Need info from people living in earthquake zones.

We learned that lasson with Hurricane Katrina. People trying to go back for pets or refusing to evacuate without their pets reached a crisis with that event, so now it is federally mandated that emergency management must include provisions for transporting and housing companion animals. This is neccessary because here in the US the American Red Cross is the agency everyone turns to for sheltering people after disasters. In America, health regulations prohibit pets in places that serve food (service animals excepted). Your dog can dine with you at a sidewalk cafe, but they can not come into the resteraunt. Because the Red Cross shelters prepare and serve food, they must adhere to resteraunt health regulations. So a separate shelter has to be set up for the pets. I volunteer with an organization that can come in and set up and operate these emergency pet shelters. If you haven't had a chance to check out the library section of this site, you might want to . I'm writing a series of articles on Emergency Preparedness for Pet owners. I would be interested on finding out what procedures are in New Zeland, and how the Christchurch quake changes anything (or doesn't).