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We have come a long way since 2005 when Katrina struck New Orleans. Major changes have been made to our state and federal laws regarding emergency planning for pets or specifically animals in general.
In 2006 the federal Pets Evacuation and Transportation Standards (PETS) Act was passed allowing FEMA to develop emergency preparedness plans and ensure state and local emergency plans were to take into account the needs of individuals with pets and service animals during a major disaster or emergency
Since then over 30 states have adopted either a law that deals with disaster planning and pets or promoting their own administrative plans on the subject.
Red Cross is currently updating their policy on how they handle pets when they have shelters set up. Stay tuned for more information on that.
To find out your state laws here is a link to the map. If your state is without provisions its time to get involved. Contact your state and local officials and tell them we need to make provisions for our pets. Our pets are part of our families and need to be treated like it.
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