Her daughter's hunter-jumper was trapped in an English barn in Pleasant Valley. The experience made Beaugez and disaster relief officials realize there was no organized method for rescuing and sheltering animals in times of floods, brush and wild land fires or earthquakes. She and a number of volunteers are writing an animal disaster preparedness plan for Northern Nevada that would guide owners on how to evacuate animals and where they can be taken for shelter. The plan will include a list of volunteers who have been trained in animal evacuation, he said. It also will list shelters that will accept cats, dogs, birds, horses, etc., during a natural emergency.
Education is an important part of the plan.
One mistake that horse owners make in a fire is to turn their horses loose. Owners also will place themselves in danger to save an animal, Beaugez said. The plan also would give animal owners details on what food and other supplies should be gathered and kept in an animal disaster kit. For example, an animal that needs medication could be in jeopardy without the drugs being available in a disaster kit. The Northern Nevada animal disaster preparedness plan dovetails efforts to create a national disaster plan that is being developed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Minter said.