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If an Emergency Strikes

Task Force Addresses Emergency Plans for NYC's Animals

New Yorkers with companion animals might sleep a little sounder knowing that the City of New York is taking steps to accommodate pets in its emergency planning. Like many cities and towns across the country, New York is taking lessons learned more than a year ago when Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and other areas on the Gulf Coast and left thousands of animals, many of them pets, separated from their families — many never to be reunited.

To develop plans to cope with a disaster — both natural and otherwise — New York City's Office of Emergency Management (OEM) has created an Animal Planning Task Force. The task force includes representatives from a wide range of organizations in and around New York City: the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH), NYC Department of Parks & Recreation, American Red Cross in Greater New York, American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), Animal Care & Control of NYC, Bide-A-Wee, Humane Society of the United States, the Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals, Suffolk County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Veterinary Emergency Response Team (VERT), and Veterinary Medical Assistance Team One (VMAT-1).

As part of its emergency response planning, OEM has held several information sessions for volunteers interested in helping in the City's emergency response for pets and their people. Additional information sessions and trainings will be scheduled in 2007. If you are interested in being a part of this effort or learning more, please e-mail info@AnimalAllianceNYC.org.

In addition to developing a response plan for various kinds of emergencies, OEM recently began distributing copies of its new pet preparedness brochure, Ready New York for Pets, which describes steps people with pets can take to be prepared for an emergency. The brochure encourages pet owners/guardians to have a plan for what they will do should an emergency require them to leave their homes, leave their pet(s) at home, or prevent them from returning home. While preliminary planning by the City includes providing some limited emergency sheltering for pets, all New Yorkers with pets are encouraged to develop their own emergency plans that ensure adequate care for their pets in the event of a disaster.

Copies of the Ready New York for Pets brochure are being distributed to animal-related businesses throughout the city. In NYC you can request copies by calling 311 (TTY: 212-504-4115), or you can download a copy from www.nyc.gov/readynewyork.

To help get the word out to New Yorkers about emergency preparedness for pets, Mayor's Alliance President Jane Hoffman has made several appearances in the media. On May 22 she appeared in several TV spots, including WPIX WB11 News at 10, WNYW Fox 5 News at 5, and NY1 The Call, where the importance of emergency planning and microchipping pets was featured.

If there's an emergency, NYC is better prepared to cope with the impact on animals than ever before. However, the planning is an ongoing process. It's important that everyone who shares his or her home with a pet has a plan for what to do if an emergency strikes.

For more information about emergency preparedness planning for people and their pets, visit www.nyc.gov/readynewyork or call 311 (TTY: 212-504-4115).