indian river county « cyndi lenz

To Our Commissioners in Martin and St Lucie County.

This past Saturday I attended our annual disaster conference. Our area includes Martin County, Port St Lucie County, Okeechobee County and Indian River County. The MRC (Medical Reserve Corp) are volunteers who assist in disasters.

The only county that seemed to have it act together was Indian River County. They have this:

It was suggested you take a photo of yourself with you and your pet so no one can show up and say that your pet is their pet.

meme selfie (you should have your face in the photo)

Do not leave your pets if you have to evacuate. If you go they go!

don’t leave us food source your our only hope!

The number for the Humane Society of Vero Beach and Indian River County is 772-388-5492. Our commissioners can call them and get info on how to set up programs in our county. I bet they would be deee-lighted to come down and show you guys how to do this.

In a storm everything east of Federal Hwy is considered an evacuation zone. That means your veterinarians in that area are in a potential evacuation zone.

We still do not have pet friendly shelters in Martin or St Lucie County.

I found this article that George

@TCPalmAndreassi

wrote in 2007:

http://www.tcpalm.com/weather/30martin-pets-canshelter-in-storm

The Humane Society of the Treasure Coast in Palm City, the county’s first pet shelter, can withstand winds of 140 mph or more and accommodate as many as 200 cats and dogs.

The offering, free for up to five days, is a temporary solution that allows Martin County to comply with a new Federal Emergency Management Agency pet shelter strategy requirement, Holman said.

The county in the meantime is working to provide a similarly secure shelter for pets as well as their owners, Holman said.

It’s 2015- what’s the plan?

We really need a plan especially for our seniors who have pets. We have a lot of people who live by themselves with their dog or cat in substandard housing. What are we going to do to help them?

In Indian River County the first pets they take are the volunteers that work the shelter. HINTHINTHINT

Here is a list of pet friendly shelters for Florida. Plan now. Many of these place require that you pre register. Your pets must be up to date on their vaccinations and you need to bring a crate, food, basically everything your pet will need.

http://www.floridapetfriendly.com/pet-friendly-hurricane-shelters.htm

We also need an update list of hotels/motels that accept pets and I am told that some that usually don’t take pets will change their policy during a storm.

After Hurricane Katrina hundreds of pets were displaced. Please make sure your pet has at least a tag with a phone number.

Here is a nice video from the AVMA.