5 Tips to Prepare Your Pets for an Emergency

There are so many things to consider when preparing for an emergency or natural disaster. Make sure you remember to include your pets in those emergency plans.  While the summer weather in Atlanta can be gorgeous, it’s also a time for flooding, tornadoes, and severe storms with lightening. Emergency preparedness for pets is just as important as everyone else in the home being prepared.

We’ve gathered some tips to make sure that you and your pet can handle anything that happens. Remember that every pet is unique, so make sure you think about your individual pet’s needs when preparing for an emergency. 

1. Keep Pet Tags Up To Date

Every pet should have an updated tag on their collar at all times. If your pet does face an emergency, they may become frightened and their instinct is to run away to seek protection. Having up to date information will help anyone who finds your pet return them to you. If the tags are out of date, the person who finds them may have a hard time getting in contact with you. 

Remember to contact your microchip company to make sure that those records are up to date as well.  If you’ve moved or changed numbers, they need to know so you can be easily reached in case your pet is lost.

2. Make an emergency kit

You’ll want to prepare an emergency kit for your family.  Don’t forget to include food and treats for your pets. There’s nothing wrong with including a small toy or two, too. While this takes up valuable space in your emergency kit, every member of the family should be thought of. Check out our Infographic below for ideas on what you may want to include for your pet.   

3. Track Your Pet

Emergencies can be quite chaotic. In all of the chaos, it’s easy to lose track of your pet, especially because they’re scared and unsure of what’s going on too.

There are now GPS pet trackers you can get to track your pet!  Check out Pet Life Today’s list of Best GPS Dog Collars & Trackers for 2019.  They help you locate your pet if they somehow get lost in all of the activity of an emergency. 

4. Everyone Evacuates Together

Emergency disaster preparedness for pets is very similar to disaster preparedness for people. For example, if the authorities suggest that everyone evacuate the area, pets should be included in the evacuation. If the area isn’t safe enough for humans, how can a pet care for themselves?

Make room for your pet in the car, pack your emergency kit with your pet’s items as well.  You may also want to check out the Red Cross Pet First Aid App.  It includes emergency preparedness information.  

5. Prepare for Travel

In the event of an emergency, remember that you can always contact Creekside Pet Hotel for your boarding needs.  But be sure to call as early as possible if severe weather is headed our way, as we will board as many pets as possible, but if a lot of people are leaving at once, we can get booked and reach capacity.

Contrary to various social media posts, 11Alive recently researched the claim that hotels and shelters are required to take pets during emergencies and found that they in fact are not required to be pet friendly and accept you if you have your pet with you.    

Your best plan is to prepare ahead and if you take your pet with you, have a list of hotels that are pet friendly along your evacuation route. The Pet Friendly Travel website has a list of pet friendly lodging in every state.  You’ll also want to check out our blog post for tips on traveling with your pet.  

Pet emergency preparedness just means being prepared for a disaster when it happens. Have all information up to date, pack food, and consider a GPS tracker to keep tabs on your pet. With that taken care of, you can have a piece of mind while you wait for the storm to pass.