Photo by Julia Couture
Recently after making a donation to the ASPCA, along with a thank you letter they sent me an “In Case of Fire or Emergency Animals Inside!” sticker. There are boxes to check if you have dogs or cats or other, with a line to specify what the “other” constitutes. There’s also a space to leave your phone number.
I happen to think this is a brilliant idea. I’m one for being prepared in case the worst happens. My theory is you might not be able to prevent bad things from happening, but having plans in place potentially makes dealing with them easier.
My sister’s realtors in Arizona are animal lovers and sent her a similar “I.C.E. sticker”. (Which they turned into an interesting marketing forum. They stuck a “Compliments Of” sticker on the back with their realty company’s name. Clever!)
Since she currently has no pets, she passed it on to me. It’s a little different from the ASPCA’s. It has a suction cup which makes it movable, whereas the ASPCA’s is really a sticker. Once it’s up, it’s up. But it also has boxes you can check and an emergency number you can leave.
I finally put it up the other day. Wayne thought I was nuts.
“What the heck’s that all about?”
I tried to explain to him that if something happened there might not be a neighbor around who knows about Murph and the cats. If the police or the fire department ever had to come for whatever reason I’d want them to know we have three animals inside and to please make every attempt to rescue them.
“Don’t you think they’d do that anyway?”
“Not if they don’t know they’re inside.”
“But don’t you think they’ll figure it out once they get inside?”
“Not necessarily.”
“And who’s to say a neighbor will even report that something’s wrong at our house. Don’t you think if one was going to it’d be one that knew about the animals?”
“Again, not necessarily. What if something’s wrong and it’s someone just driving by who notices and reports it?”
“Not likely.”
I don’t know what’s likely or not. I hope that nothing ever happens to our house where emergency workers are needed. But if it does, I want them to know that besides people there are pets I’d really appreciate being saved too.
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