Once the training is complete, team members are credentialed and can be activated through the proper notification methods. Much of the training can be completed on-line and is offered free of charge. While trained animal medical professionals are valuable assets of a team, citizens who are willing to make a difference and get involved are just as important to the success of the team!Īll disaster responders must complete a core training curriculum. In addition to assisting with planning activities and public outreach/education, they are tasked with activating emergency animal shelters and helping to coordinate animal evacuations/rescues during disasters. One of their primary missions is to help the county meets its obligations under the PETS Act. The Butler County Animal Response Team (BU CART) was started to help ensure the safety, survival and welfare of any animal affected by natural and man-made disasters in our area. Following that disaster, the federal government passed the PETS Act (Pets Evacuation and Transportation Standards Act of 2006) which requires state and local emergency plans to address the needs of companion animals and service animals in a disaster. In the years that followed, local groups began to develop in the form of County Animal Response Teams.Īnimal issues came to the forefront again during Hurricane Katrina when many individuals either refused to evacuate to safety without their pets or re-entered dangerous areas to rescue pets that had been left behind. The first team was a state level group, representing a partnership between state government agencies and non-governmental organizations. That figure could have been substantially reduced with a coordinated emergency plan to address animal and agricultural issues. Over three million animals, livestock included, perished in that natural disaster. Animal Response Teams were first created after Hurricane Floyd in 1999.
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