Aug 27, 2026

Hurricane Season With a Dog in Orlando: Four Shelters, No Addresses Yet

You cannot pick your hurricane shelter in advance in Orange County. What you can do is be ready to act within an hour of the announcement, and that takes preparation you can only do now.

Anant ShastriTelling stories through PetCompass

Orlando, Florida11 min readPet Care & Services

Orange County runs four pet-friendly hurricane shelters. It does not tell you where they are until a storm is coming.

From Orange County Animal Services' disaster preparedness page, verbatim:

"Orange County Government offers four pet-friendly shelters. Locations will be announced by the Office of Emergency Management as storms approach. In addition, lists of pet-friendly hotels are available online."

That is not evasion. Which shelters open depends on the storm's track and which buildings are safe, so publishing a fixed list in April would be publishing a guess. But it does change what planning means. You cannot pick your shelter in advance. What you can do is be ready to act on the announcement within an hour of it landing, and that takes preparation you can only do now.

Why Orlando still needs a hurricane plan

Orlando is inland, roughly fifty miles from either coast, and people who move here from the Northeast sometimes assume that settles it. It does not. Central Florida takes hurricane-force and tropical-storm-force winds, extended power outages and serious flooding, and Orange County maintains a full emergency management operation for exactly that reason.

Animal Services opens its own page with the instruction that matters: "Orange County Animal Services urges residents to begin making preparations for an active hurricane season. Start today, not when disaster strikes."

And the line it puts in bold, verbatim: "Under no circumstances should pets be left behind in the case of an emergency."

The sentence that closes a door

Read this one before you assume the general shelter down the road will take your dog.

Verbatim: "Pets are not permitted in Red Cross shelters (except for working dogs for people with special needs)."

So the four county pet-friendly shelters are a distinct category, not a description of shelters generally. If you turn up at the wrong one with a dog, you are turned away at the point when you have the least time to solve it.

The county's alternatives, verbatim: "Plan to go to a friend or relative's home, or a hotel/motel where pets are welcome."

Here is where a dog can and cannot go in an Orange County evacuation, as the county states it.

Option	What Orange County states
Four county pet-friendly shelters	Locations announced by the Office of Emergency Management as storms approach
Red Cross shelters	Pets not permitted, except working dogs for people with special needs
A friend or relative's home	Named by the county as a plan-ahead option
A hotel or motel where pets are welcome	Named by the county, with lists available online
Leaving the pet behind	Not acceptable under any circumstances

Book the destination in June, not in the cone

The county names pet-friendly hotels as an option and notes that "lists of pet-friendly hotels are available online". What it does not say, and what is true everywhere, is that those rooms are gone within hours of a named storm forming.

Pick two or three destinations at different distances and confirm each takes dogs. Note the pet fee, any weight limit, any breed restriction, and whether the dog can be left in the room. Keep the phone numbers on paper, because a plan that lives only on a phone is a plan that ends with the battery.

Our list of questions to ask before booking a pet-friendly hotel is the script to run through, our pre-travel pet checklist covers the documents, and our roundup of pet-friendly hotels in Orlando is a starting point for the local end, though for an evacuation you want somewhere out of the track.

The kit, item by item

Orange County publishes a specific list and calls it a "Pet Disaster Kit". Its packaging instruction is worth following literally, because it is designed for the case where you are not the one carrying it.

Verbatim: "The kit and supplies should be stored in an accessible location in the event that someone else has to handle transport for the pet(s). Keep the kit updated and available."

The suggested contents, verbatim:

"1 gallon zipper storage bag to hold the contents"
"Sandwich-sized bags for pet treats and a small toy(s)"
"Pet health records (each pet should display a current rabies tag at all times)"
"Current picture of pet with name, address and phone numbers"
"Collar and leash for dogs, and an adjustable collar for cats"
"An extra identification tag"
"Any special pet information"

Two of those deserve a second look.

"Current picture of pet with name, address and phone numbers." Not a photo on your phone. A physical photo with your details written on it, in a waterproof bag. That is a document a stranger can act on when the mobile network is down, and it is also what Orange County accepts as proof of ownership if your dog ends up at the shelter: the reclaims page states that "Proof of ownership is established via microchip, medical records and/or photographs".

"An extra identification tag." Spare, in the bag. Collars come off in chaos, and a dog with a tag gets a five-day hold at the county shelter against three days for a dog without.

Our pet emergency preparedness checklist is the general version of this list, and our emergency pet info card is the single page to slide into the bag.

The person who is not you

This is the part of the county's advice that most plans skip, and it is the reason for the "accessible location" instruction above.

Verbatim: "Be sure to share this plan with others. Have a designated person who can transport pets in the case of an emergency."

Storms do not wait for you to be at home. If you are at work in Lake Mary when an evacuation order lands and your dog is in Conway, somebody else has to be able to walk into your house, find the kit and the carrier, and go. That means a named person, a key, and a text conversation you have already had.

Write their name and number on the kit.

Before the season starts

The county's pre-storm list is short and every item has a lead time.

Talk to your vet. Verbatim: "First, schedule an appointment to talk to a veterinarian about planning for a disaster. Ensure vaccinations are up to date and secure a copy of the pet's medical records."

Get the records as a physical copy and photograph them as well. Boarding facilities and vets outside the area will ask for proof of immunisation before they take an animal.

Rabies current, tag displayed. The county's parenthetical is not decoration: "each pet should display a current rabies tag at all times." In Orange County that also matters in a way most people never think about until it happens. If your dog is exposed to wildlife, and post-storm displaced wildlife is a real hazard, the quarantine runs 45 days if the vaccination is current and 180 if it is not. Our pet health and vaccination tracker is a place to keep the date in view.

Chip registered to a working number. Not a county requirement, but Animal Services publishes that microchipped pets were returned to owners 52.2 percent of the time against 21.9 percent without, and stresses that the number "must be registered in the pet owner's name and changed when the owner moves or gets a new phone number." Our guide to microchipping your pet covers it.

When the storm is close

Two instructions, both simple, both routinely ignored.

Bring the pets in early. Verbatim: "As the disaster approaches, bring all pets in the house so searching for them won't be necessary."

That sentence is doing quiet work. Bring them in the day before.

Do not leave anyone behind. Verbatim: "If forced to evacuate, pet(s) should NOT be left behind." The capitals are the county's.

After it passes, the risk changes shape

This is the part of the county's page that most preparedness advice omits, and it is the most useful section on it.

Verbatim: "The disaster will have altered the pet's normal scent markers and may cause them to get lost. Stay with them when they are outdoors."

That is a genuinely good observation. A dog navigates a familiar neighbourhood partly by smell. After a storm, the fences are down, the bins are somewhere else, and the scent map that normally brings a dog home has been rearranged. A dog that has never wandered can get lost two streets from its own door.

So: lead only, for days afterwards. Not "he knows the yard". The yard has changed.

Verbatim, on behaviour: "The animal will probably be disoriented and frightened. Be patient and understanding." And: "Consult a veterinarian if any behavior or physical problems persist."

And on the physical hazards, verbatim: "be aware of fallen power lines, scattered debris, flooding and misplaced wildlife, all of which can be a danger to pets."

"Misplaced wildlife" is the one to take seriously in Florida. Orange County's rabies page lists raccoons, bats, coyotes, otters, bobcats, skunks and mongooses among the state's common rabies carriers. A flooded storm drain moves all of them somewhere new. If your dog does tangle with one, the county's handling advice is specific: gloves before you touch your own pet, wash it thoroughly with soap and water to remove the other animal's saliva, then a vet, then report it on 311.

A calendar that works

Late spring. Vet appointment, vaccinations current, medical records copied and photographed. Chip registry checked. Two or three evacuation destinations confirmed as pet-friendly, on paper.

Start of June. Kit assembled in its gallon bag, stored where someone else can find it. Physical photo with your details in it. Spare tag in it. Designated transporter named, told, and given a key.

When a storm forms. Refill medication. Confirm the destination still holds a room. Watch the Office of Emergency Management for the pet-friendly shelter announcement, because that is the only way you will learn the locations.

Twenty-four hours out. All pets indoors. Kit and carrier by the door.

Afterwards. Lead only. Watch for debris, water and wildlife. Give it a week before you trust the yard again.

If you are visiting during the season

Two adjustments.

Ask the hotel what its hurricane policy is for pets before you book, not after a watch is issued. Some properties that accept dogs in fair weather have different arrangements when a storm is inbound.

Keep the kit smaller but real. Records, a photo with your details, a spare tag, a spare leash, three days of food and water. Our hotel stay with a dog packing list covers the rest of the bag.

Frequently asked questions

Are there pet-friendly hurricane shelters in Orange County? Yes. Orange County Government offers four pet-friendly shelters. Their locations are announced by the Office of Emergency Management as storms approach rather than published in advance.

Are pets allowed in Red Cross shelters in Florida? Orange County Animal Services states that pets are not permitted in Red Cross shelters, except for working dogs for people with special needs.

What should be in a pet hurricane kit? Orange County suggests a one gallon zipper bag holding sandwich bags for treats and a small toy, pet health records, a current picture of the pet with name, address and phone numbers, a collar and leash, an extra identification tag, and any special pet information.

Where should I store my pet disaster kit? Orange County advises keeping it in an accessible location in case someone else has to handle transport for your pets, and naming a designated person who can do that.

Do I need a hurricane plan for my dog if I live inland in Orlando? Orange County Animal Services urges all residents to prepare for an active hurricane season and states that pets should not be left behind under any circumstances.

What should I do with my dog after a hurricane? Keep it with you outdoors. Orange County notes that a disaster alters normal scent markers and may cause pets to get lost, and warns about fallen power lines, debris, flooding and misplaced wildlife.

Sources

Shelter arrangements change between seasons. Watch the Orange County Office of Emergency Management as storms approach.