Van Rams Berlin Pride Crowd, Attacker Stabs Bystanders Before Police Kill Him

During an evacuation drill, my neighbor loaded the car with go-bags, water, documents, and the kids. Then she remembered the dog. Then the cat. Then the cat's medication. Then the dog's food. Fifteen minutes of scrambling to gather pet supplies that should have been packed and ready. If your household includes animals, their emergency kit is as non-negotiable as yours.

Here's what I've got this week.

The Complete Pet Emergency Kit

Issue 18 covered pet preparedness briefly. This is the deep dive. Roughly 70% of US households have pets. In every evacuation, animals are a major logistical challenge because most shelters don't accept them, their needs are specific, and they add stress to an already stressful situation.

The pet kit mirrors the human kit in structure: food, water, medical, comfort, and documents. For dogs: 3 to 7 days of food in a sealed container, collapsible water bowl, leash and collar with ID tags (current phone number), any medications with dosage instructions, poop bags, a familiar toy or blanket, and a recent photo (for identification if separated). For cats: same food and water approach, plus a portable litter box and litter, a carrier (which should be familiar, not stored in the attic), medications, and a towel to drape over the carrier for calming.

Veterinary records should be in your document go-bag (Issue 34). Vaccination records are required for boarding, shelters, and crossing state lines. Your vet's contact information and any specialist information should be included.

Microchipping is the single most important pet preparedness step. Collars and tags can fall off. A microchip is permanent identification that any vet or shelter can scan. Update the registration with your current phone number annually.

Sheltering with pets requires advance planning. FEMA requires that federally funded shelters accommodate pets (the PETS Act), but capacity varies. Know which shelters near you accept animals. Identify pet-friendly hotels along your evacuation routes. Have a friend or family member outside your area who can take your animals if needed.

For shelter-in-place with pets: ensure you have enough pet food for the same duration as your human food supply. Store water for your animals (roughly 1 ounce per pound of body weight per day for dogs). Anxious pets during storms or outages benefit from a familiar crate or confined space, a pheromone diffuser, and maintained routines.

Pack a pet go-bag and put it next to your human go-bag.

3 days of food, a bowl, leash, ID tags (verify phone number is current), medications, a toy, and a copy of vaccination records. One bag, ready to grab.

Microchipped Dogs Are Three Times More Likely to Make It Home

A Human Animal Support Services analysis of shelter intake data found 57% of microchipped dogs were reunited with their owners, compared with just 22% of microchipped cats, and only 18% of stray animals arriving at shelters had a microchip at all. Pets without one were far less likely to get home. It is a simple, low cost step: register the chip with your current phone number and keep it updated annually. If an evacuation separates you from your pet, this may be the single factor that decides whether you see them again.

Source: Human Animal Support Services

Joshua Enyart covers working with animals in field environments in Surviving the Wild. His principle: animals in survival situations are both a responsibility and a resource (in the companionship and morale sense, not the food sense). A well-managed animal provides comfort, security (dogs are excellent alert systems), and emotional stability during stressful periods.

Enyart's practical advice: train your animals for the environments they might encounter. A dog that's crate-trained rides calmly in a vehicle during an evacuation. A dog that's never been crated panics, distracts the driver, and adds chaos. Practice before the event.

About $24.95 for the paperback. It pairs bushcraft with first aid, the same pairing this issue's pet kit borrows: food, water, medical, and comfort in one plan.

Berlin Pride Attack: Police Kill Suspect After Van and Machete Assault Kills One, Injures 17

On July 25, 2026, 21 year old Abdul Ballout (German outlets, bound by privacy law, refer to him only as "Abdul B.") drove a van into the crowd at Berlin's Christopher Street Day Pride parade near Tiergarten park, then got out and attacked bystanders with a machete. One person was killed and at least 17 were injured, several critically. Police shot Ballout dead hours later in Berlin's Spandau district after he charged officers with the same weapon. Germany's interior minister said all evidence points to an Islamist terrorist attack, and police said Ballout was already known to them from Berlin's "Islamist spectrum."

This was not an isolated event. Germany has recorded at least nine major vehicle ramming attacks on public gatherings since 2016: the Breitscheidplatz Christmas market attack in Berlin (12 killed), a 2020 carnival parade attack in Volkmarsen, a 2020 pedestrian zone attack in Trier (5 killed), the 2024 Magdeburg Christmas market attack (6 killed, 200 plus injured, attacker Taleb al Abdulmohsen), a 2025 labor demonstration attack in Munich (2 killed), and a 2025 attack in Mannheim (2 killed). A worldwide count found 27 vehicle ramming attacks killed 76 people in just nine months, from November 2024 to July 2025, and German cities have raised security spending 44% over three years, lining Christmas markets with repurposed anti tank barriers.

The pattern is not confined to Germany. As recently as May 16, 2026, a driver in Modena, Italy, identified as Salim El Koudri, rammed a car into pedestrians at roughly 100 kilometers per hour, then got out and stabbed a bystander who tried to stop him. Eight people were hurt, including two tourists who lost limbs. Italian investigators ruled out terrorism and attributed the attack to a “mental health crisis.” The ram then blade tactic itself, regardless of the motive behind it, is what keeps repeating across European cities.

If you travel abroad this summer or during holidays, treat any large open air gathering (Christmas markets, parades, pedestrian zones, festivals, demonstrations) as a venue attackers have repeatedly chosen. Look for vehicle barriers before you settle in, position yourself away from street facing edges, and know your exit routes before you need them. Knowing which venues get targeted, and why, is a real safety advantage for anyone traveling internationally. We track incidents like these one by one because a single attack is a headline, but a pattern that keeps repeating and spreading across countries is a trend, and trends are what actually improve your odds when you are the one deciding where to stand.

Source: Global Banking and Finance, Euronews, ZeroHedge

Portable Pet Emergency Kit (Custom Build)

We assembled a pet kit in a small dry bag: 5 days of dry dog food in a sealed container, collapsible bowl, spare leash and collar, 30-day supply of heartworm medication, a printout of vet records and vaccination dates, 20 poop bags, a small comfort blanket, and a recent photo of the dog printed on paper.

The bag lives on the shelf next to our human go-bag. Grab-and-go. During our last practice evacuation, loading the car took 8 minutes including the pet kit. Before the kit existed, the pet scramble alone took 15 minutes. About $25 for the bag and contents (food excluded since we rotate through our regular supply).

Budget alternative: A gallon zip-lock bag with 3 days of food, a printout of vet records, and a spare leash. Under $5. Covers the essentials.

Overrated: Elaborate pet survival kits from specialty retailers. They often contain items your specific animal doesn't need and miss items they do (like specific medications). Build your own based on your animal's actual requirements.

Underrated: A current photo of your pet on your phone and printed in the kit. If you're separated during an evacuation, a photo is how you describe and identify your animal to shelters, rescuers, and social media lost-pet groups.

Ready.gov: Pets and Animals: Federal pet emergency planning guidance.

ASPCA: Disaster Preparedness: Comprehensive pet emergency planning resources.

AVMA: Emergency Preparedness for Pets: Veterinary guidance on animal emergency care.

PetFinder.com: Database for reuniting lost pets after disasters.

Grokipedia: Pet: Background on pet emergency management.

Alcohol as a preparedness supply. Not what you think. Disinfection, wound care, fire starting, barter value, and yes, morale.

PS: My neighbor now has a pet go-bag on the shelf next to her family bags. Last drill, the car was loaded in 10 minutes flat. Kids, dog, cat, bags, documents. No scrambling. The pet kit was the missing piece that made the whole system work.