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Oxford County Animal Response Team (OXCART)
Oxford
County CART Meeting
On Monday, May 19th, 2008 at
5:30pm in the basement of the County Courthouse on Western Av,
the County Animal Response Team will meet to discuss the County Animal Response
Plan, Pet Friendly shelters, group organization, and create a list of goals to
accomplish in the next year. For the schedule of 2008 meetings
follow this link. If you are interested in
joining us please contact our office at
oxctyema@megalink.net or call
743-6336.
Shelters Can Get Money From FEMA After Disasters But
Preparation Is Still Key
PETS Act Briefing at U.S. Capitol Underscores that
Animal Issues are People Issues
WASHINGTON (Feb. 15, 2008) – It pays to have an
animal disaster preparedness plan in place
and entities that do so may be eligible for Federal
Emergency Management Agency assistance after major
disasters.
Representatives
from The Humane Society of the United States, FEMA,
Calif. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s office and U.S.
Rep. Christopher Shays (R-Conn.) gathered here
Wednesday to discuss how the Pets Evacuation and
Transportation Standards (PETS) Act was implemented
during the southern California wildfires.
The
PETS Acts was sponsored by Shays and the late U.S.
Rep. Tom Lantos (D-Calif.). It was signed by
President Bush in 2006. It says, in part, that in
order to qualify for certain FEMA funding, a city or
state has to submit a disaster preparedness plan.
These plans must include how they will accommodate
pets or service animals. Federal funding is
available on a cost-share basis to reimburse certain
eligible activities undertaken to evacuate and
shelter animals in the event of a Presidential
disaster declaration. Activities may be performed
by contractors or private nonprofits (PNP), however,
the state or local government needs to apply for
reimbursement on behalf of the PNP for activities
undertaken.
Nancy
Perry, vice president of government affairs at The
HSUS said, “Pets are a completely integrated part of
our families. Katrina drove home the serious
implication of that bond obvious to everyone.”
Many
victims of Hurricane Katrina would not evacuate
without their pets and some died as a result.
Already,
15 states have pet evacuation plans and five other
states have bills pending to require inclusion of
pets and service animals in their state emergency
plans.
Many
people evacuated with their pets during the Southern
California wildfires
last fall, said Karen Quarles, deputy director of
Schwarzenegger’s DC office. Quarles showed a
presentation with pictures of people with their pets
at evacuation sites. More than 3,000 animals and
2,000 people were at one evacuation site. Some
animal evacuees included a zebra and a chinchilla.
Ollie
Davidson, senior disaster advisor at The HSUS, has
worked on more than 370 disasters. He said the best
prepared states are those that have suffered many
disasters and the states and cities whose leadership
has recognized the importance of collaborative
planning that includes government, businesses and
nongovernmental organizations. At least 15 states
and the District
of Columbia have
organizations that promote pet disaster evacuation
planning. The number of such organizations is
growing.
He said
the following needs to be addressed when planning
for pet evacuation:
-
Tell people to take
their pets.
-
Tell them which
shelter will house them.
-
And who’s going to
care for the animals. “If your plan is to house
owners and pets separately, it’s doomed to failure,”
Davidson said.
Communities should prepare, but so should
individuals. People should have an evacuation kit
for both themselves and their pets, including food,
medication, bottled water and clothing/blankets.
Unfortunately in Katrina, that would not have helped
much. Shays, who attended the briefing, got teary
because Lantos, the co-sponsor of the bill, passed
away Monday. At the Wednesday meeting, attendees
heard how Lantos was compelled to co-sponsor the
bill after being moved by footage of a young boy
having to part with his dog Snowball. Lantos had his
own little white dog.
“I was
grateful to work on the PETS Act with the late
Congressman Tom Lantos, and I am pleased we are
discussing the efficacy of this important
legislation today,” said Shays. “Congressman Lantos
cared deeply about human rights and animal rights,
and it is appropriate that we continue to champion
these causes that were so important to him. The
PETS Act is not just an animal welfare issue, it’s a
public safety issue,” Shays concluded.
Attendees to the hearing were impressed that Lantos’
staff is still hard at work so soon after his
passing.
It seems
he would be too.
Are you
prepared? To find out, please visit
County testing
its disaster drill for pets
By M. Dirk Langeveld , Staff Writer, Sun
Journal
Thursday, March 29, 2007
PARIS - The Oxford
County Animal Response Team is bracing for disaster.
The organization will take part in a full-scale exercise May 19 at Molly Ockett
Middle School in Fryeburg. The event, hosted by the Oxford County Emergency
Management Agency, will test first-responder abilities for mass casualty and
hazardous materials disasters at an event such as the Fryeburg Fair. The
Community Emergency Response Team will open the school as a shelter to admit
"victims," while animal team will use the school's bus garage to house displaced
pets.
Molly Ockett Middle School is one of six locations in the county that can
operate as an American Red Cross shelter. It is the only one that has an
agreement with animal response team, though the organization is trying to get
the other locations to admit pets as well.
Under the Pet Evacuation and Transportation Standards Act, a federal measure
signed into law in October, state and local emergency management agencies must
have plans for the accommodation of pets. The inspiration for the PETS Act came
from events during and after Hurricane Katrina, where inadequate emergency plans
often forced people to abandon their pets or stay with them in a dangerous
situation.
The Oxford County Animal Response Team has been up and running since August.
Most of its members have been through emergency response team raining, and many
have taken other specialty courses, such as a sheltering program offered by the
Humane Society. Ken Ward, one of the group's members, helped shelter large
animals during the 1998 ice storm.
On Monday, the group met to discuss their upcoming events.
On April 9, four members will go to a animal response team conference in
Rensselaer, N.Y. The conference will hold five workshops, and the group plans to
split up so they can attend as many as possible.
"It's very heartening," said Allyson Chase, administrative assistant for the
Oxford County Emergency Management Agency and Oxford County Animal Response Team
member. She praised the sacrifice the members would be making in taking a day
off from work to make the long trip.
The shelter being set up at the school's heated bus garage will hold a maximum
of 50 dogs and 60 cats in crates. Wild, endangered, or illegal animals are not
allowed, and some animals cannot be accommodated.
"We're not equipped to take fish," Chase said.
The group prepared a list of supplies and materials needed for the exercise.
Many offered to bring their own animals to the shelter.
"I think we're going to have around 15 animals there, a mix of cats and dogs,"
Chase said. Their presence, she said, offers a more realistic scenario in which
the animals must be housed together, attended to and reunited with their owners.
Chase's 9-year-old mutt Emmet has been at her office for as long as she has.
Chase said people can volunteer to help the animal team in many ways, including
joining the group and making donations.
She believes the presence of animal shelters, alongside the Red Cross shelters,
will help the other disaster victims as well.
"It would also be better for the people," she said. "I wouldn't go to a shelter
without my dog."
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