Hurricanes and Pet Safety

[dolmod]

Thought this could help those that are located in hurricane areas:

http://www.danemist.com/hurricane/pets.html

[AusTexDanes]

RE: Hurricanes and Pet Safety

Debbie, thanks for this information. I am involved in the preparedness planning for the state of Texas (I work in healthcare) and I know we are planning to shelter animals with or nearby their people in the future. I don't think those plans will be finalized anytime soon.

Myself, I don't trust anyone to take my danes in a emergency. DH and I are very lucky to have out of state relatives to go to in the event that it becomes necessary for any reason to evacuate. Danes and all.

[Harlequin Dane]

RE: Hurricanes and Pet Safety

Thought this might be a good link to share under this heading :

http://petfriendlyshelters.homestead.com/

*´¨)
¸.·´ ¸.·´¨)
(¸.·´Mrs Emery -
GDR NE Fla/GDCA/GOPDC/ARPONEF
http://members.aol.com/harlequindane/daboyz.jpg

[ruthie_a]

RE: Hurricanes and Pet Safety

It is scary that we already have to be thinking about this. We are NOT ready.

[Sharis the Bunny]

RE: Hurricanes and Pet Safety

THANK YOU!!!

I live in Central Florida, and we get routinely spanked by mother nature! In addition to emergency 72-hour "kits" that we have for three of us "non fur people," we also have the following for our 2 dogs:

1) Emergency 1st aid kit for Canines:
styptic swabs and powder, cottin swabs, gauze, bandages, ace bandage/wraps, iodine spray (7%), peroxide, salt, syrup of ipecac, lanacaine spray, small scissors, suture kit, sterile razor blades, panyhouse (for emergency tournequet or muzzle), pedialyte small "to-go" bottles, burn 1st-aid kit, activated charcoal, rescue remedy, streile saline, eye flush, vaseline, triple antibiotic ointment, and pepto bismol. PLUS the number to K9 poison control and an emergency credit card.

2) extra leashes, harnesses, collars, and ID tags, copies of the dogs' microchip certificates and chip ID numbers, phone numbers of ALL LOCAL pounds/animal control offices

3) photocopies of all health records, current photos of the dogs, along with descriptions of any identifying marks or personality traits, medications (if taken, and extra meds in case), and 1 each of the flea-tick stuff and the HW stuff, in case the dogs need it while we're gone and we don't have access to any.

4) phone numbers of all local vets. emergency clinics, animal-friendly shelters, and an EVACUATION MAP out of Florida to the North and Northeast, with a complete listing of ALL Pet-friendly hotels on the way (dogfriendly.com has them listed)

5) collapsible bowls, plastic bags, and individual baggies of kibble, a 72-hour supply

6) $100 CASH, in smaller bills, for EACH of the dogs. When the power goes out and you need something in an emergency, it pays to have cash. And smaller bills means you have close to exact change.

[tilly]

RE: Hurricanes and Pet Safety

I got life vest for my dogs. An adult one for my dane, and smaller ones for my shepard mix and jack russell. I got childrens for my other dogs...

I will leave for anything over a cat 2, I live to close to the water but if I get caught I will be prepaired. I have leads to leash everyone together in case of incoming water..
Because of all the people that would not leave their pets during Katrina in NOLA and the Coast they have decided to make it easier for pets.

Just FYI.

Sadly most of my friends who put their dogs in kennels for Katrina drowned.

I would never not leave without my pets and on the way out I saw a yorkie with no id running down the street and grabed it. Never did find the owner but a little old lady in Kemper County is happy as a lark and the dog thinks it died and went to heaven...

Now that I have a baby if I do not get a new car before the next time I have to leave then I will just have to face the baby backwards in the front seat and the dogs go on the back while the trunk and front seat are full of provisions to go to the house north.

The husband has to stay because he is on an emergancy team..

[Webster]

RE: Hurricanes and Pet Safety

Well, I lived through Katrina in New Orleans. Here is what happens to the dogs and cats that are left behind.

Volunteers rescue a lot of them. Then they are shipped to shelters around the country. Some have an address to indicate where they were found, like "corner of Rampart and Bienville" or "1300 Block of St. Claude". Tens of thousands are taken, photographed and sheltered. The volunteers try to reunite the pets with their families via a web-site full of photos and descriptions of the dogs and cats.

MOST hotels along the highway lift their pet restrictions during an evacuation. I do not know anyone who has ever had a problem checking in with pets during their evacuation.

People leaving on buses after the flood were not allowed to take their pets. There were many heartbreaking scenes.

I have 2 plastic, bright yellow collars for my black dogs. I write their names, address, including state and zip code, plus both home and cell phone numbers on the collar with an black permanent marker. BOLD.

They are never without these collars - ever. If they are lost, I can be found without a scan for a chip.

I have an escape artist Lab. He always runs up to people when he is on the loose and they call will me right away. He is usually home within 45 minutes. People are much more willing to hold a loose dog if they know the owner is on the way, rather than having to make arrangements to shelter and feed the dog and place and ad in the paper and take it to a vet to see if it has current chip information.

[TOKDL]

Hey Webster... I know what you mean first hand, I've even taken many of the steps you have in preparation should I am ever separated from them. Including the bright orange reflective collars with the info. written on the underside. I've gone through the drill of evacuation as many times as you have I'm sure, because I take no chances as well. Three dogs was orig. my limit, and evacuation was no problem with them, however now that I have a fourth, stuffing them as well as what ever important things I need all into a 95 Chevy blazer will be pushing it, since I refuse to leave any of my pups behind I decided to make a temporary canine trailer to take all my dogs plus my folks dogs with if... errr, when we have to evacuate again.

[sminturn]

Hurricanes and Pet Safety

It is unfortunate that these hurricanes have to happen. I have left twice with my dogs. It is great that the hotels lift their dog restrications too.

I bring food and water with us, and money, and all their important papers along with mine. We have been lucky so far when we have left, we stayed with friends for Katrina and relatives in TN for Gustav. We usually stop on the side on the road and walk the dogs when it is a long drive.

I like the yellow collar idea. My biggest worry is that because Gibson is so big, I don't know how many people would go up to him and want to see what his name is.

I had a lady in the local PetSmart the other day freak out when she saw my big dog walking by her.

[beryl1435]

Achilles is probably one of the biggest reasons I WOULD evacuate in the case of a hurricane. Virginia Beach is right at sea level, with many areas flooding just from a day's worth of rain on a regular day. Not to mention there are only a few ways to leave the area. We've never been faced with having to make the decision for me to leave with Achilles while my husband stayed here, and I hope we never will. When we know a hurricane might be hitting us, we always stay abreast of the details and keep track of what the military is wanting us to do. If they ever tell us that service members should leave, we'll be out of here within minutes! This is good information to have though- I should really have stuff ready for the worst situation for this upcoming hurricane season.

[ownedby3danes]

We have had to evacuate, but only had our lil' mutt girl at the time. Its really not that hard to find hotels that allow dogs, and I am not worried about having to evacuate with 3 danes and our lil' girl if it came to that point! Our dogs are family and they come if we go!!! Hurricane season is almost upon us again, and this is great info!

[StacyDub]

I live in Arkansas and spent 5 years working in hotels in the Central AR area. I still have ties in the Hotel world...if anybody ever needed to come up this way, just let me know. I can pull a few strings and make something happen.

Fair warning...

Even though it's illegal, all hotels raise their rates. It's so unfair. It's done as soon as the warning of a hurricane comes out-way before the evacuations. As soon as the hotel owners hear that hurricane people MAY come to the area, the prices jump.

Think of it this way...

During Katrina, people stayed for 3 weeks or more. At $100 a night (plus $20 a night for pets) times 3 weeks...it's a BOATLOAD of money.

When I was working in Pine Bluff during the 2008 storms, we made over a half million dollars in less than a month. (between our resturant, bar, and hotel rooms)

So yeah....just my pointless insider rant.

(oh, and we espically like Cajuns...they know how to COOK!!!)

[GraceTW22]

Now that hurricane season is coming up again, I urge everyone to make plans NOW for possible evacuation locations that are pet friendly. Keep a list of phone numbers written down and keep a landline phone in the house. Many people, like myself, only have cell phones now, but in the event that you are without power, a landline, corded phone is very valuable. Most importantly, do not be the last one out of town. Have your things prepared before the season, keep an eye on the forecast, and head out of town as soon as the evacuation is ordered so that you can beat the traffic and get to your pet-friendly evacuation location before it fills up. Waiting until the water starts rising to leave is irresponsible if you have animals under your care.

[Harlequin Dane]

Just noticed the link I listed from a few years ago is no longer working, here is a site for FL http://www.floridapets.net/Hurricane.html. There are pet friendly shelters, and since it is now tied in with eligibility for FEMA funds, most municipalities do provide them, this link has county by county resources listed - http://www.floridapets.net/petfriendlyshelters.html. Re-check local availability, and if you think there is a possibility you would need to use one because you couldn't evacuate -- you will more than likely need to pre-register. Crating is required, so having a crate and the pet being crate trained is of the utmost importance.

[dolmod]

Since hurricane season has geared up, and we will possibly have an East coast hit (US and Canada) this week with Earl, figured it would beneficial to bump this post.