Emergency Evacuation Plans-Unleashed 

“The eye of the storm is not the time to find out you are unprepared….” 

Do you live on the East Coast where you are prone to blizzards in the winter or in the South where you need to worry about hurricanes? Maybe you live in the Midwest where you need to keep an eye on the sky for tunnel formations. How about the West Coast where you need to worry about the earth cracking and shaking below your feet?  

Weather alone can cause significant damage to your shelter facilities. Aside from natural disasters there are other unfortunate events such as a fire or community protesting which can have a dramatic impact on your shelters.  

All of these events could cause catastrophic damage and possibly take months to rebuild your facility. How can you best be prepared for these events when you have several dogs, cats and other small animals in your care with only a few staff members and volunteers? Preparing ahead of time will be key so you are not finding out the day of the emergency that you don’t have enough personnel, cages or leashes to move them all. 

Take a look at how you typically prepare to go grocery shopping. Usually, you prepare a list ahead of time and when you shop, you mark things off as you put them in the cart. How about Santa and his list? He checks it twice and when the time comes, he delivers the packages to safe places. The same should go for an emergency evacuation plan for your shelter.  

This plan should describe the initial responsibilities and actions to be taken by staff and volunteers during an emergency of any kind. Let’s look at some key points that should be included in an emergency evacuation plan of an animal shelter: 

• Ensuring an emergency or fire is reported to the appropriate authorities. 

• When will you evacuate? Who will make that decision? 

• What are the exit route assignments? Where will you stage or meet? 

• Who will oversee the evacuation and assign duties? 

• How will all persons and animals be accounted for during and after evacuation? 

• Do you have the names and contact information of facility owners or managers who should be contacted when an emergency occurs?   

• Discuss the emergency evacuation plan with staff and volunteers, and make it available to anyone who may need to implement it. 

• Consider partnering with your local police, fire department and other volunteer agencies to ensure timely evacuations of all animals. 

• Ensure you have emergency fosters on standby in case of immediate relocation need. 

• Conduct annual practice evacuations. Just like running for a marathon or preparing for a play, you rehearse and practice repeatedly so that day of, you are on your game and everything goes smoothly.