Pet Fire Safety

Here at Trupanion we include more than 60 dogs (and even a few cats) among our employees and having our pets by our side makes us a happier, healthier company. I mean who can be stressed out when you have a cute fuzzy companion at your feet all day?

It is our mission to protect our canine and feline friends at all costs – we have a committee dedicated to reviewing and addressing any concerns that come up, two full-time dog walkers to give the office dogs much-needed fresh air and exercise, and of course we offer pet insurance so all our pets have the opportunity to receive the best treatment for any injuries and illnesses they develop.

But recently we realized we did not have an adequate plan in place to protect our employees and our pets from a fire emergency. What would happen if we had a fire in our building? How would we communicate our unique situation to emergency personnel? How would we get all the employees AND their pets out safely? And how would we coordinate all of this?

To meet this need, we invited a local fire warden to come educate us on fire safety and help us develop a plan that included our furry friends. We are now taking on the issue of pet fire safety by offering information and resources for those looking for information. We want to call attention to the importance of creating and implementing a fire safety plan in the workplace, and making sure that plan outlines specific protocols for office pets.

Come, stay, and look around. We hope what you learn here will help protect you and your pet in case of a fire emergency.

Note: All information presented here is specific to what we at Trupanion have learned through our research, planning, and testing. It is not expected that this information will work for every business. Please contact your local fire department when developing your own plan.

All photos, video, and b-roll footage are available to reporters upon request. Please contact heather.kalinowski@trupanion.com.

From the Experts: Tips & Advice

Trupanion Planning Documents

Fire and Evacuation Planning Elements
Fire codes require that fire safety and evacuation plans be developed for a variety of occupancies. Read more...

Trupanion's Fire Evacuation Plan
Trupanion has created a plan that demonstrates how to evacuate an office with your pet. Read more...

Pet Safety Sticker

Thank you for your interest in our pet safety stickers. We have sent out tens of thousands of stickers to pet owners all across the United States and Canada, and are honored to be able to help keep these pets safe. We will re-launch our pet safety stickers on the next Pet Fire Safety Day in July, so stay tuned!

Safey is prioritized in this order:

People Firefighters Pets YOUR main priority should be getting yourself out of the building. If you stay in the building to try to help all the pets, you will jeopardize your and their safety. Firefighters will come into the building looking for YOU, and not help any pets until all people are out. Once all the people have evacuated, the firefighters will be able to head in ONLY looking for pets, increasing their chances of getting out alive. While it might be intuitive to stay and rescue our furry friends, the reality is that more pets get saved if you don't try to save them all yourself!

List of Resources

• National Fire Protection Association – The authority on fire, electrical, and building safety.
• The Preventive Vet – Veterinary website dedicated to keeping pets safe from emergencies.
• Fire Safety for All – Resource for safety tips that can help prevent fires and fire-related injuries and deaths.
• Sparkles the Pet Fire Safety Dog – A blog dedicated to pet fire safety tips.

View our journey in developing – and testing – our own pet fire evacuation plan.