Clearly after a couple weeks being fairly absent from the office with the holidays, I've gone into withdrawal, as this is my third post today, but I have so much great information to share with you, and with the impending Southern-bound freeze coming our way this week, I feel as if I can't wait to tell you all of the things.
Given the residency of our office canine companion, Diva, I started thinking about what to do with pets when not only is it cold, but also in any emergency weather situation. These things need to be planned for, and it doesn't take much time to sit down and figure out what one needs to do in order to be ready. For example, I would already have a gallon of water per person per day in my emergency storage, so I should go ahead and set aside additional water and food for my pets. Luckily, dry and canned food is in no short supply for dogs and cats, so as far as Diva is concerned, we are golden!
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| Even Diva is looking ahead to plan for a rainy (or snowy or blustery or otherwise unpleasant) day! |
Unfortunately, during Hurricane Katrina, it was very much realized that we as a nation had not done enough to plan for the incorporation of pets during disasters. Many people chose not to leave their homes because they couldn't take animals to shelters, and some even abandoned their pets to weather the storm. After this, policy has changed so that there must be a pet-friendly shelter during disaster, provided the owner is able to prove the pet is current on vaccinations. Much of the materials one should keep as a pet owner can be found through the links below.
Lucky for us, FEMA has an entire portion of their Ready.gov website dedicated to caring for animals in disaster! Click here to check it out. Not only should you definitely be sure to bring in any animals that can't handle the outdoor temperatures, but they have advice for how to be ready in almost any disaster or emergency situation. FEMA also has this nifty and concise brochure for pet owners with bulleted points to make emergency planning easy.
And lastly, because Diva is about as precious and wonderful as a dog can be, and also shares a name with one of my favorite Beyonce songs of all time, here's Beyonce's music video for your viewing pleasure. And ladies (and gentleman), let's all get on track in 2015 to be hustlas prepared for emergencies, including how to take care of our pets.
And while you're gettin' ya Beyonce groove on, stay safe, Charlotte!
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