Protecting Pets from Wildfires - Boulder County Nonprofit Creates Evacuation App

Boulder County-based nonprofit Animal Help Now is reminding Colorado residents of the availability of Pet Help & Rescue (PHaR), a neighbors-based messaging app for evacuating neighborhood animals who are home alone when disasters strike.

"We developed PHaR following the Marshall Fire," states Animal Help Now's executive director, David Crawford. "That disaster took the precious lives of an estimated 1,000 beloved dogs, cats and other beloved animals. Whether we're away on errands, at work or for a day outdoors, fast-moving disasters can leave us unable to get home. We can do much better by our cherished pets in those increasingly common situations than simply hoping for the best."

The app is free and serves the entire United States. Users download it and create a brief profile for themselves and their animal companions, and then establish a few neighborhood contacts. Animal profile info includes name, photos, description, location of meds, likely hiding spots, handling instructions, etc. The user can also enter information on how to access their home. 

With just a few taps, all of this information is provided to the user's neighborhood contacts in the event a disaster threatens and the user isn't home. The home access is secure, never leaving the user's device until explicitly done so by the user.

"When disasters strike and we aren't home, our neighbors who are home offer the best chance of evacuating our animals to safety," states Crawford.

Pet Help & Rescue also features a non-emergency option, for quickly and easily requesting trusted contacts to feed the cats or let the dogs out.

The pet evacuation app is Animal Help Now's second app. The organization's namesake app directs people who encounter injured or orphaned wildlife to the nearest wildlife rehabilitators and also helps users humanely resolve conflicts with wildlife. The app is used hundreds of times a day across the country.

Pet Help & Rescue is available in app stores. For more information, see www.PHaR.org.