Preparing animals for emergency evacuation

Preparing pets and livestock for evacuation during a wildfire, hurricane or other disaster event can help transport go smoother. In an interview with dvm360, Karen Roach, RVT, VTS (ECC), a team trainer at Mount Laurel Animal Hospital in New Jersey with experience treating animals injured in disaster situations, discusses what veterinary teams can communicate to their clients about caring for pets, especially felines. Roach also provides advice for managing large animals, including livestock, before and during a disaster event.

The following is a transcript of the video:

Karen Roach, RVT, VTS (ECC): For any type of disaster—weatherwise, earthquakes, anything like that—it is good to be prepared ahead of time. Have a ‘go bag’ for your pet, which is going to include any medications they're on, some food, some water, [and] identification. The other thing is to have your pet [familiar with] being scooped up and shoved in the car really fast. If you have to evacuate because there's a fire coming, with cats, especially, that can be hard to do. So, having their crate or their carrier of some kind out fairly frequently, so they get used to it. Put bedding in there, put treats in there. So, [that] they know it's kind of a safe space and if you have to put them in there, it's not going to be a big shock.

If you have animals that you can't just throw in your car, you might need to just let them loose. Let them get out of the way on their own and find them later. I know we don't often microchip our horses and goats, but that might not be a bad idea—to have some kind of [identification] on if you have those kind of pets or livestock.

[An evacuation] can be really scary. So, being prepared ahead of time is definitely going to help getting your pets into the car.