Featured Article (December 2007)

Virginia State Animal Response Team - Part One
Any Animal, Any Disaster, Anywhere — What horse owners should know

By Terri Haynie

Out of the devastating losses inflicted on domestic animals and livestock in North Carolina by Hurricane Floyd in 1998 came an idea, originally conceptualized by four veterinarians dealing with post-Floyd recovery, which would significantly improve emergency response for animals during disasters. State Animal Response Teams (SARTs), now firmly established in 19 states, are interagency state organizations dedicated to preparing and planning for, responding to and recovering from animal emergencies.

SART, a public-private partnership with 501c3 status, partners government agencies with private concerns around the common goal of animal issues during disasters. SART programs train participants to facilitate a safe, environmentally sound and efficient response to animal emergencies on the local, county, state and federal level.

One of the most important organizational aspects of SART is that it operates under state and local emergency management utilizing the principles of the Incident Command System (ICS). The ICS provides a common organizational structure for the immediate response to emergencies and involves the coordination of personnel and equipment on-site at an incident. ICS requires that emergency responders speak the same language, whether rescuing horses from an overturned trailer on an interstate highway, or evacuating an entire locality because of an approaching hurricane.

The first SART was implemented in North Carolina following Hurricane Floyd. Other states quickly followed, and in 2006 Virginia came on board when grant money became available. Since that time, planning and development efforts in Virginia have been in high gear.

This month the Virginia Horse Journal begins a two-part series that examines the Virginia SART (VASART)—what horse owners should know about it and how it is being developed at the state and local levels. This issue features an interview with Peggy Allen, chair of the VASART board of directors. Next month we will feature a conversation with Dr. Shea Porr, extension agent for the Northern District, regarding extension’s role—that of education and training—in SART.

In addition to chairing the VASART board of directors, Peggy Allen is a board member and First Vice President of the Virginia Federation of Humane Societies and has been coordinator of disaster preparedness for animal welfare organizations for the Federation since 1995. She was instrumental in the development of the Animal Care and Control Annex to the Virginia State Emergency Operations Plan. She is a member of the Virginia Horse Council and a volunteer with the Virginia 4-H horse project program.

Q: Who are the players and planners who are currently developing Virginia’s SART?

A: We held a stakeholders summit in August in Richmond and launched the VASART program. Over 100 people attended. At the time we were awarded the grant, the state had a Disaster Animal Care and Control Committee (who committed matching funds to make VASART possible), which was a combination of private and public agencies such as the Department of Agriculture, emergency management, health department, and social services. In addition to those agencies we have the Virginia Tech/Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Extension Service, Virginia Animal Control Association, and the Virginia Federation of Human Societies. Many members of the Disaster Animal Care and Control Committee have become members of the VASART board. It was a very logical, comfortable transition to a state animal response team program. We have some great leadership with a lot of good interpersonal support and working relationships. It’s going very well.

Q: What are the advantages of operating under the ICS?

A: It enables responders for animals to speak and understand the same language as the responders for humans. One of the important concepts for this model is that the group that is going to respond to animals in emergencies communicates with true interactive meetings—what their plan is, how its going to be carried out—so that other groups that are responding in an emergency know that there is a group there and that the volunteers within this group are trained. That’s an important concept: true ICS training through hands-on training with animals, actually setting up facilities, care for animals—that type of thing.

Prior to the SART model there have been groups who prepared themselves to respond to animals in a disaster. During an incident they would show up, but fire and rescue and emergency managers didn’t know who they were or what their abilities were. They hadn’t been trained in ICS so they didn’t know where to go. That type of scenario creates a lot of chaos.

Q: What are County Animal Response Teams (CARTs) and how are you getting the word out about them?

A: The backbone of the SART is the County Animal Response Team (CART). Disasters start at a local level and work upward. The first responders to a disaster are the ones that are right there on the scene, whether it’s an automobile accident, a barn fire, or flooding. So it’s important that each county or locality has a team prepared to respond. If there’s appropriate communication between the CART and the local emergency manager and there is a process in place for notification, it should work well.

There’s an immense amount of planning and consideration involved in developing a plan, even at a local level. The role of VASART will be to develop those criteria that we feel will be beneficial to the effectiveness of a local or county plan and to oversee the development of these plans and to hopefully recruit and provide training opportunities that will enhance the abilities of these counties to respond in disasters. VASART is in its initial phases and stages. Our first and foremost goal will be to support localities in developing CARTs based on the concept of SART.

Q: What are some things that SART has accomplished that relate to Virginia’s horse industry?

A: The horse industry overall has shown a lot of interest in preparedness for their animals in disasters and I have done some presentations to horse groups. The Virginia Horse Industry Board (VHIB) awarded VASART a grant to develop a section of the website especially for the equine industry, and if you visit www.vasart.org, you’ll see that link.

In 2003, there were a series of hurricanes in Florida that saturated the emergency housing available for horses all the way up to Virginia and Maryland. I was contacted by the USDA to help develop a contact list of places in Virginia where people might take horses. Also, I set up a task force under the Disaster and Animal Control (DAC) committee in a two-pronged effort to develop a disaster preparedness manual, specifically targeted for Virginia horse owners, which should be going on our website shortly.

The other effort was sending out a survey to Virginia horse owners to see what commitment could be made to housing horses in an emergency. But I think the EHV-1 virus outbreak is an example of owners’ reluctance to take unknown horses because of concerns about disease and liability.

So we haven’t gotten a great response to that, but I do know that both the Virginia Horse Center in Lexington and Colonial Downs in New Kent accept and will stable horses in emergencies. We do not have a memo of understanding with the Virginia Horse Center but I was told by the emergency manager in that county that the horse center has been designated as an official evacuation center.

Q: What should horse owners know about emergency preparedness?

A: It is so important for people with horses to think and plan in advance, and there are so many things that go into planning. Fortunately, there are lots of good resources available. For example, www.TheHorse.com has a horse owner workbook that you can download and fill in with items like who your contacts and resources are. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) website offers tips on preparedness as well as an online course called Livestock in Disasters (www.training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/IS/is111.asp).

Small details can make a big difference—something as simple as putting an out-of-town relative’s phone number on your horse’s halter instead of your own. If you evacuate you won’t be there to answer the phone, and cell phones often don’t work in emergencies. If something happens to your animal and it escapes, hopefully the relative will know where you are.

Q: What are some lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina that have helped develop SART?

A: One of the important lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina was to identify ways to prevent the heartbreak created by people impulsively driving to the Gulf region and gathering up a carload or trailer load of animals and bringing them back and adopting them out without regard to the fact that those animals were owned by people. There are lawsuits underway now because different states have different mandates about when an animal is considered abandoned, and the animals in those states were not considered abandoned.

One of the recommendations that came out of the National Conference on Animals in Disasters in 2006 was the development of credentialing identification for emergency responders. There is a need for a system that sends untrained volunteers home. SART has a code of conduct: either you follow the rules or you’re not considered a SART/CART volunteer.

One of the happy endings during Katrina happened in Louisiana, which is the only state I know of that requires horses to be microchipped. There was one case in which a world champion show horse was swept away in the flooding and was returned to that owner three months later based on the fact that it was microchipped. It had somehow ended up 100 miles away from home.

Q: Who should horse owners contact if they are interested in becoming involved in their local CART?

A: The important contact to make would be with the local emergency manager. With the mandate of H.R. 3858, the Pets Evacuation and Transportation Standards Act of 2006, which requires emergency management to include companion animals in disaster planning, all local emergency managers should be aware that this planning is necessary and hopefully they will have been contacted by a group interested in starting a CART. People interested in getting involved can also contact their SPCA or local animal control facility or shelter to inquire if a CART is being considered or developed in their locality. They can always visit www.vasart.org and contact the director, Robin Smitz, or anyone on the board of directors.

Q: How do you envision VASART’s future?

A: I feel that Virginia has been in the right place at the right time for this program to be embraced. Planning for animals, whether for companion animals or livestock, is no longer an option. It is required. And although disasters don’t have a set time on the calendar and it is challenging to keep people moving forward in planning, it is essential that that motivation always be in place. To me, VASART will be the motivational factor. I’m hoping that it will bring about good results. u

Max Francis says, "You are never too young to learn about horses! Read the Virginia Horse Journal."