For National Pet Week, here is Tip Number Two:

Your animal companions depend on you to keep them safe during storm season, which beings next month. If your hurricane plan doesn't include your pets, get going. And don't assume that the evacuation plan you put into place for your pets last year will work for this one.

Peggy Adams Animal Rescue League of the Palm Beaches, for example, this year is providing emergency shelter only for pets whose owners are elderly or disabled and need to evacuate to a special care facility, or for animals belonging to emergency personnel who must work during the storm. Last year, the league facility offered disaster housing for a $100 donation.

Red Cross hurricane shelters do not allow animals. But both Broward and Palm Beach counties again will each have one designated pet-friendly shelter for people living in evacuation zones or mobile homes. You must register in advance. Even if you registered last year, shelter managers advise that you sign up again this year so they can get a good head count.
To register in Broward, call the Humane Society of Broward County's Hurricane Hotline at 954-266-6871. Or call 954-989-3977.

In Palm Beach County, call the county's Animal Care and Control division at 561-233-1266. Or click here for more information.

In Miami-Dade County, call 786-331-5354.

Pet-friendly shelters do not allow livestock or exotic pets, like reptiles, so make other plans for these critters. Palm Beach's county shelter requires pets to be microchipped and for you to bring flea prevention medication like Advantage (not sure yet about the others). All shelters require proof of a current rabies vaccine and proof that you live in an evacuation zone.

The shelters require you to have a carrier that is big enough for your pet to stand up in and turn around. If you have a cat, it should be big enough to contain a litter box. This is a good idea regardless of where you spend the storm if you're not at home. We have a large collapsable soft-sided model that, fortunately, we haven't had to use so far. Big enough to crate a large dog, it stores flat in the attic. We have a second large cat carrier, so one cat can ride in that and the other in the crate until we get to our destination.

Other necessities: A current photo of your pet, in case it gets lost, and emergency contact information for your veterinarian.

If you decide to shelter you pet at a kennel or your veterinarian, make arrangements far in advance, as in now. Ask if the kennel is in a flood zone, if they have an evacuation plan and if someone will be there with the animals during the storm.

You need to get your family to safety if a major hurricane is approaching. But please, please, don't leave your animals at home alone. They're your family, too. So many pet owners who went through Hurricane Katrina said they thought they would be back by the next morning when, after putting out some food and water, they walked out the door. Many never saw their pets again.

I will leave it up to you if you want to see by clicking here, among the photos of animals being rescued by PETA workers during Katrina, those of pets found dead, including a dog that had been tethered inside a flooded house. If you need motivation to get going on your pet's hurricane plan, this should do it.

Any other hurricane tips? Speak!

(Above photo of dogs being rescued in New Orleans by Mario Toma, Getty Images)