Accessibility to emergency information and services: evacuations: pets.

Assembly Member Zbur's legislation establishes new protocols for pet rescue during emergency evacuations, requiring California cities and counties to incorporate specific procedures into their emergency plans for safely retrieving animals from evacuation zones.

The measure requires local emergency plans to designate formal procedures for pet rescue operations, subject to incident commander approval, when owners believe their pets remain alive in evacuated areas. These procedures must outline safe rescue timelines and conditions while maintaining that reentry remains contingent on emergency conditions and commander authorization. The plans must also identify a designated point of contact for residents seeking information about pet evacuations and publish this contact information, along with reunification resources, on local government websites.

For pets rescued from evacuation zones, the legislation institutes a mandatory 30-day holding period before animals can be made available for adoption, transferred, or euthanized. Local animal control agencies may transfer pets to in-state partner organizations during this period if they maintain location records to facilitate owner reunification. After 30 days, euthanasia is prohibited if an animal rescue organization has previously expressed willingness to accept the pet and completes the transfer. These protections exclude animals that are irremediably suffering or were voluntarily surrendered by their owners.

The requirements take effect upon each jurisdiction's next emergency plan update, with state reimbursement available if the Commission on State Mandates determines the changes impose costs on local agencies. The measure adds to existing state law requiring local governments to provide pet emergency preparedness information and maintain animal-friendly emergency shelters.