A powerful 6.8-magnitude earthquake struck Mexico leaving at least two people dead. It comes three days after another deadly quake about 200 miles away on the Pacific coast.
Fido and Fluffy are
in Danger
or
How to save 13
Million People in Disasters
by
Jennifer
Covarubio-Yarra
Do you believe in global warming? Even if you don’t believe
in global warming, there is one thing that you cannot close your eyes to. What
is this you might ask? Disasters. There are more and more disasters happening
that are natural. These disasters are becoming more intense in nature. For
example:
The 2018 wildfire season - the deadliest and most
destructive wildfire season on record in California. This wildfire burned over
1,893,913 acres.
Another example of these natural disasters was Hurricane Michael
- the third intense Atlantic hurricane that hit landfall.
Although both disasters were different in some ways, they
both shared one thing in common.
What they both shared was that some of the people that went through
these disasters had animals that they truly cared about.
People have learned to prepare for themselves and have places
where they can go to stay safe in times of need. If you don’t have animals, it
is easier to evacuate. But what if you do have animals? Then you are facing a
problem. Most shelters do not accept animals.
Many people with animals do not evacuate because they do not
want to leave their animals behind. These people are willing to stick it out
and ride out the disaster.
66 million households have pets. There are more dogs than
children in the United States according to Banfield Pet Hospital. 66% consider
their pets members of their family according to the Humane Society of the
United States. A recent survey that was done stated that over 30% of people do
not evacuate due to not wanting to leave their animals behind.
This is an issue that is real and not good for anyone, even
if you are able to survive the disaster.
First: it makes it harder for the first responders to get to
you. Second: you have just put yourself and those around you in danger. Third:
your chances of surviving become minimal.
As you can see, it is not good for anyone.
My proposition is
to help increase the chances of surviving a disaster for everyone - especially
for those that have animals.
If we can have comfort kits for people and their animals and help them prepare
now or mitigate before a disaster strikes, we are able to save more lives.
1) People will have an action plan for themselves and their
fur babies in place.
2) They will know how to evacuate when a disaster is
happening.
3) They won’t be separated from their animals, which will
increase the number of people who evacuate.
4) They will feel more confident and be able to start the
healing process faster after a disaster.
5) Animals won’t run around lost, scared, cold, hungry, and
defensive. They will not be putting themselves, and first responders in danger.
Chances of survival for the animals will increase.
I would like to have comfort kits that carry in them the
following:
1.
Leash
2.
Disposable food bowls
3.
Treats
4.
Small toy
5.
Food
6.
Blankets
7.
Water bottles
8.
And education tools to get prepared for a
disaster
9.
Places to go when evacuating
These will be comfort kits given
to people who have animals to help them.
Another thing that is important is
to start having pet food drives at churches or your place of work or food
pantry.
Where church members or the
community can bring in some of the things listed:
10.
Leash
11.
Disposable food bowls
12.
Treats
13.
Small toy
14.
Food
15.
Blankets
16.
Water bottles
More people will be aware of how
to prepare and it will be a community and church effort. If a person feels that
they have contributed to a great cause more people will want to be part of
something and the greater number for the greater good will take place. Can you
imagine what will happen the next time a disaster happens? More people will be
safe and will survive because we made a difference. It is a win-win situation. We
might not be able to save the world, but we can all do our part and start a
movement and save more pets and people.
If you have any questions, want to share your story of your fur babies, or how can we serve you better in any way, please reach out in the comment section. We want to hear from you. We're glad you're here! We love you.
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