spent on this mission he decided to focus on the animals. How many rescuers stashed dogs and cats themselves because they were NOT permitted to save the animals. He said he turned his head to his rescuers if he could. His pictures from 3 weeks after the storm of the starvation and fear stay with me still.

In areas like mine, it is yet to be taken seriously--of course--"It won't, it does not, can not happen to us. This is only on the news"

Yes Linda, CHIP YOUR DOGS. Even if you do take them with you in a moments notice you can separate along the way. It can take WEEKS for you to find them but more than likely you won't.

Thanks for the lessons learned. All of you in States who have been through this--I thank you. Your experiences have not gone unnoticed.