25th July 2006

Disaster Planning With Pets In Mind

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For the first time, the American Red Cross will hold a disaster-planning workshop that includes preparations for family pets, reports Mercury News

"We learned from the incidents during Katrina that we needed to come up with a plan that educates families on how to deal with pets," said Elizabeth Leslie, spokeswoman for the Santa Clara Valley Chapter of the American Red Cross, which is sponsoring the San Jose event.

Pet owners are encouraged to attend - without their pets.

Information sessions during the workshop at the Santa Clara County fairgrounds will include tips on how to provide for pets during an emergency, the benefits of microchipping and including pets in families' emergency plans. Representatives from emergency agencies and animal-welfare groups will be available to answer questions.

"Sixty percent of the residents in the valley have pets," said Leslie, who collected the information from six animal agencies in the area. "When people prepare their disaster kits for emergencies, they need to include their pets."

Images of dogs stranded on rooftops in New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and tearful refusals by people to evacuate because they weren't allowed to take their pets stirred outrage around the country. Animal-welfare and emergency-planning agencies in Santa Clara Valley have been working closely on the issue ever since.

"Our goal is to educate people in how to prepare for a disaster," Leslie said. "That means preparing for their families, and pets are part of their families."

In addition to providing information about emergency planning for pets, the workshop will include a drill that sets up a 200-cot disaster shelter for humans with a wide range of services - including food, child care, security, language interpreters, communications, health and mental health aid.

There also will be a "Kids Corner" activity area for elementary-school-aged children Saturday. And an emergency shelter for pets will be set up near the shelter meant for humans.

In the event of a disaster in Silicon Valley, "our goal is to not leave any animals behind," said Campbell police Capt. Russ Patterson, who serves as his city's emergency manager. "We will not allow that to happen."

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