Animal Emergency Preparedness - Are you Ready?

I've posted a lot of animal centric posts lately.  But this one is more serious. 

With Hurricane Gustav bearing down on the Gulf Coast, the recent Iowa Floods, and the Spectre of Hurricane Katrina looming in my mind.  If you are an animal owner, do you have a preparedness kit for your animals in case of evacuation or emergency?

Katrina illustrated the lack of preparation that people and government had in the care of domestic animals.  I'm not casting stone here.  People didn't know how  bad the effects of Katrina would be.  Pet owners were devastated by their choices.  But so many pets were lost. On the brighter side, as rescue groups went through they marked homes that had animals for the animal rescue teams that went in to know where to go.  Amazing organizations from across the country went in and volunteered their time and resources to get the pets out of the horrifying situations they were in.  Many pets were reunited with there owners and those who were not were given new homes.

Whether you live in a hurricane & flood zone, tornado alley, or blizzard country you have to realize that your domesticated animals can not fend for themselves.  In an emergency situation, you can not just turn the animals loose and think that they will survive on their own.  You are their primary care providers of food and care. 

The ASPCA is an excellent resource for getting prepared for any sort of disaster related emergency information (http://www.aspca.org/site/PageServer?pagename=pets_emergency), the Federal Emergency Management Agency otherwise known as FEMA (http://www.fema.gov/individual/index.shtm) or contact your local SPCA or animal control office for information. 

You need to be prepared for yourself, your family and your animals.