Evacuating with pets

Do you have four-footed members of your family? Have you how you might manage them if you had to evacuate your Alabama home in an emergency? There may be provision in your insurance for alternative accommodation if you have a situation where your house is uninhabitable, but that’s no use if you can’t find somewhere that will take your pets as well.

This needs careful planning and there are things you should check out well in advance so if you’re facing this situation you have options.

•    Talk to friends and family. See if any of them can offer you emergency accommodation if required.

•    Call your local SPCA and ask if they have a list of pet friendly hotels and motels.

•    Keep an emergency bag for your pets alongside the one you have for the rest of the family. It should contain bottled water, bags of dried food, spare leads and/or harnesses and blankets.

In an emergency, people are the priority. You may receive advance warning of an impending disaster, and if you do, you should leave as soon as possible or you may have to be evacuated, and if that happens, you may have to leave your animals behind. The only way you can guarantee to get your pets to safety is if you take them, and that means getting out in good time – even if it means, in the end, that it was a false alarm. Check your insurance for limits on accommodation so you don’t get a surprise bill that is more than your payout if you need to stay in a motel.

*