PRESS RELEASE: Wag’N Enterprises’ New P.E.T.S. Program Ensures Fido’s Safety while Away from Home

P.E.T.S. helps boarding facilities, pet hotels prepare for emergencies

Many pet parents assume their four-legged friends are safe while boarding them, but
one Virginia-based company isn’t letting this important aspect go to the dogs.

Wag’N Enterprises has introduced the Personalized Emergency Training Services (P.E.T.S.) Program to help pet boarding facilities, hotels and daycares better prepare for possible emergencies and bolster pets’ safety while away from home. P.E.T.S. is a first-of-its-kind program in the United States and is customizable for each business, depending on their needs.

“Generally, facilities such as hospitals, schools and government buildings are the only places that would make similar safety preparations,” Ines de Pablo, executive director of Pet Emergency Management Division at Wag’N Enterprises, said. “Since most pet parents consider their dog or cat their child, it’s equally important for businesses to prepare with P.E.T.S.”

De Pablo said many facilities don’t prepare for emergencies simply because they don’t know where to start. This is where P.E.T.S. can help.  The program prepares and enables facilities to answer questions such as:

* What is our plan in case of a fire?
* How will we effectively protect life (human & pets), property and data during/after an emergency?
* How will we communicate about an emergency to staff, first responders and customers?
* How and where will we transport the evacuated animals?
* What steps are needed to recover or move our business after an emergency?

So, how exactly does P.E.T.S. work?  De Pablo said the program takes a comprehensive look at a boarding or daycare facility and identifies existing vulnerabilities and risks that need to be addressed.  In addition to addressing current vulnerabilities, P.E.T.S. helps facilities prepare for next steps after an unexpected emergency – everything from communicating the emergency to pet parents to getting the facility up and running afterward.  This is accomplished through training and instruction in:

 Incident command direction and control
 Crisis communications
 Emergency animal transportation and sheltering planning
 Basic pet emergency management exercises
 Fire extinguisher use
 Shelter-in-place planning
 Pet first aid, CPR & triage certification training
 Business continuity
 Disaster recovery planning
 Optional advanced courses and continued education/assessment 

De Pablo said P.E.T.S. “meets or exceeds” all the guidelines set forth by the National Fire Protection Agency NFPA 150 and  is customized to meet and remain in compliance with evolving Animal Protection and Emergency Sheltering plans issued by county and state Emergency Operation Plans (EOPs).

About Wag’N Enterprises
Founded in 2007, Wag’N Enterprises (www.wagnpetsafety.com) offers pet emergency management solutions to service industries, first responders and pet parents to effectively mitigate, prepare for and respond to emergencies that impact pet health and safety. Executive Director of Pet Emergency Management Division Ines de Pablo holds a Master’s Degree in Risk, Crisis & Emergency Management from the prestigious George Washington Universit y i n Was hi ngt on, D. C. , a nd
has more than a decade of extensive field training experience under her belt.  Wag’N Pet Safety Gear is a branded and extensive collection of purposefully designed tools and services giving people and their pets peace of mind in case of an emergency.

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