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[Narrator] All of you are watching this video because
of your concern for the safety of your animals during
an emergency in your community.
This presentation will give you information on how
to plan for your animals if there is a need to evacuate
or to shelter them in place and how to find resources in your
community to help you with your planning.
As an owner you know your animal's
health and safety rely entirely on you,
especially in an emergency.
As you probably know, the need for this information is huge.
Our animals are a very important part of our lives.
For people whose animals are trained service animals,
they allow their owners an independence they
could not receive elsewhere.
Animal ownership is extensive it's estimated that the
average American household has 1.2 pets,
not including wild or exotic animals,
or animals of market or food value.
Because animals can influence your decision to take
protective actions, it's important you understand
the steps to protect your animals if you are told
by emergency officials to evacuate or shelter-in-place.
A hazardous chemical release from a train derailment
or a flood can prevent you from caring for your animals
for days if animals are not evacuated with you.
Should a major event such as a devastating hurricane or
earthquake occur, animals may go untended for weeks if owners do
not take their animals with them or
shelter them in a safe environment.
>>>For the most part people do a good job
as far as planning for themselves and
preparing their homes.
Its just leaving the animals out of the loop and spending some
time thinking about the animals' needs in a time of crisis
a little bit of extra food, a place to,
space in their cars or transportation lined up ahead
of time whether its by relative or local transport.
I think they just need to spend more time working
on that aspect and treating their pets more like family.
>>>As an owner, you hold the key to your animal's
health and welfare.
As you probably know, animals left behind may be found dead
or never found at all.
At best, they may need to be rescued, decontaminated,
vaccinated, and treated for injuries before being
returned to you - and this can be very traumatic for you
and your animals.
Highly valued animals may be stolen and sold before
you can return home.
And left without food and water, normally docile animals
can become vicious and be killed by law enforcement
or wildlife officials to protect emergency
responders or returning evacuees.
This video will enable you to identify hazards
that could impact your animals and to develop
a basic emergency supply kit for animal care.
During the video animal care experts and veterinarians
will explain why having recent photos of your animals
and copies of identification and vaccination records
are important in emergencies, how microchips work,
how to plan to protect animals if you're away from home,
why animals may have to be decontaminated after a
hazardous event, and some basic precautions to take
when animals return home.
Evacuation planning for animals is often an overlooked
item in community emergency plans although some
states are starting to develop certified disaster animal-care
response teams to help counties cope with animal populations in
major emergencies.
One recent change in preparedness occurred
when the Pets Evacuation and Transportation Standards Act
was signed into law in September, 2006.
>>>Nationally the Pets Evacuation and Transportation
Standards Act or the PETS act has provided a incentive
for local communities to comply with the
requirements of that act.
And the requirements of that act are for communities
that have plans to deal with household pets and
service animals during evacuation, to be able to