As wildfires, floods and other natural disasters pose threats across the region, the La Plata County Humane Society wants you to know that we have a detailed Pet Disaster Preparedness Plan to protect pets and support owners during emergencies. The plan, built in collaboration with La Plata County’s Emergency Management Office, the County Animal Response Team and other local partners, outlines coordinated efforts to handle evacuation, sheltering, pet care and post-disaster reunification.
The preparedness strategy is designed to ensure that pets receive the same level of care and attention as human family members during crises. LPCHS has developed this plan with the knowledge that pet safety must be integrated into all aspects of disaster planning and response.
All pet owners should prepare now by ensuring their pets wear collars with ID tags, are microchipped and are fully vaccinated. Pets adopted from LPCHS come microchipped and vaccinated. Public pet owners can get any pet microchipped for $50, vaccinated for $35, pet ID tags for $10.99, and new or used leashes and collars from the LPCHS shelter and thrift store.
Once disaster protocols are activated, the LPCHS team transitions into emergency mode. Staff members are deployed on rotating schedules to avoid burnout and ensure 24-hour care. At the shelter, intake areas for cats and dogs are established, and triage procedures are implemented to manage new arrivals and shelter capacity. A small pet trailer and a livestock trailer can be mobilized to high-risk areas or evacuation sites if needed.
Shelter staff members coordinate transportation logistics, animal documentation and health assessments while ensuring current shelter pets are prepared to be transferred to another shelter if necessary. All pets are labeled and tracked during the emergency.
Evacuated residents who cannot take their pets to another location are welcome to bring them to the LPCHS shelter at 1111 South Camino del Rio in Durango. The shelter can accommodate most small pets during emergencies and will work with the CART and Equine Education and Relief Program teams to assist livestock owners with evacuation. For livestock evacuation, contact CART or EERP via Dispatch at 385-2900. Livestock will most likely be directed to the La Plata County Fairgrounds.
If you drop off your pet at the shelter, please be patient with us and be prepared to fill out a form. Your pet may be vaccinated to protect other pets if you don’t have proof of vaccination at the time. You may not visit your pet during the emergency, but you can text us for an update if you want. Ongoing medical care and behavioral assessments will help LPCHS ensure that pets remain healthy and ready to return home after a disaster.
Reunifying families with their pets is the main focus after a disaster. LPCHS will manage a lost and found registry using microchip data and intake paperwork. It is an owner’s responsibility to know when the evacuation orders have been lifted and to pick up a pet within 24 hours of that time. There will be a boarding fee of $100 per day after that, and pets that are not claimed after three days may be put up for adoption.
- Bring your ID.
- Bring your pet’s vaccination records.
- Bring your pet’s essential medications.
- Cats must be in crates and dogs must be leashed.
- Do not bring beds, toys or other personal pet items.
- LPCHS will be accepting supply and funding donations during emergencies.
LPCHS takes pet disaster preparedness seriously and so should you. During one recent event, LPCHS spent around $250,000 taking care of our community’s pets.
For more information, visit www.lpchumanesociety.org or call us at 259-2847 and ask for Julie.
Julie Dreyfuss is executive director of La Plata County Humane Society.
