When a disaster or emergency occurs and you have to leave your home, always take your pets with you. People think they will be able to return shortly to care for their animals, but too often the situation worsens and people cannot make it back to rescue their pets.

Do not put your pets’ lives, your life or other rescuers’ lives at risk. Think ahead. Have a plan in place. Where can you and your pet go for safety? A friend or family members’ home? A pet-friendly hotel?

If you go to a public emergency shelter, your pets may not be allowed inside. Most emergency shelters for people still don’t allow animals, but in Massachusetts and other states, disaster preparedness plans now contain provisions for temporary animal shelters, either at the same location as the human shelters or nearby.

Here’s a starter list of pet-friendly evacuation shelters for Hurricane Sandy (look for “yes” in the last column).

The Humane Society of the United States Twitter feed is also reporting that while there’s a human shelter open at Newbury Elementary School that does not have an on-site pet shelter, there is a regional pet shelter open at the Newburyport animal shelter.

Stay safe, everyone!