Every March or April, I like to take stock of my dog emergency kit. It’s a good time of year to do it, before the spring and summer storms start in earnest.
What is an emergency kit? It’s an easy-to-carry, always-stocked bag containing everything you might need if you have to seek shelter with your pets on short notice; it also does double duty as a vacation/travel kit.
What’s in a Dog Emergency Kit?
Inside our bag, I like to keep the following basic items:
- Food, water and medicine (three days’ worth for each pet)
- A first aid kit (including rolls of gauze and/or some kind of self-adhering bandages)
- An extra collar and leash for each pet
- Collapsible travel bowls
- Poop bags
- A couple of trash bags
- Muzzles (in case you have to shelter with other people/pets)
- Clorox wipes
- Duct tape
- Paper towels
- Half a dozen puppy pads (good for absorbing accidental messes or lining crates)
- A couple of these fancy space blankets
- A zip lock bag containing pictures, descriptions, contact info, designated caregiver info and up-to-date health certificates for each pet.
Technically, you should have current health certificates any time you cross state lines with your pets, and in an emergency situation you don’t want to risk having your pets turned away for lack of documentation.
You should rotate the food and medicine out of the kit periodically to make sure it doesn’t go stale or expire. If you have special travel crates for each pet, keep the emergency kit with the crate; having everything in one place will save valuable time if you need to evacuate in a hurry.
Everyone’s pet emergency kit is going to be different, and some of the supplies (like water) will overlap with your own emergency kit. The ASPCA has a good checklist for species-specific disaster preparedness kits. If you live in a wildfire zone, it’s a good idea to have multiple emergency kits, as fires move much more quickly and unpredictably than extreme weather events.
Questions to Ask Prior to an Emergency
Updating and replenishing the emergency kit is a good reminder to check on the other logistics of your dog’s life as well. Ask yourself these questions:
- Is your dog’s microchip information accurate?
- Are the buckles on the collars and the clips on the leashes still sound?
- Are the tags still legible?
- Does your pet need any booster shots/dental exams/annual exams?
- Do I need to renew dog park or city licenses?
- Have the requirements for traveling with my pet on airplanes changed?