Pet Safe Coalition

Nassau County is once again a leader in civic trends. County Executive Thomas Suozzi has authorized a cooperative agreement with the oldest coalition of animal-related, not-for-profit organizations in the area, Pet Safe Coalition, Inc.

The purpose:

To provide temporary sheltering of a limited number of pets of Nassau County residents in a declared disaster so that animal owners/caretakers will not be hesitant about evacuating when directed to do so, thereby risking their lives, the lives of their pets and the lives of emergency services personnel who would otherwise be deployed to rescue them.

The details, in short:

Through a Statement of Understanding (SOU), the County and the member organizations of Pet Safe Coalition agree to cooperate as best as possible under the exigent circumstances of a declared emergency at any given time to provide safe, temporary sheltering, to a limited number of pets, for the duration of the portion of an emergency which threatens the safety of the animals, whether it be a weather related event, a terrorist attack, an industrial accident or other incident for which the Nassau County Executive or Governor of the State of New York has declared a public emergency.
Member organizations of Pet Safe Coalition include public animal shelters in Nassau County, the Long Island Veterinary Medical Association, the Nassau Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the Nassau-Suffolk Horsemen’s Association, and private humane organizations such as Animal Lovers League-Glen Cove, Bideawee and North Shore Animal League America, and NFPs that assist public animal shelters such as The Shelter Connection. Trade-Winds Environmental Restoration, Inc., is also a member organization.
Non-member organizations which have or currently support Pet Safe Coalition’s efforts include: ASPCA, HSUS, Noah’s Wish, and United Animal Nations.

What this is not:

The animal disaster response plan administered by Pet Safe Coalition in conjunction with Nassau County Office of Emergency Management is not intended as a mere convenience for pet owners who are able to make emergency evacuation plans for themselves and their pets. Consider this:

1.3 million people live in Nassau County.
620,000 cats and dogs are owned by Nassau County residents (not including feral cats and stray dogs, not including other species of pets).
Four primary evacuation routes.
Limited space availability for the sheltering of animals.
Most human-services emergency shelters do not accept animals other than “assistance” animals, such as guide-dogs for the blind, etc.
Pets are stressed when left behind with strangers.
Keeping the family unit together in an emergency/disaster enables human and non-human members of the family to come through the event with less stress than if separation occurs.

Any family that is able to make and carry out an emergency evacuation plan that includes the pets is more likely to come through the event better and reduces the strain on already limited resources in the community which must be available for people, such as the elderly, infirm, and disabled, who do not have the means to evacuate from the targeted area without assistance.

What you also may wish to know:

The “fiscal footprint” with regard to the planning, preparation for disaster evacuation and/or relief of animals in Nassau County is as small as it can get.
All expenditures for the procurement of supplies and equipment to be used in the event of a declared emergency or disaster and all time, personnel services and supplies procured to date in anticipation of such an event have been donated or paid for solely by Pet Safe Coalition, Inc., and/or its volunteers.
Pet Safe Coalition is dependent entirely upon donations for its programs and services to the public.
Pet Safe Coalition, Inc., is registered with the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance and New York Attorney General and qualifies under U.S. Internal Revenue Code, Sec., 501(c)3, as a tax-exempt, charitable organization.