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MICHAEL DUNNE: I'm Michael Dunne. As a community, we're pet friendly, be it dogs or cats or other furry creatures. We spend a lot of time, effort and money making them as happy as we can, well, except for maybe one day of the year, where, in our exuberance to celebrate America, we might tend to forget our fuzzy buddies. That's the fourth of July with its thunderous noise of fireworks. Today on the show, we're gonna check in with Greenhill Humane Society to get the 411 on how to protect our pets from the fear that comes from fireworks, and also to get them ready for hot and dry summer weather. Then in the second part of the show, we're going to talk with an insurance data analyst who authored a report on how climate change is making homeowners insurance costs a scary prospect for Oregonians.
MICHAEL DUNNE: Kelly Fleischmann, Community Engagement Manager with Greenhill Humane Society. Thanks so much for coming in and talking with us.
KELLY FLEISCHMANN: Thank you so much for having me, happy to be here.
MICHAEL DUNNE: So, gosh, at the end of the week is July 4. Everybody loves July 4. Perhaps everybody on two legs, but those with four legs, not so much. Talk about how fireworks and large, loud noises impact our pets?
KELLY FLEISCHMANN: Absolutely, you said it right off. We may enjoy the Fourth of July festivities, but your pets don't. We recommend that you leave your animals at home and don't bring them to fireworks displays. It's loud, it's very chaotic, it's disconcerting. It's fun for us to attend. Don't bring them to fireworks displays at all.
MICHAEL DUNNE: I'm sure a lot of people take that advice. But of course, you know, leaving them at home, or even being with them when fireworks are going on around Is there anything like, I know a lot of people love those ambient noise machines, is there anything we can do to help them while they're in the house, while fireworks are going on?
KELLY FLEISCHMANN: Absolutely, we totally can. It's something that, if you have a white noise machine, that kind of adds a nice calming sound, keeping them in a separate room where it's quiet and dark, perhaps turning on some soft music. I had a cat that really enjoyed watching Birder King. It was my favorite thing to watch. Kind of that calming smoothing, because it disrupts their routine.
MICHAEL DUNNE: Is it better being with them than being alone, correct?
KELLY FLEISCHMANN: It is better to be with them. If we can be, keeping them outside and you going to the festivities, is a big no-no. They are more apt to try to escape their space, and then thus they get separated from their owners. So, keeping them indoors, being with them, if we can be, if there's also something where an animal is highly stressed, we recommend you reach out to your local veterinarian. There are medications and other things they can be prescribed
MICHAEL DUNNE: I was going to ask you. I know that there's both over the counter as well as prescription medications and things like that. Do they help?
KELLY FLEISCHMANN: Absolutely it can. It's worth the conversation. Many, many animals get stressed during this time of year. It's fun festivities for families, but our fur babies are our families too, so we want to be sure to look out for them and their needs.
MICHAEL DUNNE: I'm also curious too about the noise itself. I mean, are certain animals just more predisposed to being sensitive around loud noises?
KELLY FLEISCHMANN: Sure, it's a great question. So, animals feel it differently than humans do. So oftentimes they can hear it before the fireworks even start, right? So really being mindful that the body will feel a totally different sensation than we will. Deaf, animals won't hear it, right? So, but you'll have animals that'll feel that, and they'll know it before the big, you know, ceremony of fireworks even begins. They're already anticipating it.
MICHAEL DUNNE: I imagine you get very busy this time of year, because obviously a lot of animals, especially if they're left outdoors and they hear loud noises, the fight or flight response happens and they run away. Is that true? Does that happen a lot now?
KELLY FLEISCHMANN: It happens. And so, you know, Lost and Found animals come to Greenhill regularly if your animal was lost, especially during the fourth of July season or any holiday or any time, check our website, Greenhill.org, fill out a loss report. Our website is updated in real time, so you can see which animals we're bringing in that have been strayed from their families.
MICHAEL DUNNE: Are there ways to desensitize an animal? I'm thinking, Okay, I might live on a street where, every year people are shooting off fireworks, maybe for the Fourth and other celebrations. Is there a way that you can kind of get an animal used to it?
KELLY FLEISCHMANN: It's a tough question to answer. I don't think that you can ever really get them accustomed to it or used to it, because it disrupts what they're used to. It's just as we react to a loud sound, bodies inherently hear that and a loud reaction. So definitely something that we couldn't really be sure I really do.
MICHAEL DUNNE: Let’s talk about different species. Are dogs more sensitive than cats? Or is it kind of pretty much the same thing?
KELLY FLEISCHMANN: Pretty much the same thing. I've seen cats that have had a reaction to the point that they're shaking. I've seen dogs the same way as well, too, and they hide underneath the bed. So animals are just being mindful that this is fun for us, and the festivities begin even before Fourth of July, so fireworks begin at the earlier part of the week all the way through the holiday weekend. So really keeping an eye on our animals, that entire length of time for them.
MICHAEL DUNNE: Let's shift away from the Fourth, as it tends to be the formal start of summer. We're talking on a day where it's really hot. Can we talk a little bit about, you know, making sure that our furry friends are safe during the hottest part of the year?
KELLY FLEISCHMANN: Absolutely. So, this is the time of year we want to be out and about. We want to go for hikes. We want to go for walks and picnics. But if it's too hot for you, it's likely too hot for your four-legged friend, right? So, temperatures on the sidewalk are hotter on Paw pads outside and walking around while you're sweating, your dog is hot too, as well. Keeping them inside the car is a big no-no. If it's too hot for you to go out, your animal doesn't want to go out either. They'd rather stay at home in the air-conditioned room, on the couch, taking a nap.
MICHAEL DUNNE: I guess some basic things would be, obviously, it's, it's always great to take your dog on a walk. But I mean, should you maybe alter your schedule a bit and go in the morning?
KELLY FLEISCHMANN: Absolutely alter your schedule as best as you can, right? So early in the morning on a day like today, when it's in the 90s, go early in the morning if you can, or if you can't do that, wait until evening time after the sun goes down, gets a little bit cooler, keeping in mind that the surface of the concrete that your paw pads are touching a lot hotter and they don't have shoes.
MICHAEL DUNNE: This might be a strange question, but I'm wondering too, do animals tend to eat a little bit less when it's hot, and should we be kind of regulating their diet more as it gets hotter, or is that kind of disrupting their natural patterns?
KELLY FLEISCHMANN: That's a great question. Always offering animals the regular routine of food and water as you normally would. You will see that animals generally tend to decline on the amount of food that they want to consume. It's hot, maybe they'll snack a little bit more. Maybe they'll kind of pick at it, but still offering the same amount of food and water as you will, and always making sure that water is fresh as well, if your animals outside and indoors as well, water inside and outdoor options as well, too for the animal.
MICHAEL DUNNE: Of course, when we're out, especially in our wonderful wilderness areas and parks and whatnot, there are other critters out there. I'm thinking of mosquitoes and ticks and stuff. Talk a little bit about that, because I think now is the season, especially up in the Cascades, where it seems like the mosquitoes are, you know, there's a million per square inch. And of course, ticks have some real dangers. Talk a little bit about that and what people should do to prevent and prepare.
KELLY FLEISCHMANN: Absolutely. So, ticks and mosquitoes are something that we just have to live, unfortunately, harmoniously in nature with, right? So, when you take your dog for a walk. Whether you're hiking, doesn't matter if it's just out to the local park, ticks are out there. So just as you check yourself, check your animal as well, too. Make sure that you're checking through their skin. Check in their ears as well. Foxtails are a big thing too, getting down into dog's ears. So, make sure that you're checking yourself and your animal as well.
MICHAEL DUNNE: Are there any kind of warning signs, if, if they're really being bothered by ticks and whatnot. I mean, are there some, maybe some, some symptoms you should look out for?
KELLY FLEISCHMANN: You need to go to the vet to take a look at absolutely if you suspect something, bring them into your vet, right? So maybe it's the first time that you've taken them out, and they've actually shown signs of very itchy, very bothered by something, and they hadn't before in the past, animals change as they age, so bringing them into your veterinarian and just having a conversation, maybe there's some sort of allergy that now has ensued in the animal as they've gotten older, just like people are, allergies are different as we age. Just bring it into the local veterinarian and have that conversation.
MICHAEL DUNNE: Do dogs get poison ivy?
KELLY FLEISCHMANN: That's a great question. You've stumped me. I don't know.
MICHAEL DUNNE: I think it brings up a larger point, which is the importance of keeping your dogs on leash.
KELLY FLEISCHMANN: Absolutely, keeping a dog on leash is always safest for you and your animal. They interact with you. They're familiar with you. You take them outside of their local home and where they're used to going. They're seeing new sites. Are smelling new smells. You want to make sure that they're safe and others are safe around you as well, too.
MICHAEL DUNNE: You know, another big sort of unfortunate summer occurrence, but we're all getting so used to it. We call, call it wildfire season. And I wanted to ask you about that, because you talked very well about how, if you're too hot, your dog is too hot. What about wildfire smoke?
KELLY FLEISCHMANN: Absolutely So lungs and animals are just as susceptible as human lungs, right? So if you're going out and you normally do a 5k run in the morning, and you take your friend, but it's really smoky outside, and you don't want to go in it, your dog doesn't want to go out in it as well, either it's susceptible to their lungs. Do you want to be mindful of what may happen if you push it? Just wait a day. Wait a few days, so it's safe for the both of you.
MICHAEL DUNNE: That's great advice. Good advice. Well, hopefully everybody takes your advice and we make sure that the Fourth is both safe and sane for us and our pets. Kelly Fleischman, she's the community engagement director for Greenhill. Now we are going to talk about insurance and how wildfire, and earthquake potential in Oregon might make obtaining insurance a real problem, if not impossible going forward. Matt Brannon, a data journalist and author with Insurify, thanks so much for coming on and talking to us.
MATT BRANNON: Thank you for having me.
MICHAEL DUNNE: I read your report about sort of insurance in Oregon, and some of the challenges, can you just sort of, you know, talk, take us through it, give us the 30,000-foot view of this report, and, you know, talk about some of the key findings.
MATT BRANNON: Sure. So, we spend a lot of time looking at home insurance and home insurance costs for Americans. Last year, home insurance costs rose nearly three times faster than inflation, and premiums are climbing nationwide, in large part because of climate change. As disasters become more frequent and more severe, so home insurance costs are one of the less discussed but clear and evident results of climate change, and if homeowners aren't familiar with the risks in their state, they could end up under insured or caught off guard by rate hikes, or otherwise unprepared for living in a vulnerable area. And so we took a look at some FEMA data around expected losses from natural disasters in each state. And what we found is that in Oregon, experts suggest that in the average year, Oregon faces about $1.4 billion in potential losses from disasters in the typical year. And I'd be happy to talk a little bit more about that too.
MICHAEL DUNNE: Yeah. I mean, obviously, I'm sure many of our listeners can already kind of guess what some of these natural disasters are. We live in an earthquake zone and certainly with wildfires. Are those the two major things that you kind of looked at and said, Okay, this is, this is a challenge for the Pacific Northwest, and specifically Oregon?
MATT BRANNON: Absolutely, there are a few other ones, including flooding and landslides, but by far the biggest is earthquake risk, if you're talking about potential losses for Oregon residents. So, of the $1.4 billion in disasters that Oregon could face in a given year, more than a billion dollars of that is because of the small but real risk that a major earthquake hits a large population center. So that accounts for a lot of the risk in Oregon, it hasn't created very high home insurance rates, to the same extent in other states, because earthquakes are often excluded from home insurance or standard home insurance policies, but fire is the second biggest risk, and that is something that is typically reflected in high home insurance prices. Oregon is one of the 12 top states nationally for expected losses from fires, with projected losses of around 7 million $70 million in damages in an average year. So that's $70 million that Oregon is at risk of losing in damages from wildfires in a given year and 2020 FEMA actually sent more than $600 million to Oregon because of wildfires, extreme wildfires in the area that led 20,000 people to ask for FEMA assistance in Oregon. So, wildfires and earthquakes are the two biggest causes here. But of course, it varies by area within that state.
MICHAEL DUNNE: You teed up kind of this idea of many people you know might be underinsured, especially for these specific risks.
MATT BRANNON: Yeah, only about 20% of Oregonians have earthquake insurance. So that means there are a lot of people at risk of seriously losing a lot in the event of a major earthquake, which you know, the earthquakes that really keep geologists up at night. The major ones are said to come to the area that Oregon is in around every 300 to 500 years. The last one was around 300 years ago. So it is something that people are definitely very curious about and very they should be prioritizing protecting their assets in the event of that, or Oregon homeowners insurance, as I said, won't include earthquake coverage, but you can pay for separate add on to your policy, and that will allow you to protect yourself better against earthquake damage.
MICHAEL DUNNE: Obviously we have seen catastrophic wildfires in Oregon. It seems to be getting worse, and I imagine, as you looked at this data all up and down, probably the entire West, that is something that, in addition to, you know, being something that we're very cognizant of, that has the real potential to, well, decimate whole towns and cities, as we've seen, But of course, also decimate insurance coverage, isn't it?
MATT BRANNON: That's right. So, because wildfire risks are so high on the West Coast, we've seen this in California lately, but also in Oregon and Washington, because those costs are so high, a lot of insurers are pulling back coverage from some of these states. So, this in the region, California is dealing with this the most. So, for about every 60 homeowners’ policies, one has been non renewed. Their insurer said, You know what? It's too expensive for us to cover your home because it's so likely that it does actually burn down in a fire, or the rate that we need to charge is just not feasible. We would have to charge you so much that maybe state regulators just would not allow it because it's deemed too expensive. So Oregon is dealing with this to some extent, not to the same rate as California. I mentioned that in California, it's about one in 60 policies that have been non renewed. According to the last year of available data. In Oregon, it's about 150 so it's not happening as frequently in Oregon, but again, it does vary on location. For example, Josephine County along the southern part of the state is seeing the highest rate of non-renewals, where homeowners just are not able to find coverage. Some homeowners are not able to find coverage because insurers are just unwilling to invest in that area.
MICHAEL DUNNE: This is perhaps a philosophical question, but, but you did teed up the fact that you know, insurance companies in high risk states are really evaluating whether they can insure things, I guess, with climate change, with wildfires and certainly, obviously in the Gulf Coast and hurricanes that are getting worse and worse, all of these things in many ways exacerbated by climate change. I mean, is the industry getting to sort of an existential crisis in terms of being able to ensure in these highly densely populated, expensive areas like the west coast and the Gulf Coast, where you know the storms are getting worse and wildfire season is almost like a year-round catastrophe?
MATT BRANNON: I think that's the right question to ask, because certainly in some states, this is what can only be deemed an insurance crisis. For example, you mentioned the gulf coast, where hurricanes strike so frequently, especially in states like Louisiana and Florida. I mean, if earthquakes struck as frequently as major hurricanes, home insurance would be completely different in the Pacific Northwest and earthquake insurance. So, it hasn't reached that scale yet in this specific area, but just broadly across the country, it is something that is keeping insurers up at night, especially because in a lot of ways, the reinsurance market, the companies that insure insurers and protect them, they operate on a bigger scale, on larger regional scales. So, a disaster in California could change home insurance premiums for people in Oregon because of the way that the reinsurance market works. So, it is all interconnected, and it's something that, you know, it's hard to say this is a bubble that's about to pop. You know, don't have enough information to say that yet, but certainly, things have gotten more tenuous as climate change has become more apparent.
MICHAEL DUNNE: You know, my last question for you is kind of this, just generally speaking, as people are listening, you know, what are some basic steps that maybe, maybe homeowners should think about with regard to insurance and with regard to this overall risk?
MATT BRANNON: Absolutely So rates are climbing everywhere, including Oregon, and even though they aren't as high as they are in other states, in Oregon, on average, still, there are steps that homeowners can take to protect their interests. For example, comparing policies between different websites. There are a lot or between different insurers. There are a lot of websites that allow you to type in your insurance information and see if one person, one company would charge you less for home insurance than another for a similar rate. There are also some incentives around hardening your home, strengthening it, making it more fortified against severe weather. Oregon has a program called the wildfire prepared program, and under this program, homeowners who certify that they have taken steps to mitigate fire threats to their home, they could be eligible for discounted home insurance premiums. So definitely something to look for if you're a homeowner in an area that has some wildfire threats.
MICHAEL DUNNE: Good advice. Good advice. Matt Brannon, he is a data journalist and author with insurer Insurify, thank you so much for coming on and talking with us.
MATT BRANNON: Sure. Thank you for having me. That's the show for today. All episodes of Oregon On The Record are available at KLCC.org. We recently asked you for your opinion about possible tax increases to help pay for wildfire prevention and firefighting, and it was evenly split on our social media pages, with about the same number of people agreeing to a tax while others feeling that it was either unnecessary or just simply didn't like an increase in taxes. Tomorrow, on the show, we're going to have a lively debate with our own arts and culture reporter and a professor of Film Studies at the U of O about the New York Times recent list of the top 100 films of the 21st Century. And we'd love your help. Send us your thoughts on your favorite movies of the last 25 years, or let us know what you agreed with or disagreed with on the Times list. Go to our social media pages on Facebook, Bluesky or Instagram, or send us an email at questions@klcc.org. I'm Michael Dunne, and this has been Oregon On The Record from KLCC. Thanks for listening.
