 | |
 | |
When Pet Sitting Becomes Pet SavingThe WORLD, Fall 1996, Vol. III, Issue 4by Bonnie Brayshaw, UAN Emergency Animal Rescue ServicesTopics: Disaster-Planning
At 2:30 a.m. Saturday, the unthinkable happens-earthquake! In the pitch-black night filled with screams and sirens, you comfort your own animals as your thoughts race frantically from the little Biddles (who’ve certainly demolished their house if the quake didn’t do it) to the ponies (will you be able to make it out to the stables?) to poor old Muggsy (who’s got to have insulin in a few hours). What are you going to do? You need a disaster plan now, and to implement an effective one, you’ll need to do some brain work and leg work right away.
What’s the Worst that Can Happen?There’s no way to plan for all the threats and hardships of a disaster, but a good plan can take you far if it’s thorough, yet flexible enough to adapt to whatever happens. Start yours by pinpointing the types of catastrophes your community is most likely to experience. Review this list:
Natural Disasters Avalanche Blizzard Mud slide Sink hole Drought Earthquake Flood Hurricane Lightning strike Storm surge Tidal wave Tornado Volcano eruption Wildfire
Man-made Disasters Airplane crash Car or truck accident Explosion House fire Boat sinking Broken gas main Building collapse Chemical spill Oil spill Riots Train derailment War
They can’t all happen where you live; many won’t affect all of your community and clients; and many of the plans you’re going to make will apply no matter what calamities hit your hometown.
Big QuestionsNow, for each potential disaster, do your best to come up with answers to these vital question.
Starting to look impossible? Probably is - working alone. But you're going to enlist the help of many good people.
Put a Plan on PaperBefore you discuss your plan with others, though, begin preparing yourself. Get a big notebook and label it “Disaster Plan.” Organize it in logical sections - what you’re going to do, supplies you have and their locations, etc. Create a section that names the people who’ve agreed to help you. Include their phone numbers (home, work, car and beepers), addresses, directions to their houses, how they’re going to help, etc. Add a section for the emergency phone numbers and the radio stations that broadcast disaster updates. Be sure you write everything down somewhere because you may not be thinking clearly during the disaster —don’t depend on your memory! Don’t depend on having electrical power either. If you write up your plan on your computer, be sure you always keep at least two current hardcopies- one in your home or office and one stored with your disaster survival kit.
Pack a Disaster Survival KitIn an airline crate, an old suitcase or a plastic storage box, stash as many of these supplies as you can:
Make up some lost-animal posters, leaving blanks for information you won’t have right now. If an animal in your care is lost, you’ll have posters ready to fill in and distribute throughout the area where the animal escaped.
Keep your kit handy in the garage or car trunk, replacing outdated supplies and batteries promptly.
Inventory your personal “property”, considering how it might be used in a disaster. Besides animal care supplies and equipment, perhaps you have:
Of course you don't own all this, that's why, as Bette Midler says,"Ya Got to Have Friends." You certainly know folks who have some of this stuff. Ask if they'll loan it. And what about clients or friends who own kennels or pasture land? Would they let you house animals on their property in an emergency? That retired cabinet maker you pet sit for - would he be willing to knock together some emergency shelters if needed? Could your daughter's scout troop carry food by bicycles to animals if roads were impassable? Talk to these folks now. Be certain they understand what you're asking and how you'll contact them. Then, go home and write all the information up in your disaster plan.
Prepare your ClientsNext, get to work on your clients. Along with the usual travel itineraries and emergency phone numbers, start asking them to leave the following items for you in a waterproof zip-close plastic bag:
Tour clients' homes with an eye for disaster safety. Suggest they move aquariums and caged animals away from things that might fall on them. Encourage them to secure cages to walls with hooks and eyes, making sure the doors fasten securely. During Hurricane Andrew, many birdcages fell or were smashed and many opportunistic kitties dined on valuable and beloved parrots.
Suggest that clients move dog houses and runs from beneath heavy tree branches, chimneys, brick or cinderblock fences, etc. - making sure there's still plenty of shade in the new location. Ask that each animal wear a collar and tag with up-to-date information, including both address and phone number. Suggest microchipping as a more permanent form of identification.
Encourage clients to attend neighborhood crime-watch team meetings. These folks are already looking out for each other; during a disaster, they'd most certainly be willing to check on or feed animal neighbors until you can get there. Suggest they compile and distribute a list of the number and type of animals at each home in their neighborhood.
Give clients a written summary of your disaster plan and your recommendations for keeping pets safe. Explain that, if necessary to evacuate their animals, you'll post signs in their house telling where you've taken them. Be sure they know you've already networked with others in your community to ensure the best possible care for their pets.
Prepare Your CommunityTalk to your local animal shelters - do they have a disaster plan? If so, how is the community figured into it? Find out what resources they have that you could use during a disaster. Will they board displaced animals? For how long? Will they charge for it? Will they provide free pet food and water to the public? Have they arranged for a vet on-site to treat injured pets? Ask many of these same questions of local vets. Are they prepared to help in a disaster? Are they aware of, or members of, the AMA’s Emergency Response Force?
Then there’s kennels and pet care stores. Will they cooperate with you? Loan you supplies? Extend credit? Provide you with animal housing or services?
One of the best ways to prepare yourself for disaster is training. United Animal Nation’s Emergency Animal Rescue Service conducts day-long volunteer training workshops all over the country teaching people to respond to the needs of animals during disasters. Sign up! For more information, contact UAN at 916-429-2457. Consider Red Cross Disaster and first aid training as well.
Stay Ready!Once your plan is in place, review and revise it from time to time. Have other emergency responders look it over, and stay prepared mentally. When the dam breaks or a tornado rips through town, keep cool, resourceful and refer often to your plan.
Acknowledge that, in a major disaster, you probably won’t save every animal. No one could. Do the best you can, not neglecting your own animals or yourself, either. With preparation and determination, you’ll make a difference.
To find a professional pet sitter in your area, visit the PSI Locator.
|
Search Again >
|
Well, it’s the big holiday weekend and, thanks to your hard-won, well-deserved reputation, you’re booked solid—caring for the Garrett’s Shetland ponies, Father Donaldson’s reticulated python, your college chum Fast Eddie’s macaws and Mrs. Biddle’s terrier terrorists, among others. Friday evening, after lavishing equal amounts of loving care on the Simmons’ Somali grand champion and the Williams’ ancient diabetic mutt, you crank up the oldies station in your car, singing all the way home, convinced you’ve got the best job in the world.