Prepared for potential pet problems

Ben Godar

With most every public agency and private corporation taking part in

some type of emergency preparedness training, the Volunteers of the

Burbank Animal Shelter wondered why pets couldn’t get involved.

“Since we’re the volunteers of the animal shelter, we thought we’d

think about the animals since they need help too,” Volunteers

President Eva Sippel said.

The result was Saturday’s Animal Disaster Preparedness Day, which

provided information about tending to pet’s needs during an

emergency. The shelter volunteers teamed up with members of the

Burbank Fire Department Community Disaster Volunteers to cover

everything from dog CPR to preparing a disaster kit for a pet.

“People know to prepare disaster kits for their families, but it’s

also important for people to have kits for their animals,” organizer

Sherry Nakamura said.

In addition to keeping food and water for pets in a disaster kit,

organizers recommended that owners have any medication the animal may

need and a way to confine the pet if the home is damaged. For dogs,

it might be necessary to have a stake and chain, while birds should

have a small cage.

Steve Brownell, a Burbank man who owns a yellow Labrador

retriever, said he was glad to learn how to do CPR on his dog and he

plans to prepare it a disaster preparedness kit.

“I know a lot of people who don’t have pets think of them as

property, but when you have one, you think of them as part of the

family,” he said. “If you could save the life of your pet, why

wouldn’t you?”

Nakamura hopes other people take the same initiative in looking

out for their pets.

“We want people to realize you need to be prepared for yourself

and for your animals,” she said.