Patch Blog: Protecting Pets in Disasters - Help Us Map Echo Park

I will give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you already have an emergency kit with food, water and supplies to last at least two weeks. But does your pet? At least as important as an emergency kit is an emergency plan for each of your pets.

What happens if you are not home and there is a fire? Where will you take your pet if you are forced to evacuate to a shelter? Due to public health issues pets are not allowed in human shelters although after the horrors of Katrina a co sheltering option is supposed to be made available by local authorities.

I gave a brief demonstration about what you should consider putting in your pet emergency kit.

Disaster preparedness is something I think about a lot, but here's something I never considered: if there is a quake or a fire, my dog is going to be so freaked out I might not be able to get to her. The best thing about Monday's townhall on pet preparedness at Blue Collar Working Dog was learning techniques for getting your cat or dog into a carrier in a hurry.

The second best thing was signing up to continue the discussion with like minded members of the local community. Our next step? Mapping Echo Park to create a self sufficient community around preparedness and mutual assistance.

Won't you join us! Send an email to prepareurpet@gmail.com to find out more.