State preparedness conference (2010)

Dated 8 October 2010.

This was the group's own report, not a newspaper clipping, on the New York State Citizen Preparedness conference in Syracuse on 8 October 2010. It said the group handed out bags of tips to pet owners among more than 230 attendees.

• A state agriculture department official was quoted saying the group was doing a great job getting the preparedness message out, and that pets are the major reason people do not evacuate.
• The state director of the Humane Society of the United States said a poll found that 61 percent of pet owners would refuse to evacuate if they could not take their pets. That poll is cited in other pages from the same period and we have not seen the original.
• The same official said only a fraction of the 4.5 million dogs and cats in the state could be housed in a disaster, and that residents should take training offered through a statewide animal response team.

The group's founder said owners should keep photos of themselves with their pets in case they are separated.