Don’t forget pets in hurricane prep
by Robert Yang | June 28, 2022
Back in April, I welcomed a 12-week-old puppy into my home. In addition to puppy training, I now have daily responsibilities that come with dog ownership, including feeding and walking him.
I recently realized that as a pet owner I need to include my dog in our household emergency plans. This means that he needs his own emergency kit. But what should be included? The goal is to ensure that if an emergency hits, my dog’s needs are met for at least two weeks.
For my dog’s emergency preparedness kit, I used a standard hurricane emergency checklist as a reference to get started. I then added dog-specific items in the kit to cover all his needs. Here’s what I came up with:
- Two-week supply of food (per animal)
- Two-week supply of bottled water (per animal)
- Dishes and bowls to hold food and water
- Can opener
- Two-week supply of medication
- Flea, tick and heartworm preventative medication
- Leash, harness and collar with tag attached
- Toys!
- Treats!
- Towels for bedding
- Cleaning supplies such as pet-friendly wet wipes and poop bags
- Basic pet first-aid kit with instruction booklet
- Pet documents such as vaccinations, medical history, prescriptions, proof of ownership
- A card with owner contact information
- Pet carrier
Everything can be easily organized into a duffel bag. The pet carrier may be set aside next to the duffel bag so grabbing both will be convenient in an emergency. If you need to evacuate, it may be safer to put your pet into a carrier versus walking since the hazardous environment could cause your pet to be fearful.
If you have a cat, rabbit, bird or any other type of pet, you can use this list as a template for your own kit and simply swap out the dog-focused items. For other emergency information for your pets, please check out p. 11 of our Emergency Preparedness Handbook.
We hope you and your fur babies stay safe during this hurricane season!
Robert Yang is a digital communications and social media specialist at Hawaiian Electric.
