HOUSTON (AP) — Getting ready for a hurricane’s landfall means making sure everyone in your household is prepared, including your furry family members.
It’s important that the work in gathering essential items for your dog or cat and determining if your pets have their ID tags and are microchipped is done before a storm is bearing down, said Julie Kuenstle, a spokeswoman for the Houston Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
“All of that stuff needs to be done in advance because you can’t do that obviously if your pet gets away before, during or after a disaster. And that’s heartbreaking because we know that our pets are our family members,” Kuenstle said.
Just as the humans in your family require an emergency kit with food, water and medications, pets also need one. Their go bags will be a little different and should include things like chew toys, leashes and poop bags.
Kuenstle said it’s also important the kit has hard copies of your pets' vaccination records that you can show if you have to evacuate and end up at a hotel or shelter.
“A lot of items that pet owners need and are essential for their go bags, they already have around their house,” Kuenstle said.
Cesar Perea, the associate vice president of rescue for the American Humane Society, said people should also verify that their pets have ID tags on their collars and that the information linked to their pet’s microchip is up to date and that multiple people are listed as contacts.
“If you decide you want to ride out the storm and stay, we wouldn’t recommend that,” Perea said. “But if they do, typically, we tell people that you should have at least two-weeks worth of (pet) supplies in your home.”
Pets can sense any stress their owners feel as they prepare for a hurricane, Kuenstle said.
“When there is a disaster or storm, sirens, things like that, a natural fear response is for them … to hide and to run away. So, you know, making sure that your yard is secure and that they’re in a quiet, safe, secure place can help avoid that,” she said.
Animal rescue groups say it’s important to have your pet crate trained so their crate can be used as a safe space for your pets.
People who decide to stay and ride out a storm should keep their pets close, Perea said. Leaving them alone in another room “is just going to elevate their stress,” he added.
Leaving pets behind, particularly if they're left tied to a fence or chained in a backyard, can be deadly.
“If the disaster comes along, they can’t move away from it,” Perea said. “The disaster rolls through and they suffer a horrific death potentially.”
Abandoning your pets could also result in animal cruelty charges.
The plight of a bull terrier named Trooper, who was rescued last year during Hurricane Milton after being found chained to a fence along a Tampa highway, inspired a new Florida law that imposes tougher penalties on people who abandon pets during natural disasters.
Most emergency operations centers during a natural disaster focus part of their work on animal rescues, Perea said.
But both Perea and Kuenstle said most pets and other animals needing rescue are not abandoned on purpose.
During Hurricane Harvey in Houston in 2017, Kuenstle's group rescued about 2,300 animals, including cats, dogs and horses, reuniting about 300 of them with their humans.
“A lot of it was ... ’We had no idea we wouldn’t be able to come back.’ They were contacting us in a panic. They were concerned about their pet,” Kuenstle said.
The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans in 2005 is filled with countless stories of residents not wanting to leave their flooded homes if they couldn’t bring their furry loved ones, Perea said.
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FILE - A pet cat is carried to a cooling station in Houston, Tuesday, July 9, 2024, after Hurricane Beryl slammed into Texas, knocking out power to nearly 3 million homes and businesses. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)
FILE - Logan Smith walks his dog, Zak, past some of the 283 registered pets in the evacuation shelter at River Ridge Middle/High School in preparation for Hurricane Milton on Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024, in New Port Richey, Fla. (AP Photo/Mike Carlson, File)
U.S. forces have boarded another oil tanker in the Caribbean Sea. The announcement was made Friday by the U.S. military. The Trump administration has been targeting sanctioned tankers traveling to and from Venezuela.
The pre-dawn action was carried out by U.S. Marines and Navy, taking part in the monthslong buildup of forces in the Caribbean, according to U.S. Southern Command, which declared “there is no safe haven for criminals” as it announced the seizure of the vessel called the Olina.
Navy officials couldn’t immediately provide details about whether the Coast Guard was part of the force that took control of the vessel as has been the case in the previous seizures. A spokesperson for the U.S. Coast Guard said there was no immediate comment on the seizure.
The Olina is the fifth tanker that has been seized by U.S. forces as part of a broader effort by Trump’s administration to control the distribution of Venezuela’s oil products globally following the U.S. ouster of President Nicolás Maduro in a surprise nighttime raid.
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Richard Grenell, president of the Kennedy Center, says a documentary film about first lady Melania Trump will make its premiere later this month, posting a trailer on X.
As the Trumps prepared to return to the White House last year, Amazon Prime Video announced a year ago that it had obtained exclusive licensing rights for a streaming and theatrical release directed by Brett Ratner.
Melania Trump also released a self-titled memoir in late 2024.
Some artists have canceled scheduled Kennedy Center performances after a newly installed board voted to add President Donald Trump’s to the facility, prompting Grenell to accuse the performers of making their decisions because of politics.
Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum says that she has asked her foreign affairs secretary to reach out directly to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio or Trump regarding comments by the American leader that the U.S. cold begin ground attacks against drug cartels.
In a wide-ranging interview with Fox News aired Thursday night, Trump said, “We’ve knocked out 97% of the drugs coming in by water and we are going to start now hitting land, with regard to the cartels. The cartels are running Mexico. It’s very sad to watch.”
As she has on previous occasions, Sheinbaum downplayed the remarks, saying “it is part of his way of communicating.” She said she asked her Foreign Affairs Secretary Juan Ramón de la Fuente to strengthen coordination with the U.S.
Sheinbaum has repeatedly rebuffed Trump’s offer to send U.S. troops after Mexican drug cartels. She emphasizes that there will be no violation of Mexico’s sovereignty, but the two governments will continue to collaborate closely.
Analysts do not see a U.S. incursion in Mexico as a real possibility, in part because Sheinbaum’s administration has been doing nearly everything Trump has asked and Mexico is a critical trade partner.
Trump says he wants to secure $100 billion to remake Venezuela’s oil infrastructure, a lofty goal going into a 2:30 meeting on Friday with executives from leading oil companies. His plan rides on oil producers being comfortable in making commitments in a country plagued by instability, inflation and uncertainty.
The president has said that the U.S. will control distribution worldwide of Venezuela’s oil and will share some of the proceeds with the country’s population from accounts that it controls.
“At least 100 Billion Dollars will be invested by BIG OIL, all of whom I will be meeting with today at The White House,” Trump said Friday in a pre-dawn social media post.
Trump is banking on the idea that he can tap more of Venezuela’s petroleum reserves to keep oil prices and gasoline costs low.
At a time when many Americans are concerned about affordability, the incursion in Venezuela melds Trump’s assertive use of presidential powers with an optical spectacle meant to convince Americans that he can bring down energy prices.
Trump is expected to meet with oil executives at the White House on Friday.
He hopes to secure $100 billion in investments to revive Venezuela’s oil industry. The goal rides on the executives’ comfort with investing in a country facing instability and inflation.
Since a U.S. military raid captured former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro on Saturday, Trump has said there’s a new opportunity to use the country’s oil to keep gasoline prices low.
The full list of executives invited to the meeting has not been disclosed, but Chevron, ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips are expected to attend.
Attorneys general in five Democratic-led states have filed a lawsuit against President Donald Trump’s administration after it said it would freeze money for several public benefit programs.
The Trump administration has cited concerns about fraud in the programs designed to help low-income families and their children. California, Colorado, Minnesota, Illinois and New York states filed the lawsuit Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
The lawsuit asks the courts to order the administration to release the funds. The attorneys general have called the funding freeze an unconstitutional abuse of power.
Iran’s judiciary chief has vowed decisive punishment for protesters, signaling a coming crackdown against demonstrations.
Iranian state television reported the comments from Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei on Friday. They came after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei criticized Trump’s support for the protesters, calling Trump’s hands “stained with the blood of Iranians.”
The government has shut down the internet and is blocking international calls. State media has labeled the demonstrators as “terrorists.”
The protests began over Iran’s struggling economy and have become a significant challenge to the government. Violence has killed at least 50 people, and more than 2,270 have been detained.
Trump questions why a president’s party often loses in midterm elections and suggests voters “want, maybe a check or something”
Trump suggested voters want to check a president’s power and that’s why they often deliver wins for an opposing party in midterm elections, which he’s facing this year.
“There’s something down, deep psychologically with the voters that they want, maybe a check or something. I don’t know what it is, exactly,” he said.
He said that one would expect that after winning an election and having “a great, successful presidency, it would be an automatic win, but it’s never been a win.”
Hiring likely remained subdued last month as many companies have sought to avoid expanding their workforces, though the job gains may be enough to bring down the unemployment rate.
December’s jobs report, to be released Friday, is likely to show that employers added a modest 55,000 jobs, economists forecast. That figure would be below November’s 64,000 but an improvement after the economy lost jobs in October. The unemployment rate is expected to slip to 4.5%, according to data provider FactSet, from a four-year high of 4.6% in November.
The figures will be closely watched on Wall Street and in Washington because they will be the first clean readings on the labor market in three months. The government didn’t issue a report in October because of the six-week government shutdown, and November’s data was distorted by the closure, which lasted until Nov. 12.
FILE - President Donald Trump dances as he walks off stage after speaking to House Republican lawmakers during their annual policy retreat, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
