In the event of a disaster, pet evacuation shelters in New York will be coordinated by county and local emergency management agencies. Please check with your local emergency management agency for information on pet friendly evacuation shelters in your county. Local and state health and safety regulations do not permit the Red Cross to allow pets in disaster shelters. (Service animals are allowed in Red Cross shelters.). It may be difficult to find shelter for your animals in the midst of a disaster, so plan ahead. Keep a list of pet friendly hotels in your area in case you have to evacuate and your local shelter is full.
New York State Emergency Management – Keeping Your Pets Safe in an Emergency
You may face a number of emergencies or disasters in your lifetime – fire, flooding, wind-storm, ice or snowstorm, power outage, or exposure to hazardous materials, to name just a few. Emergency planning is crucial. The steps you take now to prepare your loved ones and your pets could save their lives.
Nassau County NY Office of Emergency Management
Nassau County NY SPCA – Pet Safe Disaster Planning
NC SPCA’s Pet Safe Program has established a disaster response plan to keep all of Nassau County’s pets sheltered and safe.
New York City Emergency Management – Emergency Preparedness for Pets
In the event that the City’s emergency shelter system is open, and you cannot shelter your pet at a kennel or with friends or relatives outside the evacuation area, pets are allowed at all City evacuation centers. Please bring supplies to care for your pet, including food, leashes, a carrier, and medication. Bring supplies to clean up after your animal. Only legal pets will be allowed. Service animals are always allowed.
Stillwater, Town of – Emergency Pet Sheltering
Emergency pet sheltering, also referred to as pet-accessible shelters, is designed to meet the needs of people and their animals during emergencies and disasters. Animal owners are responsible for their animals, and should have a disaster plan prepared for their animals in case of evacuations or emergencies. Still, there will sometime situations where emergency animal sheltering is needed such as rapid-onset disasters, massive evacuations where hotels and boarders/vet clinics are full and evacuees who bring their pets with them.
Suffolk County Fire Rescue and Emergency Services
Suffolk County – Pet Friendly Shelter
Suffolk County will provide pet friendly shelters where you and your pet can go in the event of of an evacuation or emergency. The following facilities, for dogs, cats and birds only, will serve as Pet Friendly Shelters during times of emergency:
Suffolk County Fire Academy, Maple Avenue, Yaphank, NY 11980
The Islip/Brentwood Recreation Center, 99 3rd Avenue, Brentwood, NY 11751
Suffolk County Community College-Eastern Campus, Woodlands and Corchaug Buildings, 121 Speonk-Riverhead Road, Riverhead, NY 11901
Not every emergency requires opening a pet friendly shelter, therefore, residents should check this for announcements as to which Pet Friendly Shelters are open.
Ulster County Animal Response Team
The Ulster County Animal Response Team is a mobile emergency animal shelter in Ulster County New York that will be set up next to the county emergency shelter to care for pets. The Ulster County Animal Response Team (UCART) is a collaboration between The Ulster County Office of Emergency Management, the UCSPCA, the American Red Cross of Northeastern NY and UlsterCorps. Recent extreme weather events in Ulster County, like Hurricanes Irene and Sandy, have underscored the need for a coordinated approach to caring for companion animals as well as people in the event of a disaster or emergency. County Animal Response Teams serve as a specialized resource to assist local emergency management officials, as needed, in all phases of an emergency (mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery) or disaster that impacts animals to ensure the humane care and treatment of animals in case of a disaster, or other situations that cause animal suffering by rescuing, relocating, fostering, etc.; and to assist in protecting public health concerns where humans and animals interact.
