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Would you leave your
pet behind during a storm?
As you recall during Hurricane Katrina where 250,000 household
pets were left stranded. Many pet owners refused to leave their
animals behind and stayed home trying to weather the storm. How
many of those people lost their lives because of this may never
fully be known.
What have we learned from this? What is government and other
groups doing to help us with our pets in case of a disaster?
Well, I have two pieces of good news about the aid available to
pet owners during disasters.
The first piece of good news is that in
October 2006, the Pets Evacuation and Transportation Standards
Act was signed into law. This assures that Americans will not
be forced to leave their pets behind during a disaster and that
state and local governments are required to have a plan in place
for the evacuation of pets and service animals. This grants the
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) the authority to aid
local communities in developing an evacuation plan for animals
and to fund emergency shelter facilities.
The second piece of good news is an organization called SART.
That stands for State Animal Response Team (SART).
What they do is amazing and could be a good resource for you in
the case of a disaster.
SART gives victims of a disaster a place to drop off their pets.
This allows their animals to be in a safe place during or after
a disaster and then safely be reunited after a disaster. This
was started in North Carolina and is growing to other states.
We have written a new article with important information about
this agency. This article also gives you information about
important tips on transportation and how much food/water you
needed to give to pets.
To read the full article "Help During Disaster". Go to:
Help During Disaster: State Animal Response Team's (SART).
Take a minute to
read this article so you know what your
options are in the case of disaster. You never think something
will happen to you (and I hope it doesn't) but take a minute and
read about it and what your options are. A few minutes could
make a big difference to you and your pets if something ever
does happen.
You can become a SART volunteer. You can offer your home,
garage, barn or land as a temporary refuge during disaster for
pets and animals. If you like to help others during a disaster, SART is a great way to do it.
To learn more about SART Go to:Help
During Disaster: State Animal Response Team's (SART)
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