Why have a Pet Emergency Shelter in Eastham?
Mistakes
were made during disaster planning and relief efforts when major hurricanes Katrina and Rita hit. This has motivated
a revision in the way the emergency response and aid organizations deal with pets and their owners.
Some owners were so reluctant to leave their pets in jeopardy that they delayed
evacuation until danger was imminent or refused to evacuate at all. The result was dead pets, dead owners, and many
more injuries - many of which could have been avoided.
Now
Homeland Security, FEMA, and the American Red Cross encourage and support the creation of local and regional pet friendly
emergency shelters. Eastham Dog Owners Association (EDOA) is a group of concerned citizens who have taken on the task
of assisting local officials in providing a pet friendly shelter for Eastham.
Our local Emergency Pet Shelter will accommodate a limited number of pets and their owners during emergencies.
It is part of a plan to deal with pets in a weather emergency.
- Small numbers may be housed at Nauset Kennels.
- Larger
numbers of people and their pets will be housed at the Eastham Emergency Pet Shelter located at the Council on Ageing building.
- A regional pet friendly shelter will accommodate still larger numbers of people and their pets at Cape Cod Regional Technical High School in Harwich.
We hope, of course, that no such emergency ever visits
itself on Eastham. But hoping is not very good emergency preparedness. The Eastham Emergency Pet Shelter should help encourage Eastham at risk residents concerned about their
pets to make the smart decision and seek shelter from the storm.
