Planning for Your Pets In Emergencies

By Darryl J. Madden, Director, Ready Campaign

If you are like millions of animal owners nationwide, your pet is an important member of your household. When planning your family for disaster, don’t overlook the needs of your cherished family pets. In order to be safe and survive an emergency you must take steps to prepare today.

September is National Preparedness Month (NPM), which is a great time to take action and get your family and your family pet Ready. This year, NPM is focusing on helping Americans take concrete steps to be ready, and this includes your pets. Readiness comes in many forms and preparedness is everyone’s responsibility. We have to work together, as a team, to ensure that our families, neighborhoods, and communities are ready. Get an emergency supply kit. Make a family emergency plan. Work with your neighbors and know who might need just a little extra help. These steps include preparing an animal Emergency Supply Kit and developing a pet care buddy system.

The Ready Campaign and Citizen Corps, with support from Coalition Members across the nation, including a range of state and local governments, businesses, and organization, urge pet owners to take action during NPM to plan for their pets’ safety in an emergency strikes their community. Throughout September, activities and events will take place across this country to highlight the importance of emergency preparedness and promote individual involvement, such as first aid trainings, town hall meetings and much more. Look for opportunities to participate in these events in your community and then take steps toward becoming better prepared – for you and your pets.

At ready.gov or by calling 1-800-BE-READY, TTY 1-800-462-7585, pet owners can receive free emergency preparedness information on how to properly prepare for their pets, including how to assemble a pet Emergency Supply Kit, develop a pet care buddy system and how to make plans in advance for their animals if they need to evacuate. In addition, an instructional video is available at: http://ready.gove/america/about/instructional.html that demonstrates how to make an emergency plan for your pets.