LAKEPORT>> On Thursday at the Judge’s Breakfast in Clearlake, Dennis Burke from North Coast Opportunities revisited a familiar topic, presenting on the emergency preparedness of our four-legged friends.
Burke discussed the CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) and CERC (California Emergency Response Core) programs and was joined by colleagues Amanda Samson, Amy Zingone and Tony Browning. Samson shared some info on the Americorps CERC program.
“We do a lot of volunteer work within the community,” he said. “We’ll do Citizens Caring for Clearlake, we’ll go around and work with Redwood Coast Regional Center to present go bags to access any functional needs clients.” She continued to explain that CERC has a goal of educating the public on emergency preparedness. “We can all get through this together,” she added. Samson and Zingone also volunteer wit the the American Red Cross. The group travels all around Lake County displaying one of two of their emergency response trailers as well as providing printed information and basic items like glow sticks and slip leads for animals.
Burke said that the CERT program is for disaster response detailing the training, he said, “We are trained to light search and rescue, injury assessment, working as a team and working with the public.” Burke transitioned the discussion with, “Let me click over to one of my pet peeves, which is pet disaster preparedness and evacuation.” Talking about some of our population’s most vulnerable – our pets. Our pets often get overlooked in a time of disaster with Burke adding that “We need to be prepared with our dogs. We recommend a doggy go bag.” These go bags should contain basic items for your animal including bowls, food, treats, water, toys, and some blankets to comfort your dog in a time of emergency. Other necessary pet go bag items are a crate or pet carrier, a leash and collar with back-ups, a pet first aid kit, plastic bags, cat litter, extra towels, medications, and a cable tie out. He said that it is also important to label all of your pets’ items in case things are lost.
Since they cannot communicate or advocate for themselves, there are many other extra precautions to take in order to ready yourself for an emergency with your animal. Samson said, “I like to keep a flash drive with my dog’s important information and make sure to have photos on it with you and your dog together. In case you get separated, that makes getting them back easier and quicker.” Browning added “It goes a long way in reuniting people. In a disaster situation everything’s chaotic, it’s difficult at best, having that picture of you with the pet is real identification.”
He advised people to prepare for the worst with copies of lost dog flyers with an up-to-date photo of your pet, and also having their pet microchipped and registered. Burke reminded the audience that above all it is key to have a plan so that in times of evacuation, one is ready to leave with one’s pets within minutes of receiving an alert. Practicing evacuation with your pet should also be part of your evacuation plan as Burke said that “It makes it a little bit easier in times of having to run.” Burke added “I don’t believe in leaving any animal behind. We are working on some large livestock disaster evacuation programs coming up.”
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