Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Tips on How to Prepare Your Pet for Severe Weather





If faced with sudden disaster, would you be prepared to help your entire family – including pets – prevent dangerous situations? 

Here are some tips to help you better prepare your pet for severe weather:

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           Identifying shelter. For public health reasons, many emergency shelters cannot accept pets. Find out which motels and hotels in the area you plan to evacuate to allow pets well in advance of needing them. There are also a number of guides that list hotels/motels that permit pets and could serve as a starting point. Include your local animal shelter's number in your list of emergency numbers. They might be able to provide information concerning pets during a disaster.
·         Take pet food, bottled water, medications, veterinary records, cat litter/pan, manual can opener, food dishes, first aid kit and other supplies with you in case they're not available later. Before you find yourself in an emergency situation, consider packing a "pet survival" kit which could be easily deployed if disaster hits.
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      Make sure identification tags are up-to-date and securely fastened to your pet's collar. If possible, attach the address and/or phone number of your evacuation site. If your pet gets lost, his tag is his ticket home.
·         Make sure you have a current photo of your pet for identification purposes.
·         Make sure you have a secure pet carrier, leash or harness for your pet so that if he panics, he can't escape.