Plan Ahead to Protect Pets from Natural Disasters

No one wants to think they they'll be involved in a disaster. But as the residents of Greensburg, Kansas learned when a tornado destroyed the town on May 4, 2007, it can happen at any time. The best thing you can do is prepare a disaster plan for you and your family. But when you're planning ahead don't forget about your pets.

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When Katrina hit the Gulf Coast and caused flooding that devastated New Orleans, the world got its first glance at how seriously pets could be affected by disaster too.

Many pets died in the flood and storm, but for those that survived the disaster, thousands were separated from their owners. Lack of pet identification and outdated contact information, combined with the fact that residents themselves were displaced, made extremely difficult to reunite owners with their pets. When thinking of a worst-case scenario, this was it.

If anything good came out of the situation it was that for the first time, the country was forced to realize how important pets are in the evacuation plan. The public outcry from residents looking for their pets or those demanding to bring their pets with them to the shelter made the government stand up and take notice. Thirteen months after Katrina, the Pets Evacuation and Transportation Standards (PETS) Act was signed into effect. The law requires local and state emergency preparedness authorities to include in their evacuation plans.