I've been going to blog about what to do when disaster strikes . . . then I read the news about the Iowa floods and the northern California "Martin fire" — near Bonny Doon Vineyard.

Re. the Martin fire: "Todd Stosuy, the manager of Santa Cruz Animal Services, said [they sent] out all their Animal Control Officers into the field, go door to door, and see if everyone is okay. What Todd said they needed at this time is people to care for all the evacuated animals at the Santa Cruz Fairgrounds and they will divert some of the volunteers to some of the other temporary holding areas. They are also in desperate need for all types of feed for horses and livestock and dogs, cats, etc."

Thirty Martin fire evacuees spent one or more nights at San Lorenzo Elementary school, and fifteen slept in their cars. Most people in their cars wanted to be with their pets — their lucky pets. Another lucky pet is Molly-Moo, a cat rescued from the fire by Animal Services' Stosuy (just after she'd given birth to a litter of kittens, by the way).

How many unlucky pets are there in Iowa, where thousands of people have had to evacuate terrible flooding?

I realize how much we all need to prepare BEFORE disaster strikes.

Imagine, animal friends, you're home with your family one minute, and the next, you're home alone in a terrifying situation: Your guardian/owners have been forced to evacuate — or worse, they're no longer with us — and you've got little food and water. You've got to get out of the house before you starve. Maybe you've got to get out immediately because everything's on fire, or because your home is disappearing under rising flood waters.

If you're not prepared for emergencies like these, you're sh** out of luck.

You're aware of what can happen from the news during and after the Katrina disaster. You remember how hard it was to witness the initial suffering and death of people and animals, then in the aftermath how hard it has been to stomach news about homeless pets, lost pets, and adopted pets caught in legal battles over ownership rights.

What lessons have I gleaned? For starters, let's dash through a few impawtant points today: Microchipping (collars and ID get lost and even thrown away) . . . guardian/owners networked to outside help for pets (have PET GODPARENTS!) . . . written proof of pet ownership and attorney-in-fact for pet care . . . copies of your photos and all pet records (local vets not available during disaster!) . . . phone numbers and web addresses for local animal shelters, humane society, petfinder, pet rescue orgs, relatives, friends . . . survival kit at hand and paw!

As a dog, I can only take a small bite out of all this. But you people out there can make all the difference. Please.