Pets and animals
If you leave, take your pets with you. Plan where they can go before you need it, because pet-friendly shelters and hotels fill up first.
The one thingNever leave a pet behind, tied up, or shut in a crate in an evacuation zone. If it is not safe for you to stay, it is not safe for them.
Make the plan
- Find out which shelters in your county take pets, and what they require. Your county emergency management office lists them when they open; many require you to pre-register.
- Make a list of pet-friendly hotels and friends or family inland who could take your animals.
- Microchip your pets and make sure the chip registry has your current phone number.
- Get your pets used to their carrier now, so loading them in a hurry is not a fight.
- Ask a neighbor to evacuate your pets if a storm comes while you are away, and give them a key.
Pack the pet kit
- Food and water for at least seven days, and bowls.
- Medications and a copy of vaccination records. Most shelters will ask for proof of rabies vaccination.
- A carrier or crate for each animal, labeled with your name and phone number.
- Leash, collar with ID tags, litter and a litter pan, waste bags.
- A current photo of you with each pet, in case you are separated.
Horses and livestock
- Decide early whether you will move large animals or shelter them in place, and where they would go. Moving horses and livestock takes trailers, drivers, and time.
- Arrange a place to take them outside the storm's path and confirm it each season.
- Identify every animal: microchips, tags, or your phone number on a halter or a livestock marker.
- Keep a week of feed and water, stored where flooding will not reach it.
- If you shelter in place, a sturdy fenced pasture on high ground is usually safer than a barn that could collapse or flood.
After the storm
- Keep pets leashed or crated. Familiar landmarks are gone and animals get lost easily.
- Check your yard for debris, broken glass, downed lines, and standing water before letting pets out.
- Do not let pets drink floodwater.
- If a pet is lost, contact your county's animal services and check shelters in person.
For official instructions, follow your county emergency management office and the Florida Division of Emergency Management. This guide is general guidance from Florida VOAD's member organizations and does not replace local orders.