Posted on 10/05/2011 6:49:33 AM PDT by orsonwb
All too often when a disaster strikes, our four-legged friends are left to fend for themselves and sometimes end up lost, injured or killed. The best way to avoid this tragic scenario is to have a well-thought-out disaster plan that includes pets...
(Excerpt) Read more at howdogardener.com ...
I’ve been fattening up my tabby for the WTSHTF scenario.
Yesterday’s pet can be tomorrow’s “survival food store” — “on the hoof” instead of freeze dried.
...
[JUST KIDDING! I love my kitty and I wouldn’t dream of eating her. Well, not all at once, anyhow.)
And mine never will. In a SHTF scenario, human life is paramount, and the pets are on their own. All of my effort and resources will be expended for human survivors.
/johnny
Not me. My two dogs are good watch dogs and about 40-50 total lbs of meat...and unlike Nervous Tick...I’m not kidding. I like my dogs, but I’ll eat ‘em in a nanosecond if I or my family needs to.
Us humans, on the other hand have tons of issues. Dehydrated food, cooking fuel, stove, water purification, hygeine products, tents, sleeping bags, first aide, sunburn, blankets, sleeping pads - the list goes on and on.
Plus, Rover and Fluffy have a god-given gift of easy regurgitation. If they find a flattened animal, they can eat it - and likely will. If the food is bad, their bodies can easily vacate their stomaches and avoid food poisoning that would be far more devastating to us. Planning on the family pet's survival is easy.
Now, as for the importance of keeping the pet; Rover is a pack animal. His loyalty is to your and your family - above his personal safety. His hearing is better than yours, he can/will alert you to strangers approaching his 'pack', he can/will defend you to the best of his ability. He can/will faithfully guard and protect you. The emotional support a loving pet gives you, especially in a traumatic event, is invaluable. Sometimes the difference between life and death, is your will to live. Anything that sustains your will to live, is a good thing.
Now, while I have a couple cats (I am a dog lover first and foremost), let's face reality; Fluffy - well, as soon as the food runs out; will likely take off on her own. It's the nature of the cat to be solitary.
A traveling salesman stays overnight with a farm family. When the family gathers to eat there’s a pig seated at the table. And the pig has three medals hanging around his neck and a peg leg. The salesman says, “Um, I see you have a pig having dinner with you.”
“Yes,” says the farmer. “That’s because he’s a very special pig. You see those medals around his neck? Well, the first medal is from when our youngest son fell in the pond, and he was drowning, and that pig swam out and saved his life. The second medal, that’s from when the barn caught fire and our little daughter was trapped in there and the pig ran inside, carried her out and saved her life. And the third medal, that’s from when our oldest boy was cornered in the stock yard by a mean bull, and that pig ran under the fence and bit the bull on the tail and saved the boy’s life.”
“Yes,” says the salesman, “I can see why you let that pig sit right at the table and have dinner with you. And I can see why you awarded him the medals. But how did he get the peg leg?”
“Well,” says, the farmer, “a pig like that—you don’t eat him all at once.”
I have 3 Ibizan Hounds, 1 Portuguese Podengo Medio and one Dobermann.
The Dobermann is a spectacular alert/defense/protection tool.
The other dogs are hunters without equal and will catch, kill and return any kind of game with nary a -noisy-, noticeable shot fired.
We always have “spare” bags of dog food available, just in case.
We’ll ~all~ eat and sleep well.
[the pet rats and goats can be let go in the woods, the aquarium fish are kinda screwed and the Python is very portable and can find his own food, easily]
I would forever and always take care of my pet. She is more than a pet to us as have been all our other pets over the years. She will be provided for and she will remain with us. If I took care of everyone else and let her fend for herself...I could never live with myself. I don’t see how or why I couldn’t do both. Take care of myself, our family and our pet plus what I could do for others. How would including our pet in everything would that stop me from taking care of others. In my mind I would do everything I could do for not only my family and other people but my own pet and any others I could help along the way. It’s a “Hop aboard and together we’ll make it!!!”
1 bucket from Home Depot with airtight lid, about 5 bucks.
Sufficient dry food for 3 or 4 days.
Copies of current vaccination records
Food dish, water dish
Blanket
Chew toys
Any necessary medications
Leash and harness
Place all these inside and snap on the lid. You're good to go.
How very sad for your four legged friends. They can’t fend for themselves. How hard is it to say, “let’s go” and they beat you to the car?
Pet food was the first thing that went into our bag.
If my house is being threatened by a wildfire or tornado, or something else that is moving quickly, my kids would be my top priority. I love my pets very much, and I would grieve if anything would happen to them, but I would not risk my life or the lives of my loved ones to keep them safe. But in the case of a hurricane, my pets always will be with me when I evacuate. In that case, there is time to make all the right preparations. If the hotel or shelter doesn’t take pets, there are usually shelters that will take in pets. When we evacuated for Hurricane Katrina, we took our dogs and an elderly neighbor’s dog with us. One of the hotels we stayed at did not take pets, but there was a wonderful pet shelter in the area who boarded our dogs for nothing.
You are right, Hodar. I know that our dogs are essential to my family’s survival now. If someone comes through our front door, they will have three dogs on top of them. Our GSD alerted us a few weeks ago that someone was in the carport. By “alerted” I mean he dang near went through the door. They would die for us...
My dog plays an integral role of my SHTF-survival plan. Wherever I find myself, I have a portable intrusion detection system that doubles as a layer of personal protection...
I'm sure you could share her and invite others over for a good meal. ;^)
Especially during those Earie Times! And don't forget the water!
Thanks for reminding me. I need to add cat food to my food storage.
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