New Athenaeum Post- Pets And Hurricane "Sandy"

http://turcopolier.typepad.com/the_athenaeum/2012/10/aspca-how-to-prepare-your-pets-for-hurricane-sandy.html

The Katrina (or name a half dozen other recent natural disasters) photos like this one never fade from memory.  Please do feel free to contribute your own suggestions for keeping pets safe from Sandy in this comment thread or over on TA.

-Maureen Lang

Comments

[Dave Williams]

A timely post, thank you Maureen. Having your dog chipped is money well spent. For now keep him close to where you are and the tags on.

[Gina and Allen Mason]

My only suggestion to add to the list is don't forget Fido and the Kittyface when buying those jugs of water. In our house those two drink as much as we do.

[John Wiser]

Thank you for this reminder, Maureen. Daytona was spared for the most part. A lot of flooding on the beach road, none close to my house. Kept the cats in, but my African grey Smoky went crazy during the storm. Older birds need calm environment so tented her cage away from windows.

John

[Mandy McCarthy]

Thanks for linking your post. Dennis and I always keep our three dogs inside during any severe storm. Duke is particularly afraid of loud noises so we put him in the dining room that faces away from the beachfront. Plenty of food and water for them and walks on the covered patio only if it is really blowing outside. Nobody minds the clean up duty because we don't want palm fronds or debris hitting them on a longer walk. This happened once and never again.

[Cal]

Safety basics. Keep them indoors if you stay home,period. If you leave, take them with you 'regardless' of where you go. Cats in 'hard case' carriers, dogs on leashes, always. (In particular if you have to be 'evacuated" by a rescue team they will take your cat if it or they are in hard case carriers, even if you have to put more than one cat into them, the same goes for excitable small dogs.) Often people will change their mind about staying at the last minute, so be prepared by assembling in advance water, meds if required for some pets, plastic baggies of food and disposable litter boxes for cats and garbage bags to properly dispose of the litter boxes. If your animals aren't chipped make double sure their collars are secure, have rabies tags and owner info on them. If your dog is prone to panic or nervousness it is wise to have a muzzle for use in this circumstance and also may overcome a disaster shelters objections if you end up at a shelter and it wouldn't be safe left in your car. Have done this many times with my own animals and evacuating animal sanctuaries. It's a hassle but not nearly the hassle of trying to find a lost pet or the grief of losing one. Hopefully you would already have pictures of your pets with clear colors and identifying distinctive markings in the event the worse happens and you have to mount recovery hunts. IOW imagine every mishap you possibily can and prepare for it.

[ISL]

Standard procedure at many meetings I attend (not to mention when at sea) is to identify both exits and staging areas.

At family meetings the primary and secondary muster points should be decided upon as well as the primary and secondary exit (which should be suitable for pets (i.e., doggie down a rope ladder from a second floor is a bad plan). That way rescue parties do not re-enter a dangerous situation while someone is wandering the neighborhood rather than at a the muster point.