Family emergency preparedness

Pets

11 of 12 lessons

People go back for animals. It is the most predictable dangerous behaviour in any evacuation, and the way to prevent it is to plan for the animal so nobody has to.

A carrier or lead per animal, kept where the bags are. An animal that cannot be confined cannot be moved.

Food and water for the same period as everybody else, plus a bowl, any medication, and litter for a cat.

Identification. A collar tag and a microchip whose registered details are actually current. Most microchips found on lost animals point at an old address or a disconnected number.

Find out now which shelters accept animals — many do not — and which nearby friends or kennels outside the area would take yours. Deciding this during an evacuation is how people end up refusing to leave.

A photograph of you with the animal on your phone and on paper. It is how you prove ownership when you are reunited.

This material is education, not certification, and it does not replace accredited professional or medical training. It describes how the association works; it is not legal advice and confers no powers.

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