By David Hench
Portland Press Herald
SCARBOROUGH, Maine — Adele Jones knows what it’s like to be emotionally attached to one’s pets.
She has three dogs and is part of a canine rescue organization that takes in animals that would otherwise be euthanized.
But as a firefighter and emergency medical technician for Scarborough, she also knows that refusing an order to evacuate in a disaster out of loyalty to one’s pets can risk human lives - those of pet owners and of the first responders called on to help them.
That’s why she is volunteering to help set up an animal rescue team as part of the Cumberland County Emergency Management Agency. The group will try to get pet owners to plan for their animals in case of an evacuation and is setting up pet shelters to accommodate residents’ animal companions in a disaster.
''I can’t imagine leaving them behind in a disaster,’' Jones said of her three dogs. ''They’re like family, and I think most of the people in the Northeast treat their animals like family and wouldn’t dream of leaving them behind. But at the same time, they wouldn’t know what to do in a disaster.’'
Animal welfare advocates say the severity of that problem was driven home by Hurricane Katrina when large numbers of people refused to leave their homes in southern Louisiana and Mississippi because they had no accommodation for their pets. Some of those who stayed lost their lives.
Refusing to leave can also endanger the lives of firefighters and other rescue personnel who are called for help at the last minute.
That’s one reason Congress passed a law in 2006 mandating that emergency management agencies provide for pets when making emergency plans. The law led to the creation of animal response teams across the country, and 14 Maine counties have started forming such teams, said Shelley Doak, a spokeswoman for the Maine Emergency Management Agency.
''It really facilitates evacuations,’' she said, citing animal welfare statistics that say 60 percent of all households in the country have two or more pets and 72 percent of those would risk their lives for their animals.
Cumberland County was issued $5,500 in Department of Homeland Security funds to support its team.
The Cumberland County animal response team hopes to get pet owners thinking about disaster preparedness.
That might mean identifying friends, pet-friendly hotels or kennels. It also would entail having a cage, three days of food and any medicine the animal might require, as well as vaccination records, Jones said.
The team also plans to establish pet shelters near the emergency shelters run by the American Red Cross. Evacuees will know their pets are in a safe place and can share in caring for them, which can be healthy for both pet and owner, said Adam Farrington, animal control officer for Westbrook, another leader of the team.
The shelters can be as sophisticated as the range of pets people have. Reptiles require high temperatures. Birds need a low draft, he said. Aggressive dogs need to be kept separated, and predator and prey can’t be side by side.
Dog and cat owners have it easy compared to people like Farrington, who keeps falcons and has horses as well.
''There are 83 deer farms in the state of Maine. What happens if you get a deer farmer who has six fallow deer and refuses to leave? Those are all situations we have to plan for,’' Farrington said.
In York County, the Kennebunk-based Animal Welfare Society has been the focal point for pet shelter efforts. Volunteers helped set up two such facilities alongside human emergency shelters, one in the garage adjacent to Wells Junior High School, during the Patriots Day flooding a year and a half ago, said Steven Jacobsen, the society’s executive director.
The fledgling Cumberland County group already has interest from 30 professionals who work with animals, said Cumberland County Emergency Management Director James Budway, but the group is looking for volunteers to help, whether or not the people have expertise with animals.