The numbers are staggering: there are more than 600,000 pets in Contra Costa. People love their pets. They are pampered family members. But what is going to happen to them during a disaster?
What if you have to evacuate and the American Red Cross shelter will not allow you to bring your animal?
What if the "pet-friendly" hotels are full? Whose job is is to not only save you and your human children, but also your 'other children'?
Who will save The Whole Family?
The answer will shock you: NOBODY.
Forget about the Pets Act and the promises of politicians after Katrina that "never again" pet owners would be forcibly separated from their animals. Remember the uproar about Snowball, a small white dog that somehow made it on to a bus with the little boy that owned him? Remember seeing the video where someone in uniform entered the bus and forcibly took the animal from the child? Remember how the little boy threw up?
Now realize that in spite of hundreds of people looking for Snowball, Snowball was NEVER found!!!
This happened not to one little boy: it happened to hundreds of pet owners who were told their pet could not get in the boat. Or on the helicopter.
People refused to evacuate because they would not leave their children behind, people died.
A disaster like Katrina may happen again!
And it may happen in Contra Costa, or anywhere else...
The Pets Act was passed to help protect household animals during a disaster. But it has no teeth. The law does not force any city or county to train people to provide sheltering for animals similar to what the American Red Cross is doing for people. The law does not require cities to invest in crates and tents and vehicles to help transport and shelter your pets. Again, the Pets Act has no teeth. The law does not even require disaster responders to rescue pets with their animals!
The only disaster responders you may see in the forst days or weeks after a disaster will be CERT members, and they are not trained to handle animals.
How safe do you feel, knowing that you, too, are heading for a repeat of Katrina.
Animal Rescuers refer to the PETS Act as the 'No Pet Left Behind' Act. An unfunded mandate and therefor not implemented in the way the authors of the legislation intended.
Even in our own, affluent, "civil minded" California the Pets Act has no teeth. Sure, the emergency plans of most of our cities refer to pets, and how necessary it is to build a local group of well-equipped people to assists pets and their owners during a disaster. After these lofty goals there sometimes is a vague reference to what the County is doing. And that is it. There is no funding for animal rescue and sheltering in disasters. There is no budget to acquire 'the stuff' that would be needed, like crates, litter pans, dog runs, food and water bowls, or food and water to stockpile. At best a vague reference to the County's Animal Services Department that has just had its budget slashed, lost dozens of animal control officers and has three trailers filled with 'stuff' that is just about enough to help 300 animals in total. That is it!
More than 600,000 pets in Lamorinda and each one of them is at risk of becoming the next Snowball. It is time to get off the fence: the cavalry is not coming!
The Disaster Animal Response Team (DART) was formed by experienced animal disaster responders to at least begin to raise awareness about the risks for pets and their owners. We trained our first cohort in early 2009 and quickly found ourselves assisting pet owners in Santa Cruz during the Lockheed Fire. Together with our partners, Noah's Wish and the American Red Cross, we are trying to fill the holes in the Pets Act left by federal, state and local politicians.
We focus our efforts at building a local, community-based disaster response. To that end we are educating our communities about Pet Emergency Preparedness and train local, community groups and local leaders in how to set up emergency animal shelters during and after a disaster. During a disaster local resources, not county, state or federal resources, will make the difference between life and death. Let's build strong, disaster resilient communities!
Join us. Today!
Let's save the whole family.
