Eight Smart Tips to Keep your Family Pets Safe during a Hurricane

When preparing an emergency supply kit for your family, don’t forget to include supplies for your pets too. However, the best way to keep your pets safe during an emergency is to keep them with you.

Here are 8 smart and simple tips for pet owners:

1. Make sure that your cats and dogs are wearing collars and identification tags that are up to date. Put your cell phone number on your pet’s tags. Keep leashes and harnesses readily available for handling.

2. Ensure your pet is micro-chipped and that your pets’ vaccinations are current.

3. Have a current photo of your pet, microchip number and description in case you need to identify your pet, if it gets lost.

4. Pet carrier – if you plan to evacuate, have a properly sized pet carrier for each animal.

5. Bring pets inside the house well before the storm – comfort them and keep them safe. Your family plan should include identifying a safe area of your home where you can all stay together.

6. Have any pet medications and ample supply of pet food and water inside watertight containers, along with your other emergency supplies. Space permitting bring along pet toys, blankets and bed.

7. After the storm, don’t allow your pets to roam loose. Only walk pets on a leash well after the storm has passed. Your pet may become disorientated as familiar scents and landmarks may be altered.

8. After a disaster, animals can become aggressive or defensive so monitor their behaviour.

Disaster plans aren’t only essential for the safety of pets. Other animals like feral cats, horses, goats and animals on farms need special attention too.

Sources: humanesociety.org