Emergency Preparedness Week
No one ever wants an emergency to happen, but if there is one, it’s best to prepare in advance. This year, Emergency Preparedness Week is from May 7th to 13th. Last year, we provided tips on creating a pet first aid kit. This year, we want to show you more ways to keep your pets safe in an emergency. Public Safety Canada has created a one-stop shop to ensure you and your family can prepare for emergencies. We want to make sure you have similar plans in place for your pet.
Plan for evacuations.
Include your pet in your family emergency plan exercises. The best way to protect your pet in an emergency is to bring it with you. Most evacuation shelters will only accept service animals, so know where your pet can go if you need to evacuate. This list can include hotels that accept animals during emergencies, boarding centres and animal shelters, animal clinics, or family members and friends.
Make an emergency kit.
While creating an emergency kit for your family, you may want to consider the following:
- Identification of your pet. If you become separated from your pet during an emergency, identification may be the only way to find them. Make sure each animal wears a collar and identification tag at all times.
- A pet emergency kit (the first aid kit you created will come in handy here)
- Provisions for your pet (food, water, medications, etc.)
- A file of important information about your pet (vet name, contact numbers, photos, etc.)
Take safety precautions in an emergency.
- Keep your pet inside during severe weather. Never leave a pet outside or tethered during a storm.
- Separate cats and dogs and keep smaller pets away from larger animals. Stress can lead to unusual behaviour.
- Keep newspapers inside for hygiene purposes and feed them wet food to reduce the water they may need.
- If ordered to evacuate, try to take your pet with you. If you must leave your pets in the house, do not tether or cage them. Leave a sign in the window and a note on the door for emergency services indicating what animals are inside. Leave water and food in timed dispensers if possible and toilet seats up.
