Many of you may have heard about the Butler Fire in Fawnskin. Guess what, I live in Fawnskin. Great billows of smoke were coming over the ridge across from my house and I grabbed my stuff and left.
This fire occurred shorlty after I finished an update of my Animal Disaster Preparedness for Pet Owners & Pet Professionals which was sparked by a request from a University that wanted a hardcopy in their library.
The original work was published in 1993 after the 6.7 magnitude earthquake here in the Big Bear Valley and it was updated annually until about 1999. I was active in the animal disaster preparedness and rescue world during that time.
When I got the request I knew that lots had changed so the update was needed. Usually, I just sell it in PDF but the college wanted it in the library so I offerred to update it and bind it for them. I lost money on the proposition but the work got updated and it is in their hands.
My whole purpose in this commentary is to say that if you do not have an animal evacuation and disaster preparedness plan in place, you should make efforts to do so now. I can’t tell you how sad it is to show up in the post disaster areas only to find how stressed out and traumatized people are from having lost their pets.
In most cases you will not be allowed to go back to get your critters. Take them with you and have ID tags and microchips for all your pets. You can read more in the booklet which is available from the shopping cart at Ark Animals.
You can read a little bit of my comments on the Butler Fire on the Fawnskin Flyer (check the September 2007 archives if you read this story after that time).
