Chapter 18. Evacuating Safely with Pets
Pets depend entirely on their owners during a wildfire, earthquake, flood, severe storm, hazardous-material incident, extended power outage, or other emergency. Animals may become frightened by alarms, smoke, sirens, shaking, unfamiliar people, and sudden changes in routine. A normally cooperative pet may hide, run away, scratch, bite, or resist entering a carrier.
Residents of Pleasanton, Dublin, Livermore, San Ramon, Danville, Sunol, and surrounding Tri-Valley communities should include every pet in the household evacuation plan. Preparing carriers, identification, supplies, records, transportation, and temporary accommodations in advance can make evacuation faster and safer for people and animals.
Keep Carriers, Leashes, and Harnesses Accessible
Every cat and small animal should have an appropriate carrier. Dogs should have a secure leash and properly fitted collar or harness. Larger, unusual, or exotic animals may require specialized crates, containers, temperature controls, or transportation arrangements.
Do not store carriers behind heavy boxes, high on inaccessible shelves, or in a detached area that might become unsafe during an emergency. Keep them assembled and near an exit when elevated wildfire or storm risk is expected.
Label each carrier with:
- The owner’s name and telephone number
- The pet’s name and description
- An out-of-area emergency contact
- Important medical or behavioral information
- The veterinarian’s contact information
Keep an extra leash, collar, or harness in the pet emergency kit. Identification tags and collars can break or become lost during an evacuation.
Practice Before an Emergency
A pet that enters a carrier only for veterinary visits may associate it with stress. Leave the carrier open periodically in a familiar location. Place bedding, treats, or a favorite toy inside and allow the animal to explore it voluntarily.
Practice calmly placing the pet inside, closing the carrier, carrying it to the vehicle, and taking a short drive when appropriate. Dogs should practice walking on a leash and entering the household vehicle.
Know where each pet usually hides. Cats may move under beds, into closets, behind appliances, or into other confined spaces when frightened. Closing interior doors early may prevent an animal from disappearing into a difficult-to-reach area while the household prepares to leave.
Never delay an evacuation order for extended searches. If a pet cannot be located without placing someone in danger, leave and inform emergency personnel or animal-control authorities when safe to do so. Do not return to an evacuated area without official permission.
Assemble a Pet Emergency Kit
Prepare supplies for each animal in a portable, clearly marked container. The kit may include:
- Pet food stored in waterproof containers
- Drinking water
- Food and water bowls
- A manual can opener when needed
- Prescription medications
- Feeding and medication instructions
- Waste bags, litter, a litter tray, or cage liners
- Bedding or a familiar comfort item
- Cleaning supplies and disposable gloves
- A pet first-aid kit
- Towels
- An extra leash, collar, or harness
The CDC recommends preparing adequate food, water, medication, and care supplies for each pet. Quantities should reflect the animal’s needs and the possibility that the household may be unable to return home promptly. Review the CDC’s pet disaster preparedness kit guidance.
Rotate food before it expires and confirm that medication remains current. Ask the veterinarian how temperature-sensitive medicine should be transported and stored. Do not change a pet’s medication, dosage, or storage method without veterinary guidance.
Protect Veterinary and Vaccination Records
Keep protected copies of each pet’s veterinary records in the emergency kit and secure digital backup. Records may include:
- Rabies and other vaccination certificates
- A medical summary
- Prescription information
- The veterinarian’s contact details
- License and registration information
- Adoption or ownership documents
- Microchip information
- Feeding and boarding instructions
Some boarding facilities, shelters, or temporary accommodations may require proof of current vaccinations. Keep copies in a waterproof pouch, but do not place the only available record in a portable bag that could be lost.
Maintain Identification, Photographs, and Microchips
Pets should wear current identification when appropriate. Tags should display a telephone number that will remain useful if the household is displaced.
Take clear, recent photographs showing the pet’s face, body, markings, and distinguishing features. Keep at least one photograph of the owner with the pet. These images may help identify the animal, create a lost-pet notice, or demonstrate ownership after separation.
Ask a veterinarian whether microchipping is appropriate. A microchip does not track an animal’s location like a GPS device; it provides an identification number that can be read with a compatible scanner. The chip must be registered, and the owner’s telephone number and address must remain current. Record the chip number and registry contact information separately. Ready.gov recommends microchips, current identification, records, carriers, and a pet evacuation plan.
Identify Pet-Friendly Accommodations
Do not assume every emergency shelter, hotel, rental property, or relative’s home will accept pets. Policies may differ by animal, size, breed, number of pets, and emergency conditions.
Before an evacuation, identify several possible destinations in different directions, including:
- Pet-friendly hotels or motels
- Friends or relatives outside the immediate hazard area
- Veterinary hospitals
- Boarding facilities
- Animal shelters
- Community emergency facilities that accommodate household pets
Call ahead when possible because policies and availability can change. Ask about deposits, vaccination requirements, carriers, pet limits, and whether animals must remain in a separate sheltering area.
Service animals are not treated as pets under applicable access requirements and may be permitted where household pets are not. However, handlers should still bring food, water, medication, identification, waste supplies, and other necessary equipment for the service animal.
Arrange Help When No One Is Home
An emergency may begin while owners are at work, traveling, or unable to return home. Create a buddy system with a trusted neighbor, relative, pet sitter, or friend who can access the residence and evacuate the animals when it is safe and lawful.
Give the person written instructions explaining where pets may hide, which carrier belongs to each animal, what medication is required, and where the household plans to reunite. Create more than one arrangement because the primary helper may also be affected by the emergency.
Review the pet evacuation plan at least twice a year and whenever the household adopts a new animal, moves, changes veterinarians, replaces a vehicle, or updates emergency contacts.
Helpful Hint
Keep carriers accessible and practice placing pets inside them. Frightened animals may hide or resist handling when alarms sound. Familiarity with the carrier can reduce delays and stress during an emergency evacuation.
Important Safety Reminder
Take pets with you when authorities direct you to evacuate, but never place human life at risk while attempting to find, capture, or retrieve an animal. Do not leave pets loose, abandon them at an evacuation site, or return through a road closure. Follow current instructions from public-safety, emergency-management, animal-control, and shelter officials.
Important Preparedness and Safety Notice
This chapter provides general preparedness education, not real-time emergency instructions. Conditions, evacuation zones, routes, shelters, road closures, and public-safety directions can change rapidly. During an emergency, consult current information from authorized public agencies and follow all instructions issued by emergency officials. Call 911 for an immediate threat to life, active fire, serious injury, crime in progress, or another urgent emergency.
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