One of the skill-venues at the Clackamas Co. CERT Summit was Jo Becker Weebly’s animals-in-disaster preparedness tips and resources. Jo Becker taught the class, in case you don’t know, she’s the Guru of all creatures’ great and small. Her specialty is technical animal rescue (not to be confused with finding homes for animals.) She actually gets in there and rescues them. Let’s say a horse, or other animal gets into a potentially fatal situation and emergency responders need help – they call Jo Becker.
She also understands animal behavior, the why’s and how’s of animals doing things, especially when they’re under stress. She is also a volunteer with the Washington State Animal Response Team.
After she gets done explaining about why animals do what they do, she launches into her own version of the Jeopardy quiz show complete with sound effects, applause, cheers, etc. Jo Becker has found that this is one of the ways people can have fun and learn about animals at the same time. You rack up points by answering the questions correctly and for each correct point you get a “tootsie roll” As in life…the person with the most tootsies or empty tootsie wrappers (by that time) wins.
Some of her Jeopardy questions include – Should you feed your animals strange food from a can? What is the best way to contain your pet during an emergency? Will your animals follow you if you leave your home? What should you do if you physically can’t take all of your pets with you during an emergency? And the ever popular…What can you do with panty hose to help save your pets life in a crisis?
As contestants answer these questions, they gain even more knowledge about animals-in-disasters and how they can help them survive.
Tune in tomorrow…as I reveal just what FEMA considers a pet? And how that effects whether or not first responders will help save your animal?
