Animals In Disaster Digest

As Hurricane Irene was beginning to strike the East Coast of the U.S., we went on the air with Cynthia Segal of All Paws Pet Talk to discuss our mission of disaster preparedness for pets.

Hurricane Checklist for Pets

• Water: At least a three-day supply for each pet – one gallon a day for a dog, one or more cups a day for a cat.

• Food: At least a three-day supply for each pet.

• Medications: Three-day supply if your pet needs them.

• Food and water bowls and dish soap for cleaning.

• Collars and/or harnesses with ID tags, contact information attached.

• Leashes. Note: Do not leave animals outside during a hurricane. Use a leash when taking them out for “bathroom” duty. Pets sense danger and may try to run.

• A crate/carrier large enough for pet to stand and turn around. Mark the crate with a visible ID and contact information in case you must go to a shelter.

• A muzzle in case pet is injured or frightened. Pets that are stressed or in pain may bite.

• Blankets for comfort and warmth.

• Towels and paper towels for cleanup.

• Favorite toy

• Treats and/or rawhide to chew on. It will help relieve stress.

• First Aid supplies. See this list from AVMA.

• Pet medical records, immunizations, your contact information and contact information for someone living outside the affected area. In case something happens to you, they will be contacted. Also, a photo of you and your pet. This will help you reclaim your pet if it gets lost and ends up in a shelter. Place all of this in a waterproof zipper bag or container. If you have to take your pet to an emergency shelter, securely attach this information to your pet’s crate.

Make a list of names and phone numbers of pet-friendly hotels outside the impacted area. Be ready to call for reservations as soon as you know you must evacuate. Rooms fill up fast. A couple of website resources are petswelcome.com and bringfido.com. There are many more.

This list covers the basics. For more information about preparing your family, including your pets, for a hurricane, visit Ready.gov.

 On Twitter, follow @redcrossdog for more safety tips and @disasteranimals for current information about emerging disaster events. We’re also on Facebook.

Thanks to Christine Thompson for this heart-warming Guest Post!

The dog days of summer are bittersweet for me.  Summer is my favorite season with swimming and boating and all of the summertime activities.  But the dog days of summer herald the end of summertime swimming and picnics and the flowers begin to lose their bloom as the summer grasses lose their green.  This ending of a season sometimes reminds me of losing a well loved pet.

In tribute to the dog days of summer and to how dogs make a difference in the lives of so many, I would like to lift up the story of a special dog and his special owner.

Chance made his home with a wonderful computer geek who has a passion for his country and is a humanitarian at heart.  Chance helped him keep balance in his life and to share play time.  Chance didn’t think about where the snow came from or if the snow would come again next year, he just played in it and had fun, teaching his owner that sometimes, we must enjoy living in the moment.

Those who have never had a pet may not understand how a small animal (or sometimes a large animal) can help bring a sense of peace and balance in our very hectic lives. 

There are so many animals just waiting for a Chance to share their love with the world.  I hope you take a Chance and open your heart to a rescue animal.  You will not be sorry that you did.

---- Read the story of Chance the SuperDog

ANNOUNCING OUR “GET ME INTO BARKWORLD™ EXPO” CONTEST!

We’re going to the BarkWorld™ Expo as a sponsor and a speaker on September 29 – October 1, 2011 and would love to meet you there! We would like to help FOUR of you get in the door FREE, so put on your creative writing thinking caps and tell us why YOU should be selected!

Send us an email with your story. Demonstrate in 500 words or less why we should get you into BARKWORLD™ EXPO. Be creative!

You can enter starting Monday, August 1, 2011. The contest ends August 12, 2011. Winners will be announced on Monday, August 15, 2011.

Please read our complete contest rules below for all the details before you enter. Entries that don't comply with the rules will be disqualified.

“GET ME INTO BARKWORLD™ EXPO" CONTEST

OFFICIAL RULES

1. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. A donation to HUMANITY ROAD, INC. or any of its clusters (i.e. RedCrossDog or Animals in Disaster) will not improve the chance of winning. Void where prohibited. Subject to all federal, state, and local laws. Participation requires Internet access.

2. CAN I PARTICIPATE? To participate in HUMANITY ROAD, INC.'s "GET ME INTO BARKWORLD™ EXPO" CONTEST you must:

- Be 18 years of age or older.

- Be a legal resident of the 50 United States or the District of Columbia.

- Employees and volunteers of HUMANITY ROAD, INC. and HUMANITYROAD.ORG, its Board of Directors and the immediate family members (parents, siblings, children and spouse) and/or those living in the same household (whether or not related) of each are not eligible to win.

3. CONTEST PERIOD. HUMANITY ROAD, INC.'s "GET ME INTO BARKWORLD™ EXPO" Contest will accept entries by email only, starting at or about 12:00:01 AM (EST) MONDAY, AUGUST 1, 2011 and ending at 11:59:59 PM (EST) FRIDAY, AUGUST 12, 2011 (The "Contest Period"). All entries must be received by 11:59:59 PM (EST) FRIDAY, AUGUST 12, 2011. Proof that you entered your form and submission does not constitute proof or evidence that an entry was actually received within the Contest Period. Participants assume all risk of lost, late, misdirected, incomplete or illegible entries. All entries submitted become the sole property of the Sponsor and will not be acknowledged or returned.

WINNERS WILL BE NOTIFIED AND ANNOUNCED ON MONDAY, AUGUST 15, 2011.

4. HOW DO I ENTER? One entry per person. Submitting an entry constitutes agreeing to the terms of these Official Rules and all decisions of Sponsor and/or its designee, which are final and binding in all respects. Sponsor is not responsible for incorrect, inaccurate or incomplete entry of information or for entries which are garbled, damaged, incompletely received, otherwise defective or lost due to any reason, all of which will be voided. Each submission of an Entry Piece shall constitute an entry ("Entry").

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS. Your email requires: first and last name, age, phone number, mailing address, e-mail address, Twitter name and/or Facebook name, how you found out about the contest, and agreement to these rules. Entries without ALL of this information will be voided.

ENTRY PIECE REQUIREMENTS. (a) In the Entry Piece Email, you must demonstrate in 500 words or less why we should get you into BARKWORLD™ EXPO, (b) Sponsor will be looking for a creative, original and convincing approach to persuade them that you are, indeed, planning to attend. (c) Any language appearing on the Entry Piece must be in English. (d) Entry Pieces must be tasteful. Language will be evaluated by Sponsor based on context and societal acceptability. Content must be intended for a family audience and must, in the sole and unfettered discretion of the Sponsor, be suitable for a general audience and must not contain any nudity, sexually explicit, disparaging, libelous or other inappropriate content. (e) Entry Piece must not contain any commercial content that promotes any product or service other than the Sponsor's. (f) Entry Piece must not contain any trademarks, copyrighted works or other intellectual property (other than as owned by the Entrant). (g) Any elements appearing in an Entry Piece must be the Entrant's own original work, created solely by the Entrant. Use of anything that is not the Entrant's own original work, may result in disqualification. (h) Sponsor reserves the right to reject any Entry that it deems, in its sole discretion, to violate any of these content related requirements. (i) Entry Piece must not contain any links.

Example: “I should be selected because I have been a volunteer for ______ to help animals____”

Example: “I should be selected because ‘I saved the life of my pet ____ and here’s how I did it’.

Example: "I have the sweetest dog ever and this is how I have prepared his/her disaster kit ..."

Be serious. Be humorous. Be both! Be creative!

Email entries should be sent to: redcrossdog@humanityroad.org

If the content of the Entry Piece does not meet the requirements listed above, the Entry Piece will not be posted to HUMANITYROAD.ORG.

By submitting your Entry, you certify that you have read and agree to these Official Rules.

CONDITIONS APPLICABLE TO ALL ENTRIES. By submitting an entry (or accepting any prize), each Entrant understands and agrees that their Entry Piece and name may be posted online to HUMANITYROAD.ORG, without further compensation or review, and will not be returned. Sponsor reserves the right to crop any entry in whole or in part or request submitters to do so, in order to be viewable online. Entrant further agrees to release Sponsor from any and all claims that any such use by Sponsor, including any commercial advertising presentation, web content or any other material subsequently produced, presented and/or prepared by or on behalf of Sponsor, infringes the Entrant's rights with regard to any elements, characters or ideas contained in its Entry.

5. WHAT CAN I WIN? There will be FOUR (4) WINNERS. Each Winner will receive ONE (1) FREE REGISTRATION/ADMISSION TO THE BARKWORLD™ EXPO, to be held at Loews Atlanta Hotel, 1065 Peachtree Street, NE, Atlanta, GA 30309 from September 29 – October 1, 2011. Instructions on how to register online will be emailed to the Winners on MONDAY, AUGUST 15, 2011. Prizes cannot be assigned, transferred, exchanged or otherwise redeemed. Your email address also will be forwarded to BarkWorld™ Expo so they can send you conference information.

Sponsor is not responsible for any costs associated with accepting or otherwise using the prize. Sponsor is not responsible for any travel costs. Acceptance of prize constitutes permission to the Sponsor and its agents to use winner's name and Entry Piece on its website.

6. HOW DO I WIN? Winners will be chosen by HUMANITY ROAD, INC. based on contest guidelines and their submissions will be posted online. In the event of a tie, a panel of judges who are also HUMANITY ROAD, INC. volunteers will determine the winner based on the overall creativity of the tied entries. Judges' decisions are final, binding and conclusive on all matters related to the Contest. Three attempts to contact the potential Grand Prize Winners by telephone or email will be made. Exact means of contact is at the Sponsor's discretion. If a potential Grand Prize Winner is unable to be reached within five (5) days of the third contact attempt, or refuses to accept the prize, the potential Prize Winner will be disqualified and an alternate winner will be selected.

Sponsor shall have no liability or responsibility to award any prize where: (a) any mail addressed to the potential Winner is returned to Sponsor as undeliverable without a forwarding address or if potential Winner cannot be contacted for any reason; or (b) potential Winner is deemed ineligible or otherwise non-compliant with any aspect of these Official Rules. ANY VIOLATION OF THESE OFFICIAL RULES BY ANY WINNER (AT SPONSOR'S SOLE DISCRETION) WILL RESULT IN SUCH INDIVIDUAL'S DISQUALIFICATION AS A WINNER AND ALL PRIVILEGES DUE SUCH INDIVIDUAL WILL BE IMMEDIATELY TERMINATED AND AN ALTERNATE PRIZE WINNER WILL BE SELECTED.

7. CONDUCT. By entering this Contest, each Entrant agrees to be bound by these Official Rules and by the decisions of the Sponsor and its judges and agents, which are final and binding in all matters relating to the Contest. Sponsor reserves the right at its sole discretion to disqualify and prohibit any Entrant from participating in the Contest or winning a prize who Sponsor suspects, in the sole discretion, of attempting to undermine the legitimate operation of the Contest by cheating, hacking, deception, or other unfair playing practices (including the use of automatic quick entry programs) or intending to annoy, abuse or threaten or harass any of the Sponsors' representatives or otherwise failing to comply with these Rules. NOTE: ANY ATTEMPT BY AN ENTRANT OR ANY OTHER PERSON TODAMAGE ANY WEB SITE ASSOCIATED WITH THE SPONSOR OR ITS AGENTS OR UNDERMINING THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THE CONTEST IS A VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAW, AND SPONSOR AND ITS AGENTS RESERVE THE RIGHT TO SEEK DAMAGES FROM ANY SUCH PERSON TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.

8. RELEASE OF LIABILITY. Each winner, by acceptance of the prize, agrees on behalf of him/herself, his/her heirs, executors, representatives, assigns, administrators and next of kin to indemnify, hold harmless and release the Sponsor, its parent, subsidiary and affiliated businesses and each of their officers, directors, shareholders, employees, advisors, assignees, agents, representatives and any other person or entity associated with this Contest from any and all liability claims or actions of any kind with respect to or in any way arising from this Contest, participation in any Contest-related activity; and/or delivery/misdelivery, acceptance, possession, use, or misuse of a prize, including, but not limited to, liability for personal injury, bodily injury (including wrongful death or disability), damage to property, and damage or loss of any other kind. Sponsor is not responsible for any incorrect or inaccurate information, whether caused by Web site users or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or used in the Contest or by any technical or human error that might occur in the processing of Contest Entries. Sponsor assumes no responsibility for any error; omission; interruption; deletion; defect; delay in operation or transmission; communications-line failure; or theft, destruction, unauthorized access to, or alteration of Entries. Sponsor is not responsible for any problems or technical malfunction of any telephone network or lines; computer online systems, servers, or providers; computer equipment; software; or failure of e-mail or entry on account of technical problems or traffic congestion on the Internet or at any Web site or combination thereof, including injury or damage to participant's or to any person's computer related to or resulting from participating in this Contest, downloading materials from Sponsor's Web site or emailing entries. Sponsor is not responsible for cheating or fraud by any participant. Any activities intended to disrupt or interfere with the proper play of the Contest or defraud Sponsor in any way will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Participants who engage in any of the foregoing activities will be disqualified and will forfeit any prizes won. If, for any reason, the Contest is not capable of running as planned, due to, without limitation, infection by computer virus, worm, or bugs; tampering; unauthorized intervention; fraud; technical failures; or any other causes beyond the control of Sponsor that, in the sole opinion of Sponsor, could corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity, or proper conduct of this Contest, Sponsor reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to cancel, terminate, modify, or suspend the contest. Sponsor is not responsible for any typographical or other error in the printing of these Official Rules or any materials associated with the administration of the Contest or the announcement of the prize. In all events, the sole maximum liability of Sponsor and its affiliates shall be limited to any of the prize(s) set forth herein.

9. CHOICE OF LAW. Except where prohibited by law, all issues and questions concerning the constitution, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Official Rules, or the rights and obligations of the participant and the Sponsor in connection with this Contest, shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of the State of Virginia in the U.S., without giving effect to any choice of law or conflict of law rules (whether of the State of Virginia, or any other jurisdiction), which would cause the application of the laws of any jurisdiction other than the State of Virginia in the U.S.

10. PRIVACY. Information Entrants provide to Sponsor will be used to communicate with Entrants regarding this Contest and otherwise as set forth in these Official Rules. By submitting an entry on-line to Sponsor, all Entrants acknowledge and agree that the personal information that they have provided will be maintained on HUMANITY ROAD, INC.'s server in accordance with HUMANITY ROAD, INC.'s Privacy Policy.

11. PUBLICITY CONSENT. By submitting an entry or accepting a prize, where permitted by law, each winner grants to Sponsor and those acting pursuant to the authority of Sponsor the irrevocable right without any further notice, review or consent to print, publish, broadcast, distribute, and use, worldwide in any media now known or hereafter developed, including, but not limited to, the World Wide Web, in perpetuity and throughout the universe, his/her Entry, including, without limitation, the entry and winner's name, and statements about the Contest as news, publicity or information and for advertising, public relations and promotional purposes without any further compensation.

12. WINNER'S IDENTITY & OFFICIAL RULES. Prize winners' name and Entry Piece, as well as a version of these Official Rules, suitable for printing, will be posted on the Sponsor's web site and the HUMANITY ROAD and/or ANIMALS IN DISASTER page on Facebook, at Sponsor's discretion.

13. SPONSOR. HUMANITY ROAD, INC., 230 Washington Street, Boydton, Virginia 23917, sponsors this Contest. Sponsor reserves the right to cancel the Contest at any time and substitute another promotion in its place.

14. For information about the BarkWorld™ Expo, go to: http://www.barkworldexpo.com.

Speaker Bio