Council wins award for including animals in emergency plans

Haringey Council has once again won a top award for putting animal welfare at the centre of plans for dealing with emergencies.

For the second time the RSPCA has awarded the council's emergency planning team the Gold Contingency Planning Footprint for its work to ensure the welfare of companion animals during an emergency.

The Gold standard recognises to what extent a council's emergency plan includes working with animal welfare organisations and related groups.

Through these groups, Haringey's emergency planning team has arranged for accommodation to be available for cats and dogs during an incident. Crucially, some of these places are for pets whose inoculations are not up to date, usually making them difficult to place.

Cllr Richard Watson, Cabinet Member for Communities, said: "I am very proud we have won this award. The council recognises how precious people's pets are to them and we know from experience that when disaster strikes many people's first thought is their pet's safety, sometimes before their own. Last year during the riots we had to put our plans into practice when an evacuated resident needed emergency housing for their dog. We had measures in place and managed to find somewhere for them to stay."

Emergency planning test exercises in the borough include scenarios involving animals to make sure their welfare is taken into consideration.