Remember your pets in April's wild weather
We live in an area of great natural beauty and historical significance. We also live in an area that is liable to extremes of weather and endangered by the hazard of earthquakes and flooding. If you are a pet owner, your emergency preparedness plans must include care for the lives of those animals that make up a part of your household.
Illinois Emergency Management Agency and local EMAs observe April as Pet Preparedness Month in Illinois to remind people to keep pets' needs in mind during spring's unpredictable weather.
The main factor in emergency preparedness is preplanning. This does not mean preparing elaborate multi-page plans for what to do. Rather it means spending a relatively short amount of time in preparing a simple, common sense plans to be ready in the event of a natural disaster.
Pets require the same needs after a disaster as humans do: Food, water, medicines, heat and shelter. Copies of where and how to relocate you and your pets, as well as all of the pets veterinary, inoculation and licensing records should be part of your evacuation kit.
IEMA Director James K. Joseph recommends three days' supply of water, food and medical supplies should be included in that kit along with a collar with ID tag, photo of the pet if it runs away, harness, leash, pet litter and box, newspapers, paper towels, plastic trash bags and bleach for sanitation. And as pets are as anxious as humans in emergencies, pet toys and treats are a good idea as well.
Other important items include a first aid kit, weather alert radio, flashlights and spare batteries.
It is important to remember that, if the pets must be left behind in your home, one should leave prominently displayed notes for the authorities that the pets are in the home and need to be cared for. Or arrangements should be made to have a friend nearby care for the animals in the event the family must evacuate.
Joyce Rheal, owner and operator of Cedar Breeze Consultants in Pinckneyville is an expert in this field. She has written two books o the subject as well as operating a consulting agency dealing with this topic. Cedar Breeze offers a variety of information and services geared towards helping a pet owner provide the best emergency preparedness for their pet. Cedar Breeze sells Rheal's books in the form of PDF's or the books can be found at the Harrisburg Library. These books provide simple plans for protecting your human and animal family members in the event of a natural disaster.
"Pets are part of my culture,' Rheal said. "After the Leap Year tornado, I started to write the books and found out I didn't know as much as I thought I did on the subject."
Rheal stated that her goal was to codify the large amount of information available into a simple-to-use format and make it available to pet owners. Cedar Breeze also offers workshops on emergency preparedness for pet owners and can be found on the Internet at cedarbreezeconsultants.com.