Were animals permitted to accompany their owners to emergency shelters?
- The Japanese government allowed pets to accompany their owners to emergency shelters.
- Katrina families were ordered to leave their pets.
- Within days of the tsunami more than a dozen outside volunteer services were permitted to work with the Japanese government to provide immediate animal assistance.
- The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) did not allow outside volunteer services to assist and ignored Katrina animals.
- Japan received food, water, shelter, evacuation assistance, and veterinary services.
- Due to the lack of services an estimated 600,000 animals died from abandonment in Katrina.
What Japan teaches us is to have a plan and be prepared. A simple way to do this is to include an animal emergency kit in your family’s evacuation plan to prevent pet loss. An ideal animal kit would contain the following:
- Dry food, water, dishes, spare leashes, collars, and shampoo
- Food-grade Diatomaceous Earth to prevent fleas, ticks, and parasitic maladies
- Duct tape, and twine for extra emergency collars, leashes, and tourniquets
- Portable travel kennels and durable toys
- Plastic bags and portable shovel
- Spare towels and blankets
- Veterinary contact card, medication, and printed copies of vaccinations and prescriptions
- Secure name-tags with the pet’s name and valid contact phone number
- Soothing music for animals like nature sounds and Native American flute music
- A printed list of pet friendly hotels for your state and immediately surrounding states
- Relevant features and details
- The pet’s color pattern, gender, and scars
- Unique items like a collar design worn or animal outfits
- Their spay/neuter status and medical conditions
- The presence of an active electronic identification chip
- How the pet interacts with strangers, children, and other animals
Assertive preparation is the best defense for animal safety in natural disasters. Japan’s integration of individual, local, and national emergency plans demonstrates effective strategies to keep animals safe. We cannot prevent tsunamis or hurricanes from occurring but we can mitigate the amount of trauma incurred by paying close attention to issued warnings and through vigilant planning.