animal response team (art)

The concept of disaster animal response teams originated in 1992 in south Florida as the result of Hurricane Andrew which devastated Homestead and much of the greater Miami-Dade County area.  After the hurricane, the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) along with several other animal welfare organizations found that no provisions had been made for the pets displaced by the disaster.  The HSUS embarked on a mission to develop “teams” that could work with emergency responders when disaster struck to ensure the rescue and proper sheltering of companion animals.  This was the birth of DART – Disaster Animal Response Teams.  Florida was the first to start DART development and now it is a nationwide trend.

When Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans and much of the northern Gulf Coast, we were again reminded of the inefficiencies that existed in most emergency response plans – they don’t include pets.  Public outrage and criticism from viewing scenes of people leaving their helpless pets behind in flooded areas and hearing that more than 40% of the people refused rescue because the rescuers would not take their pets with them sparked new Federal legislation.  The PETS Act of 2006 passed both houses of Congress overwhelmingly and was promptly signed into law by the President in October, 2006 – just one year after Katrina.  This Act provides that, if any emergency response agency requests federal funding, it must have in its plan a provision to rescue and shelter pets in disasters.  The State of Illinois promptly followed suit with the federal government and passed similar legislation signed into law by the Governor in January, 2007.  The village of Palatine actually started forming the animal response team prior to the enactment of the PETS Act and was one of the first communities in Illinois to include pets in the Emergency Operations Plan.

The Palatine Animal Response Team (PART) is responsible for the rescue, sheltering and reunification of animals affected by a disaster as defined by the PETS Act of 2006.  Any volunteer who is an animal lover can help fill our needs which include field rescue personnel, shelter workers and support staff, and community outreach. We especially need people in animal related industries – veterinarians, vet assistants, groomers, and animal shelter workers and so on – people with hands on experience working with animals.  If you want to help those helpless four-legged friends of ours when disaster strikes, this is the team for you.

We have three major areas of concentration.  Field Support is the team that goes out into the disaster area and rescues animals that may be trapped or left behind.  The main goal is to get the animal out of harms way and into a controlled situation – a shelter.  This team requires search and rescue skills, animal handling skills, good animal instincts and generally good physical stamina.  Sheltering includes the physical sheltering of the animals, veterinary services, feeding, cleaning, walking and grooming.  We also need clerical support here to build information about rescued animals and tracking the animals.  Reunification is also an important process of sheltering.  Community Outreach helps get the word out about how families should prepare their pets for disasters.  Educational materials, checklists and facility planning for animal hospitals will go a long way to help mitigate some of the negative effects on our pets. We have coordinated efforts with a number of communities throughout northern Illinois with the goal of establishing a regional Animal Response Team.

The Palatine Emergency Management Agency provides extensive training opportunities for all its volunteers and the Animal Response Team has additional training opportunities that help better define our mission.  The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), the ASPCA, United Animal Nations and the Regional Institute for Community Policing are key partners in the training criteria.  During 2009, we expect to have several mock drills and an exercise.  These provide great learning experiences for everyone.