Unplanned Pet Travel: A Hurricane Preparedness Guide for Pets

Hurricane Pet Safety Tips

Our business focuses on carefully planned pet travel, but we know that sometimes Mother Nature demands that you quickly leave home and head to safer ground. If you live in an area affected by hurricanes, it's smart to have an exit plan that includes the whole family -- pets included.

To prepare for hurricane season which runs from late spring to late fall, it's the perfect time to go over some disaster preparedness ideas that will help keep your pets safe. Here are a few tips we found useful, and hopefully you can, too.

Know where you'll take your pet if you have to leave.

A friend's house? The home of a family member? Don't wait until things get crazy to check into your possibilities. Send that email or text message today finding out if you can count on someone you know, and if you can't, check into shelter options. Many vets and animal shelters make space during storms for temporary pet housing.

Keep a travel carrier handy.

Crates make car travel safer and guarantee your pet will have a familiar place to be if you end up at a friend's house or a pet friendly hotel. On that note, crate training your pet before it's ever necessary is a good idea, as you never know when it might come in handy.

Make sure all tags, microchips and vaccines are up to date.

Not only will it make you feel like a good citizen/pet owner to have your pets in line in terms of their rabies shots, well-secured tags with the right information will make it easier to locate them in the event of a separation. Again, this is planning for something that may never happen, but when it comes to your furry family members it's smart to be prepared for anything.

Have a travel bag ready to go.

Gather food and water (also dishes), an extra leash, a flashlight, medications, and anything else you'll need and have it an easy to grab bag. If time is limited later, you'll be glad you thought ahead.

Finally, here are a few more pet hurricane preparedness tips from Trips with Pets and the ASPCA.

Stay safe, everyone, and please contact us if you have any pet travel questions!

Editor's Note: This post was originally published in June 2013 and has been updated with new information.