TAMPA, Fla. — One of the Girl Scouts' mottos is to always be prepared, and a Tampa Bay Gold Award-winning Girl Scout is preparing our pets for the upcoming hurricane season.
Laila Wood credits her three-year-old pup named Kobe for inspiring her Gold Award Project, Pet Disaster Kits.
“During hurricanes, people usually don’t think about their pets; they are usually thinking about themselves and how they are going to prepare themselves,” said Wood with Girl Scouts of West Central Florida. “So I was thinking, ‘ok, I can create something that they can have for a long-lasting time, and as soon as the hurricane comes or natural disaster, they have something to pick up immediately.”’
So the 2024 Newsome High School graduate spent the spring putting together more than 70 pet disaster kits.
“Two separate bags, one for dogs and one for cats. So in the dog bag, I have toys, I have a dog bowl, I have some water in there,” said Wood.
Wood then donated the kits to the Humane Society of Tampa Bay to be given out with every adoption.
“It’s so wonderful, especially when younger people are interested in animals, but especially in shelter animals,” said Regan Blessinger with the Humane Society of Tampa Bay.
“When you are first adopting an animal, you think of a lot of things, ‘I need food, I need beds,’ but also it's hurricane season, and I need to prep for that, so this was so exciting for them because that was just something that they didn’t have to worry about.”
The Girl Scouts of West Central Florida aims to build courage, confidence, and character in every scout to help make the world a better place. They say this project checks all those boxes.
“With Florida hurricane season, it just meant something for her to ensure that animals have safety during that threat of a storm and they have what they need to be cared for during an incredibly hard time for families, so I love that she picked this,” said Cami Gibertini, president of Girl Scouts of West Central Florida.
Wood said the pet disaster kits are just the beginning. In the fall, she will attend Florida A & M, where she plans to major in animal science.
“I feel like I’m a huge voice in the pet community, and now that I have created these kits, it’s very helpful for all these families,” said Wood.
Back-to-back storm events brought record storm surge, rainfall and winds to the Tampa Bay region. The question some are asking now isn’t where people should rebuild, but where we should let nature regain control.
