Laurie Simmons, founder and CEO of Big Dog Range Rescue, discusses hurricane prep and your pets.

Laurie Simmons, founder and CEO of Big Dog Ranch Rescue, emphasizes the importance of preparing pets for hurricane season. She advises pet owners to make evacuation plans that include their animals, identify pet-friendly shelters in advance, and pack a dedicated emergency bag with essentials such as food, medication, and vet records. 

Simmons also highlights recent legal changes in Florida, where it is now a felony to leave pets behind in emergencies. Big Dog Ranch Rescue is preparing to serve as a shelter for people and their pets during storms and is actively involved in delivering emergency supplies and evacuating animals at risk after disasters.

Pet hurricane safety tips

When disaster strikes, our pets face life-threatening risks from floodwaters to separation, lack of supplies, and with hurricane season here and us making plannings ahead, and planning ahead can really help save their lives. So joining us now is Lori Simmons, who is the founder and CEO of Big Dog Ranch Rescue. Good morning, Lori. We wanna know what kind of risks our pets facing as we talk about hurricane season and evacuations. Well, you need to prepare for your pet just like you would prepare for yourself. Have a plan in place wherever you're going to go. It's best to look out for emergency shelters that accept pets and know those options prior to leaving for the storm. And always pack a to-go bag for your dog just like you do for yourself with collars and leash, food enough for at least a week, any medications your pet is on because it may be very hard to access those in emergency situations, vet records in case you have an emergency and need to go to a new vet's office, food and water bowls, and anything else your pet would need, their favorite bed, a crate. That's so important to have all that ready ahead of time when you have to evacuate. And it can be such a hectic time and often mistakes are made. What are some of the biggest mistakes pet owners can make or forget to think of when planning for storms? The biggest thing is not having a plan in place for your pet. And now with the new trooper's law that Ron DeSantis signed into law for Florida just a little over a week ago, it's a felony to leave your pet behind in an emergency situation where they can be exposed to the elements such as high winds or floodwaters. So make sure you've got your plan in place to take your pet with you or a shelter where you know ahead of time you can take your pet to for care during a storm. Now, what role do you all at Big Dog Ranch Rescue play in helping pets before, during, and even after these natural disasters? Well, as soon as our education building is finished, it's a 10,000 square foot building. We will be a shelter for South Florida where people can come and stay with their pets during a storm. And we're hoping to have that finished by September. Hopefully we don't get storms before that. But Big Dog Ranch is always ready before hurricanes. We always have our bus loaded with supplies that are needed. And we are immediately dispatched right after a storm to go help pets and needs and deliver emergency supplies to shelters that may have been affected and to evacuate animals that are in harm's way. Laurie Simmons, founder and CEO of Big Dog Ranch, thank you for all you do for the pets and all the information you provided us this morning.

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