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Pet shelter more about owners

A sheriff's deputy is pushing for the county to open a storm shelter that allows pets so people will actually evacuate.

By BARBARA BEHRENDT
Published June 25, 2006

Establishing a pet-friendly disaster shelter in Citrus County isn't really about saving the county's four-legged, furry and feathered residents.

As far as sheriff's Capt. Joe Eckstein is concerned, it is about saving people.

He knows that people love their animals. Some would even stay behind in their unsafe homes to protect them.

If that happened in a place like Ozello in a major storm, "I could lose a life out there," Eckstein said.

He doesn't want that to happen, so he has been working with county public safety and animal services leaders to find a way to establish a shelter for people and their animals if they cannot find anywhere else to go.

Last week, he took his pitch to school officials, whose school buildings are the primary shelters in the county.

Superintendent Sandra "Sam" Himmel said she is "very open" to the idea and is having her staff assemble its concerns so staffers can have all of their questions answered before taking a recommendation to the School Board.

In the past, some school officials were reluctant to examine the issue. Filling hallways or classrooms with creatures of all types worried them. Health and safety issues were on top of the list.

But some of their questions may have been answered last week when they met with Eckstein and several Marion County government leaders.

One of those people was Jill Lancon, a Citrus County resident who runs the Marion County Animal Center.

Lancon transported pets left behind in the no-name storm of 1993 to the animal shelter when she worked for Citrus County's animal services department.

Watching people painfully part from their pets made a lasting impression. Since she moved over to Marion County, she has spearheaded a program that opened a pet-friendly shelter at Vanguard High School in Ocala.

She brought the lessons learned from that experience with her to present to Citrus school officials last week.

They learned that in Marion County, people stay in the hurricane-hardened portions of the shelter while pets are in another area in a hallway that is completely wrapped in plastic with a separate air circulating system.

Dogs and cats are kept in crates. Smaller animals and birds are kept in bathrooms.

While the storm approaches, the people care for their own pets. They must bring food and supplies.

When the storm is close, the people go back to their part of the shelter. But when it passes, they again care for their pets in the pet wing of the shelter.

They sign liability releases, and the kinds of pets are limited by size and type. Exotic creatures like reptiles and snakes are not permitted.

When the shelter closes, animal center workers remove the crates and clean them in an area away from the school. Workers also fold up the plastic that insulated the school from any animal waste or hair and remove it. Then the hallway and bathrooms are cleaned thoroughly.

After hearing the presentation, John Colasanti said he had some of his many concerns answered. Colasanti coordinates emergency management for the school district but is also responsible for health and safety issues including indoor air quality.

Among the officials presenting the pet-friendly shelter plan was Steve Huffstutler, who does the same job with Marion County schools that Colasanti does in Citrus.

Huffstutler was not a believer at the beginning, Eckstein said, but after he saw how the shelter worked, he backed the idea completely.

"They took a chance," Eckstein said. "He is sold on it. He loves it."

Colasanti was glad to find out that the plan would separate the animals from the people and that different air handling systems would be in place.

He was also pleased to hear that it would be county staffers and not school staff members telling people they could not bring in their exotic pets.

"If things work the way they are supposed to work, we can work with anything," Colasanti said.

"They put a lot of responsibility on the pet owner," Himmel said.

She said the presentation "answered a lot of the unknowns."

"This will also be advertised as a last resort," Himmel said, and people should have a plan to evacuate with their animals long before a storm is looming.

"This will save lives, the lives of people who will not evacuate because of their animal," she said.

School Board member Bill Murray said there was another side benefit for people in the shelters with their animals.

"I could see there would be a lot less apprehension" when people know that their pets are nearby, Murray said.

Grants could be available to pay for much of the startup costs for such a program, Eckstein said, and he is working with the county's public safety and animal services officials to make that happen.

While liability questions rose during the presentation, Eckstein said that is always an issue. The Marion County presenters said they have had only one incident, in which a dog bit its owner.

"I think our county has grown in size and we definitely need it," Eckstein said. "I still don't want people going to shelters. They should be taking their animals someplace else. But if they have no place else to go, then they can come here."

Not providing such a shelter could prompt a disaster in which many pets die and some people could as well.

"We need to do something to take care of the animals," he said.

Barbara Behrendt can be reached at 564-3621 or behrendt@sptimes.com.

[Last modified June 25, 2006, 04:00:00]