Fire Safety: Ensuring your pet's safety during the San Diego wildfire season

When preparing for fire season, make sure the entire family is involved.

With the current drought in San Diego, it’s shaping up to be another severe wildfire season. San Diego is no stranger to wildfires, with the 2007 wildfires destroying 1,500 homes and over 500,000 acres and the 2003 wildfires killing 16 people and burning down 2427 homes and businesses. Now is the time to get prepared and take measures to ensure your family has a plan if danger strikes. When making preparations for the fast approaching wildfire season, don’t leave out your four legged family members, who depend on you to keep them safe.

Disaster Supplies

Most of us have put in place a disaster preparedness kit for our family in the event of fire. If you haven’t put one together – now is the time. You may have very little time to escape if fire threatens your home and having a readily available kit could be the difference between life and death. But keep pets in mind when putting your emergency kit together. For the family, include items such as: a first aid kit, plenty of drinking water, canned and other non perishable food, utility tools, a towel or blanket, a change of clothes, jackets or sweatshirts, a flashlight and extra batteries, antibacterial wipes, any prescription medications and a cell phone with charger. For pets, include enough non perishable food to last each pet at least three days, one gallon of water per pet per day for three days, a transport kennel, an extra leash and a collar with ID tags, photos of your pet in case they become lost, and any prescription medications.

Once you have built your emergency kit, store it in an easily accessible area and make sure everyone in the family knows where it’s located. Having these supplies can be critical in the event of power outages, loss of shelter or other common disasters that can accompany wildfires.

ID for Pets

A wildfire can be an extremely frightening event for humans and their canine counterparts alike. Amidst all the chaos of evacuations and impending disaster, it’s easy for pets to become frightened and run away. Taking the proper precautions can help you increase your chances for a happy reunion with lost pets.

Make sure all pets wear appropriate identification tags at all times. Tags should be secured to their collar and should include information such as your name, emergency contact numbers and the pet’s name. Also include any information about required medication.

While tags are a great way to identify lost pets, it can be easy for them to get lost. Another alternative is to ask your vet to implant a microchip in your pet. Microchips are a form of automatic identification technology implanted under your dog’s skin. They are very safe and every shelter as well as most vet offices carries a microchip scanner. When lost dogs are brought in, they are first and foremost scanned for microchip numbers. The vet or shelter worker then contacts the chip manufacturer with the microchip number which is linked to your personal contact information. This is a quick, easy and reliable method for identifying lost dogs and cats. However, when installing a microchip, make sure you register your contact information with the chip manufacturer and keep your contact information current.

Alerting Fire Officials

What happens if you aren’t home and a fire breaks out? If fire officials aren’t aware you have pets inside, they may not save them in time. Window decals are available at most major pet store chains, which alert fire officials to the presences of pets inside. The ASPCA offers a free pet safety pack that includes a window decal designed to alert emergency personnel to the presence of pets inside your home. This is a must have to keep pets safe during any potential disaster.

Plan for the Worst

It’s best to always plan for the worst. Sit down with your family and create an evacuation plan and make sure not to leave your pets out! Designate a caregiver in the event that you have nowhere to stay during a disaster or in the event that something should happen to you, making it difficult for you to properly care for furry family members. Make sure every member of the family knows the plan inside and out and when possible, practice evacuation drills so that, should disaster strike and panic set in, you are all prepared.
 

For more information, visit the ASPCA or contact the trainers of The Collared Scholar who are always happy to offer advice on disaster preparedness.