Last month’s ice storm has prompted many New Hampshire communities to evaluate their disaster response plans, including how they handle pets.
Danville Animal Control Officer Sheila Johannsen is trying to alert town officials about a 2006 federal law that requires every community to include the needs of people with pets and service animals in its official disaster plan. Towns that fail to comply risk federal disaster relief money.
"I’m hoping to light a fire under people," Johannsen said.
In Danville, many pet owners lost heat and electricity in the storm, but stayed home with their animals rather than go to the shelter at Town Hall, which didn’t allow pets, she said. If people arrived with an animal, shelter staff kept it in a crate until Johannsen arrived to take it to Carol’s Grooming in Hampstead.
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I think it's obvious that all emergency plans should be crafted with people's pets in mind, so the fact that natural disasters are forcing people to make such plans is a double-egded sword, in my opinion.
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