I Is For...

ICE.  In Case of Emergency.  The east coast of the United States is just beginning to feel the effects of Hurricane Irene, which has the potential to be a monster storm.  A friend on Facebook posted good advice to pet owners who are preparing for evacuation:  make sure pets have collars and tags, and take pictures for Lost posters if needed later.  An additional piece of  FB info:  write your phone number on the collar.

ICE:  September 11 is coming up soon.  One seemingly trivial thing has stayed with me since that day in 2001:  SPCA workers going door to door searching for abandoned pets in evacuated apartment buildings days after the event, saying over and over, "I hope the people left the toilet lid up so the animals can get water."  It doesn't have to be a cataclysmic occurrence; any accident that delays returning home could leave an animal to become dehydrated when their water bowl goes empty.  Seat down...lid up!

ICE:  it's not enough to put a contact number in a cell phone or address book.  It needs to be identified as an ICE number.  (In my cell phone, I simply put "ICE" in place of a name.  I also have a card with "Please contact" numbers inside the door of the cupboard over my house phone.)  Rescue workers will be looking for ICE.  Years ago, my father was in a terrible car accident one afternoon and was severely injured, unable to speak.  Divorced for years, Daddy was a ladies' man and carried a "little black book" with the names of many women.  Trying to find a family member to notify, the police started calling (to the embarrassment of some ladies, I'm sure).  My name was in the book, but with no identifier (even as daughter), and I didn't find out that my dad was in the hospital until three in the morning...it took that long for the police to work through the alphabet.

One always hopes that these simple precautions are never needed, but I'm a big believer in what I call "cheap Insurance."