Common to many of the repeated issues surrounding animals in disasters in the U.S. is a pre-existing weak animal health infrastructure that is under constant pressure resulting from pet overpopulation. Unless this root cause is addressed, communities remain vulnerable to similar issues with animals they and others have faced in past disasters. In the US the plight of animals in disasters is frequently viewed primarily as a response issue and frequently handled by groups that are not integrated with the affected community’s emergency management. In contrast, animals, their owners, and communities would greatly benefit from integrating animal issues into an overall emergency management strategy for the community. There is no other factor contributing as much to human evacuation failure in disasters that is under the control of emergency management when a threat is imminent as pet ownership. Emergency managers can take advantage of the bond people have with their animals to instill appropriate behavior amongst pet owners in disasters.

This study characterized risk factors for household evacuation failure. A random digit dial telephone survey was conducted of 397 households in Yuba County, California, in July 1997, 6 months after residents had been under evacuation notice due to flooding. Case households failed to evacuate, whereas control households evacuated. The cumulative incidence of household evacuation failure was 19.4%. Fewer households with children (25.8%) failed to evacuate than households without children (45.9%, p < 0.01). More households with pets (20.9%) than households without pets failed to evacuate (16.3%, p = 0.11). With multivariate logistic regression, the risk of household evacuation failure was lower in households with children (odds ratio = 0.4, 95% confidence interval: 0.2, 0.8) compared with households without children. The risk of household evacuation failure increased in pet-owning households without children (odds ratio = 1.3, 95% confidence interval: 1.1, 1.5) compared with pet-owning households with children; the more pets a household owned, the higher the risk of household evacuation failure was. Impediments to pet evacuation, including owning multiple pets, owning outdoor dogs, or not having a cat carrier, explained why many households that owned pets failed to evacuate. Predisaster planning should place a high priority on facilitating pet evacuation through predisaster education of pet owners and emergency management personnel.

OBJECTIVE:To describe epidemiologic features of pet evacuation failure after a hazardous chemical spill in which residents had no warning and only a few hours notice to evacuate.DESIGN:Cross-sectional study.SAMPLE POPULATION:Pet-owning households that evacuated from a hazardous chemical spill with (n = 119) or without (122) their pets. Procedures-Evacuees were surveyed by mail.RESULTS:261 of 433 (60.3%) dogs and cats in 241 households were not evacuated. Of the 241 households, 119 (49.4%) evacuated with their pets, 98 (40.7%) evacuated without them but later attempted to rescue them, and 24 (10.0%) neither evacuated their pets nor attempted to rescue them. Pet evacuation failure was most common in households that thought the evacuated area was safe for pets. Risk of pet evacuation failure increased in households with many animals, low pet attachment and commitment scores, and low levels of preparedness. Cat evacuation failure was associated with not having cat carriers. Nearly 80% of households that evacuated with their pets found accommodation with friends and family.CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE:Pet evacuation failure was common and jeopardized pets' health and well-being. Logistical challenges to transporting pets were substantial contributors to pet evacuation failure, whereas not knowing where to house a pet was only a minor concern. Most pet owners seemed self-reliant and acted appropriately towards their pets. Such self-reliant behavior by pet owners should be encouraged prior to disasters as part of an evacuation plan for households.

OBJECTIVE To determine risk factors for pet evacuation failure during a flood. DESIGN Cross-sectional survey. SAMPLE POPULATION 203 pet-owning households in a flooded region. PROCEDURES Persons under evacuation notice because of a flood were interviewed by use of a random telephone survey. RESULTS 102 households evacuated with their pets, whereas 101 households evacuated without their pets. Low pet attachment and commitment scores were significantly associated with a greater chance of pet evacuation failure. Risk of pet evacuation failure and lower attachment and commitment scores were also associated with pet management practices prior to the disaster, such as dogs being kept outdoors most of the time or owners not having carriers for their cats. More than 90% of owners made housing arrangements for their pets without assistance. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE Predictors of pet evacuation failure are usually present before a disaster strikes and are potentially modifiable. Mitigation of pet evacuation failure should focus on activities that reinforce responsible pet ownership and strengthen the human-animal bond, including socializing dogs, attending dog behavior training classes, transporting cats in nondisaster times, and seeking regular preventive veterinary care. Most pet owners are self-reliant in disasters, and this behavior should be encouraged.

Pet rescues endanger public and animal health in disasters and are a direct consequence of pet evacuation failure. This study characterized pet rescue attempts in two disasters. A random digit dial telephone survey was conducted of 397 households in Yuba County, California, where residents were under an evacuation notice due to flooding. A mail survey was conducted of 241 households in Weyauwega, Wisconsin, where residents evacuated from a hazardous chemical spill. Risk factors for pet rescue were identified using multivariate logistic regression. Case households were defined as those that evacuated without pets and later attempted to rescue them, while control households were those that evacuated without their pet and did not attempt a rescue. Approximately 20 percent and 50 percent of pet-owning households that evacuated failed to take their pet with them in Yuba County and Weyauwega, respectively. Approximately 80 percent of persons who reentered the evacuated area did so to rescue their pet. Attempts to rescue a pet was most common by households with children. Predisaster planning should, therefore, place a higher priority on facilitating pet evacuation so as to minimize the subsequent need to rescue pets.