Today, Dr. Lucas Kandefer talks about what you can do to help give your pets the best chance of survival if ever there was a natural disaster. This is something people don’t give a whole lot of thought to until we have that problem. He says when we look at it most of the issues we come across, the reason we all talk about this and look into it is because of all the pets that got displaced and unfortunately did pass away during Katrina and, got rehomed and having to evacuate.
There are a few things you can do to make everything as smooth as possible if you do run into this situation and minimize any of the stress we can go through.
Dr. Kandefer says one important thing you can do is have your pet microchipped. If you get separated, whether is through a disaster or not, it is a really important way for you to find your pet and get them back to you. Also make sure your have your microchip updated. He says they all have a data bank that they go to and say this is what information we have. If it is not updated, they can’t find you.
Secondly, he says, have a little disaster kit prepared for your pet, so a few days supply of food, fresh water, bowls, extra collar, and tags. He says all of those things are important if something happens very quickly. You want to be ready to go if you need to.
Something that has changed since Katrina is that they have passed a standard or a law called the pets act. Dr. Kandefer says it requires that there be some help in regards to pets when people are displaced; it doesn’t mean that every hotel has to give you a place to stay if you have a pet with you but there are meant to be certain shelters that are set up that are pet friendly for people that are displaced with their pets
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