Pet Emergency Preparedness

With the hurricanes, wild fires, and anniversary of 9/11, it seems emergency preparedness is on everyone’s mind. The CVMA (Colorado Veterinary Medical Association) recently recommended the following website be distributed to the general public. It is a collection of educational webinars regarding dealing with disasters. Of particular interest to us, of course, is the Pet Emergency Preparedness webinar. Just to give you a heads up- the webinar, in its entirety, is an hour long. However, there is a very informative video for animal owners just two minutes in; please at least watch this segment. It reminds us of all the items animals may require in the case of an evacuation, as well as points out what actions are best in an emergency. For example, if one saw horses in a corral, that person may want to open the gate and release them. However, those horses are likely microchipped and registered to be at that address; making their rescue much quicker. There may also be an unknown public health issue if numerous animals are released.

It is comforting to know that Weld County has its own local Animal Response Team (as discussed in a recent post), but it is also important to educate ourselves as individuals. In the case of a disaster, the reactions and helpful efforts of the citizens is crucial. To this end, the FEMA website has many free webinars concerning all aspects of emergency preparedness, as well as connections to federal and local councils, that may be of interest to you.