to avoid needless animal suffering
By Susan Bard Hall
EARS’ primary goal is national disaster planning for animals so they are no longer the forgotten victims of disasters, explained Terri Crisp, who has been director since 1993.
“Our mission is to minimize the suffering and reduce the deaths of domesticated and farm animals during both natural and man-made disasters,” Crisp said. “We try and ensure that these animals are rescued, provided shelter, given medical treatment, and reunited with their caregivers or find permanent homes.”
One of the challenges faced by EARS is that people never expect disaster to strike them. Even if they admit it could affect their closest neighbor, they still feel they’ll remain unscathed.
No one is immune
“We emphasize how important it is to prepare ahead of time. No one is immune to natural or man-made disasters,” Crisp emphasized. “Spreading the word about disaster preparedness, not only for animals but also for people, is what saves lives.”
Another reason that disaster plans are so important is that over 60 percent of America’s households include pets, and the primary reason people give for refusing to evacuate their homes when told to do so is they won’t abandon their animals and they haven’t made other provisions to ensure their safety.
For this reason, EARS tries to work with all emergency management and human response agencies to try and establish animal rescue centers in close proximity to human ones so that caregivers can remain as close as possible to their pets. EARS also makes every effort to publicize that these rescue centers exist so that caregivers won’t leave their animals behind or refuse to evacuate in order to stay with them.
While some animals are lost because caregivers evacuate and misguidedly think that their animals will be fine and survive on their own until they return (assuming their home is still standing), unfortunately disasters like home fires and earthquakes occur without advance warning and animals are caught alone at home (for example, when caregivers are at work). As cruel as it sounds, caregivers may be forbidden to return home to rescue their own pets. When roadblocks are set up, no amount of persuasion is successful.
“The greatest fear among caregivers is that a disaster will strike when they are not at home and the animals are left alone,” Crisp said. “I’ve seen caregivers cry and beg and offer money and attempt to run roadblocks. They still won’t let you pass.”
Also, there are times when it’s too dangerous to attempt any rescues, regardless of whether human or animal life is in jeopardy.
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