NATURAL DISASTERS AND YOUR PET
When disaster strikes , it ’ s not just people who are affected and need help . SPCA Canterbury chief inspector Monique Hagedoorn , who is in the thick of the aftermath of the Christchurch Port Hills fires when she talks to Pet Life magazine , says the welfare of animals in an emergency situation is also paramount because that helps to save human lives .
People are reluctant to leave their properties if they can ’ t take their animals with them , therefore all the agencies involved in managing Civil Defence emergencies need to factor animals into their plans and residents need to be prepared to evacuate with their pets , she says . The cordons have been lifted in the Port Hills , allowing the residents of about 450 homes to return to their properties nine days after the fires started , but the blaze has raged through 2000 hectares and destroyed 11 houses .
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There has been a steady stream of phone calls . Cats , livestock and chooks are missing . Some have lost their lives in the fire and some have had to be put down . “ Driving through the fire-affected areas is sad and I can ’ t really describe it . It is terrible , black everywhere ,” says Monique . “ When an emergency like this occurs , it ’ s not just the people who are made homeless but their animals as well .” Gates were left open so that livestock could escape , or fences have been tipped over . “ We have flocks of livestock that we don ’ t know who the owners are . We ’ re now having to rehome sheep and chooks because properties have been devastated .” A state of emergency was declared on February 15 , two days after the fires began . Cordons went up and residents were unable to enter their properties . “ Can you imagine when there is a fire around you and you have to evacuate , you have to leave your house and everything , but maybe your animal , your beloved member of the family , is outside somewhere and you don ’ t know where . That must be so terrifying .” Monique says she had a call from a woman whose father was refusing to leave his Port Hills property without his alpacas . “ We advised them what they could do to get the animals away safely but we were not allowed into the cordoned area . “ People died in Hurricane Katrina because they didn ’ t want to leave their animals . We need to prevent this from happening and ensure people can evacuate with their animals , that we have pet-friendly welfare centres , but mostly pet owners need to be prepared . We are living in a country where natural disasters happen .” During Hurricane Katrina , which struck the Gulf of Mexico in the United States in 2005 , nearly half of the people who refused to evacuate stayed in their homes because of their pets . Then , when helicopters and boats came , many rescuers refused to take cats and dogs so many pet owners refused to go . Some did leave , believing that they could get their pets in a few days , but they were not allowed to return to their homes for weeks and the pets were left to fend for themselves on rooftops , barricaded in homes or battling the floodwaters . Many pets died . A public outcry resulted in the implementation of the Pets Evacuation and Transportation Standards Act in the US in 2006 , which requires rescue agencies to save pets as well as people during natural disasters , and to include all domesticated animals in disaster plans . Monique says animal welfare organisations in New Zealand are meeting this month to discuss how pets and other animals can be better included in emergency management in the future . But , equally as important , all animal owners should have a pet emergency plan in place , along with a survival kit for each pet , in case disaster strikes .
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