Help the animals in your community this hurricane season

June 30, 7:48 AMTampa Small Pets ExaminerJessica Whitehouse

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We all love our pets. So if you had to evacuate, could you leave them behind? I’m sure most of you say, NEVER! And as hurricane Katrina showed us, many people will not evacuate their homes if they could not bring their pets with them; particularly elderly people who may not have any one else in their life but their pets. But when left behind, the results are tragic for everyone.

Pinellas County Animal Services offers a service that will help special needs citizens who might otherwise decide not to evacuate because of their pets. This service can help them feel more comfortable about leaving their homes, knowing their animals are safe. Of course, service animals may go to shelters with special needs citizens, but other pets need to be cared for by making prior arrangements, such as signing up to go to a local animal shelter, or host home.

If special needs citizens are already registered with their local fire department and have a pet that they need help evacuating, they should call Pinellas County Animal Services at (727) 582-2600 to register pets for pick-up.

The Pinellas County Special Needs/Evacuation Assistance Program is for residents requiring minimal medical assistance and/or who need transportation to a shelter, and pre registration is strongly recommended to ensure that resources are available to transport the pets.

So how can you help?
There is a need for volunteers to assist in the transporting of animals belonging to special needs citizens to predetermined locations. There is also a need for helping ‘man’ the pet friendly shelters in Pinellas County. There will be a huge need before a storm hits with setting up the Pet Friendly Shelter (PFS), assisting with the registration of the people and pets, and getting the pets situated in the PFS. And then another huge task will be the release of the pets to their owners and the break down and cleaning of the PFS. There are three pet-friendly shelters in Pinellas County: Thurgood Marshall Middle School in St. Petersburg, Oak Grove Middle School in Clearwater and Dunedin Middle School in Dunedin.

Volunteers will serve as auxiliary Disaster Animal Response Team (DART) members to help transport pets of special needs citizens to safe, predetermined locations. Those interested in volunteering should call Greg Andrews, operations manager at Pinellas County Animal Services, at (727) 582-2623 or visit the Bay Area DART website.

To learn more about the program for special needs citizens, and/or pet-friendly shelters, call Pinellas County Emergency Management at (727) 464-3800 or visit www.pinellascounty.org/emergency or the Bay Area DART website. Citizens may also contact their nearest fire department or home health care provider. Space is limited and preregistration is required; call (727) 582-2150 for more information. Please be sure to check which shelters are opened, as all shelters may not be opened during an evacuation.