Disaster Animal Sheltering

1
Disaster Animal Sheltering

• CPT Brad Fields, DVM, MPH (USAR)
• Director of Emergency Programs
• Homeland Security/Emergency Programs
• Alabama Dept. of Agriculture Industries

2
Homeland Security / Preparedness Section

• Plans, policies, procedures
• Food Safety, Animal Health, Plant Protection,
  Natural Disasters, Pesticide Chemical, traffic
  crashes
• Disaster Response
• SART, Emergency Operations Center, State EMA
• Training Exercising

3
FREE TO A GOOD HOME.
4
Agriculture Emergency Operation Center (AG-EOC)

• Located in Montgomery, Auburn
• Fully operational facility
• Sleeping quarters, Showers, Kitchen
• Linked directly to State EMA through our EMC Team
• 24-hour staffing of ESF-11 Desk
• Needs reporting, situation reports, etc
• Video-Conferencing Capabilities
• All Veterinary Diagnostic Labs, EOC, State
  Veterinarians Office

5
Agriculture Emergency Operations Center
6
(No Transcript)
7
AG-EOC Backup Generator
8
Agriculture Geospatial Information Program

• Allows for emergency planning/exercising
• Identify potential targets for agro-terrorism
• Helps to preposition emergency resources
• Educate Inform

9
GIS Program
10
(No Transcript)
11
State Agriculture Response Team (SART)
12
NON TRADITIONAL??
13
SART Response Equipment

• Mobile Incident Command Trailer
• Emergency Communications equipment
• Wireless internet/data access
• Satellite communications
• Food, Water, Supplies for sustained effort
• Personnel tracking credentialing equipment
• Incident Check-in and assignment
• Volunteer management
• Inventory Evidence management/tracking
  software
• Four F-350 Emergency Response Trucks

14
SART Response Equipment

• Animal Emergency Response Equipment
• Animal/Agriculture Emergency Response Trailers
• Animal restraint
• Diagnostic Supplies sample kits
• Depopulation supplies, PPE
• Emergency Animal Identification
• RFID Tags (Both Visual Electronic ID)
• Livestock, Equine, Companion Animal
• Generator, heat, air, shelving for supplies

15
(No Transcript)
16
(No Transcript)
17
Emergency Animal Holding/Transport

• Livestock Hauler
• Portable Head Chute
• Portable Panels, Gates, Sweep Tubes

18
SART Response Equipment

• Rapid Response Decontamination Trailers
• Generators, Lighting
• Portable Decontamination Setups
• PPE, Chemical Radiation Detection

19
Logistical Support Trailers

• 19 x 35 Command Post
• All-Terrain Vehicle
• Support Equipment
• Generators

20
(No Transcript)
21
Disaster Animal Sheltering

• ESF-11 Responsibility
• Provide network of Disaster-activated shelters
  for the citizens of Alabama evacuees.
• Managed by AL-SART with assistance of many
  stakeholders

22
Animal Emergencies are Human Emergencies
23
Alabama Emergency Animal Sheltering Locations
Garrett Coliseum (Montgomery County)
Houston County Farm Center (Houston County)
REVISED JAN 2009
24
(No Transcript)
25
(No Transcript)
26
(No Transcript)
27
Permanent Identification Scan
28
(No Transcript)
29
(No Transcript)
30
(No Transcript)
31
Why do Emergency Managers need to deal with
Service and Companion Animals in their plans?

• 1. Citizen Life-Safety Efficiency and Safety of
  Response Operations
• 2. American cultural and ethical values
• 3. Protection of Property
• 4. Legislation
• Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) Service
  Animals
• PETS Act of 2006
• H.R.5441, Post-Katrina Emergency Management
  Reform Act (PKEMRA)
• FEMA Draft Disaster Assistance Policy DAP9523.18

32
Citizen Life-Safety Pet-owning households are
significantly less likely to evacuate from harms
way over 60 of American households include pets.
33
Cultural Values Most Americans consider their
household pets to be family members.
34
Cultural Values Because the majority of
Americans consider their household pets to be
family members --

• Americans feel a strong sense of responsibility
  and loyalty toward the animals dependent on them
  for food, shelter, and life-safety.
• If pets are perceived as dependent family
  members, abandoning them in harms way becomes
  unthinkable.

35
Citizens may either refuse to leave, or go back
into harms way to rescue their animals.

• Police, fire, and rescue officers recognize that
  rescuing household pets
• supports life-saving for citizens
• decreases the emotional trauma of the disaster
  event for both victims and responders, and
• supports emotional resilience and psycho-social
  recovery.

36
Because household pets are personal property,
citizens recognize that evacuation and care of
their animals is their responsibility.

• Citizens will either
• (a) self-evacuate with their animals,
• (b) shelter-in-place with their animals, or
• (c) leave animals in place but will quickly
  return to evacuate them if their property is too
  damaged to re-occupy.
• Citizens should be enabled to return to their
  property in order to provide care for or evacuate
  remaining animals after an event.
• This minimizes the need for public assistance
  to perform feeding and other care for animals
  that could not be evacuated.

37
Why isnt it a good idea to house people in the
same space as their pets?

• 1. Sanitation/ hygiene issues
• accidents and odors
• Public Health codes prohibiting pets in food
  preparation and food service areas
• 2. NOISE levels (barking)
• 3. Floor-level clutter
• 4. Animal bites/ fights
• Frightened animals
• Aggressive animals
• Un-socialized animals
• Over-stimulated animals
• Predators housed with prey species high stress

38
Pet Transportation and Sheltering -- Challenges
to Anticipate

• Few experienced
• local officials/ volunteers available to assist
  with registering and SAFELY loading pets onto
  evacuation vehicles, re-uniting them with owners,
  and being available to supervise animal shelters
  for 3-5 days.
• Pre-declaration funding may not have been
  approved for stock-piling mission-critical pet
  evacuation supplies (transport and shelter cages,
  bowls, pet food, ID collars, muzzles, cleaning
  supplies, dumpsters, etc.)

39
Pet Transportation Challenges

• Bus / van contracts for citizen evacuation may
  not allow small pets on board.
• Note 50 of pets are small enough to
  hand-carry in secure airline- approved carriers.
  (cats, small dogs, rabbits, ferrets)
• Very hot or cold conditions limit the types of
  vehicles that can safely and humanely transport
  pets to distant evacuation shelters. (Short hauls
  are less problematic.)
• There are very few purpose-built
  climate-controlled animal transport vehicles
  available for hire on short notice.
• THEREFORE consider any and all expedient
  emergency transportation options

40
The Way Ahead 2007 and beyond

• 1. Allow 2-3 years to phase-in necessary
  operational elements
• Practice with local humane societies and/or State
  Animal Response Teams to open pet shelters
  co-located with community shelters (pet-friendly
  sheltering)
• ESF 11 / SART partners need to establish fully
  functional
• Credentialing for animal responders
• pet ID, registration, and tracking systems
• contracts for transport and shelter partners
• evacuation logistics written SOPs, etc.
• Use field exercises to clarify planning
  assumptions, develop pre-scripted mission
  assignments (PSMAs), to refine coordination of C2
  (Command and Control), and identify gaps.
• 2. Establish and maintain a contact list for
  access to local fleets of suitable vehicles and
  livestock trailers during emergency animal
  evacuations.

41
Mitigation strategies

• Convey a consistent message to political figures
  and public that existing resources for pet
  evacuation and sheltering are limited, and that
  equipment still needs to be purchased and
  stockpiled.
• Emphasize responsibility of individual pet-owners
  to make preparations, and encourage State and
  local Animal Officials to actively partner with
  local / regional humane organizations
• Pet ID and supplies (shelter cages, food, bowls,
  records)
• Micro-chipping clinics for permanent traceable ID
• Right-size the preparations by refining
  planning numbers
• Try to pre-register special needs populations
  with pets
• Integrate pet needs in local plans for Sheltering
  in Place
• Pre-plan for evacuations of horses and animal
  collections
• Plan to provide transport and full-care
  sheltering for pets of medical special needs
  populations

42
Dont forget to plan for shelter-in-place needs!
43
Stakeholder Roles for Managing Pet Sheltering

• Dr. Charles Franz
• Executive Director
• Alabama Veterinary Medical Association

44
ALVMA Involvement

• ALVMA is integrated into existing state programs
• Dedicated Disaster Management Committee on
  Executive Board
• Training delivery
• Local Emergency Veterinarians
• Policy Guidance to State Dept of Ag

45

• CAMETs

A New Sheltering Resource
46
A Camet is

• Companion Animal Mobile Equipment Trailer
• Contains the equipment needed to set up a site
  approved for animal shelter
• Built for Disaster Animal Sheltering needs in
  Alabama, utilizing funding from the American
  Veterinary Medical Association and the Alabama
  Veterinary Medical Foundation

47
CAMET Inventory list

• Come fully stocked with items critical to
  initially setup a disaster animal shelter for an
  affected area

48
CAMETInventory List
49
Intent for use

• Sheltering resource for providing basic
  furnishings of a temporary animal shelter to a
  capacity of 60.
• Examples
• Counties that have lost their shelter
• County shelters that have been overwhelmed
• Regional shelters
• Camets can also be used in trainings and public
  education efforts

50
How to request one during an event

• Have a site that can accommodate a shelter
• Staff to support shelter
• Request through County EOC to State EOC /ESF-11

51
The Gas Generator should be placed outside. It
will Power the lights of the CAMET. The outlet
for hooking to the generator is on the front of
the CAMET
There are electrical outlets and lights on the
CAMET
CAMETS can be utilized for office space
once Equipment has been offloaded
52
Unloading Cages
Drop the rear door of the CAMET, and Place the
hinge filler board and ramp extensions
53
Unload the cage carts
1) There are 3 cage carts in a CAMET. The
first cart contains medium and large cages.

• The Carts are secured by tie downs that
• hook into tracks on the wall.

• The carts need to be handled by two people, one
  on
• the back and one on the front.

54
Unload Materials

• Unload the materials located in
• front section of the CAMET.
• Plastic, painters tape to protect
• the facility.
• Walkway to protect the plastic

55
Line hallway or area with plastic
Painters tape
56
Add Rubber Runner
57
Set-up cages
Cages are set up by pulling up on center section
and then pulling sides up and hooking them to
the top.
There are medium and large sized cages on the
carts since many people will bring in different
Sized animals.
58
Exotic Pets
If your shelter allows exotic pets like
birds etc. then designate a different area if
possible for them. A shower for example in a
dressing room might work.
Counties are encouraged to state up front the
types of animals they will accept. No poisonous
or dangerous animals should be accepted.
Reptiles if accepted can be transported in pillow
cases.
59
Everything from shop vacs to urinating stations
(traffic cone). A CAMET comes with forms,
extension cords, hoses, bags, trays and bowls,
cage id slips.
60
Functional areas of animal shelter
Remember that, depending on the type shelter you
set up, these are the
functional areas that may be needed.
R
S
T
I
Decon
R registration T Treatment S shelter
I Isolation D decon
61
REGISTRATION

• Critical
• Have to track all animals
• Identify owners
• Security
• Future adoption/fostering

62
Dont forget

• Human
• Shelter

• different ventilation systems
• hand wash between shelters
• limited access to animals

Animal Shelter

• fenced or secure
• owner policing policy (feces)
• not a community dog show

Exercise area
63
Clean up
64
Staffing

• Countys need to develop local staffing for
  shelters as some open before disasters.
• Animal control is in the lead, Extension may
  support, volunteers are the majority!!!
• Local Humane Groups and Veterinary clinics are
  the best source for trained personnel
• These two groups can easily multiply themselves
  through Shelter training!

65
Alabama Disaster Vets

• Coordination with ALVMA
• Identification of Disaster Vet in each Alabama
  county
• Regional Disaster Veterinary Coordinators
• County Agriculture Response Team integration

66
AlabamaDisaster Vets
67
Coordination with Local EMA Offices

• Integrate Veterinarians and local staff into
  existing training programs
• Include in exercises and drills
• Develop ESF-11 in your county and include these
  Subject Matter Experts

END OF ALVMA
68
Federal Regulations Funding for Pet Shelters

• CPT Brad Fields, DVM, MPH (USAR)
• Director of Emergency Programs
• Homeland Security/Emergency Programs
• Alabama Dept. of Agriculture Industries

69
Stafford Act

• Authorizes President to issue a major declaration
  to speed a wide range of federal aid to states
  overwhelmed by disasters
• Financing is appropriated to the Disaster Relief
  Fund, administered by Department of Homeland
  Security
• Provides aid in the form of temporary housing,
  cash grants, home repair grants, unemployment
  assistance, emergency food supplies

70
Relevant Federal Legislation

• Pet Evacuation and Transportation Standards Act
  of 2006 The P.E.T.S. Act (10/06/06)
• Amends Section 403 of the Stafford Disaster and
  Relief Emergency Assistance Act to ensure that
  State and local emergency preparedness
  operational plans address the needs of
  individuals with household pets and service
  animals following a major disaster or emergency.

71
P.E.T.S. Act of 2006

• Requires DHS to provide standards for State and
  Local Emergency Preparedness Operational Plans
  which
• Take into account the needs of individuals with
  household pets and service animals .
• ..prior to, during, and following a major
  disaster or emergency.

72
P.E.T.S. Act of 2006

• Provides Funding Authorization
• The Director (DHS) may make financial
  contributions . to the States and local
  authorities for animal emergency preparedness
  purposes, including the procurement,
  construction, leasing, or renovating of emergency
  shelter facilities and materials that will
  accommodate people with pets and service animals.

73
The P.E.T.S. Act of 2006 authorizes provision of
essential emergency assistance

• to individuals with household pets and service
  animals following a disaster through
• provision of rescue, care, shelter, and
  essential needs
• to individuals with household pets and service
  animals and
• to such pets and animals.
• Photo illustrates expedient emergency
  transportation after Hurricane Katrina (LA).

74
FEMA Draft Disaster Assistance Policy DAP9523.18
Pet Evacuation and Sheltering

• Identifies expenses eligible for reimbursement
  under Category B, Emergency Protective Measures
  provisions of the Public Assistance Program
• pet rescue, sheltering, and evacuation-support
  in response to a declared major disaster or
  emergency.
• Defines Household Pets
• Defines a Service Animal
• Defines Congregate Household Pet Shelters and
  Expenses
• Defines Eligible Parties for reimbursement
• State and Local Governments are the only eligible
  applicants
• Contractors or Private Non-Profit (PNP)
  organizations cannot be directly reimbursed/
  cannot be applicants. Must work through written
  agreements with state/local partnerships

75
FEMA DAP9523.18 Household Pets and Service
Animals reimbursement

• Definition of Household Pets
• What they are A domesticated animal, such as a
  dog, cat, bird, rodent, or turtle that is
  traditionally kept in the home for pleasure
  rather than for commercial purposes and that can
  travel in commercial carriers and be housed in
  temporary facilities.
• What they are not Household pets do not
  include reptiles, amphibians, fish,
  insects/arachnids, farm animals (including
  horses), and animals kept for racing purposes.
• Definition of Service Animals
• Any guide dog, signal dog, or other animal
  individually trained to provide assistance to an
  individual with a disability including, but not
  limited to, guiding individuals with impaired
  vision, alerting individuals with impaired
  hearing to intruders or sounds, providing minimal
  protection or rescue work, pulling a wheelchair,
  or fetching dropped items.

76
Reimbursement Process

• State and local governments that receive evacuees
  from areas declared a major disaster or an
  emergency may seek reimbursement for eligible pet
  rescue, sheltering, and evacuation-support
  costs.
• Contractors or private nonprofit (PNP)
  organizations that shelter or rescue household
  pets and service animals cannot be reimbursed
  directly as an applicant.
• Contractors and PNPs can be reimbursed for
  sheltering and rescuing household pets and
  service animals through a state or local
  government, provided a written statement from an
  eligible applicant is presented in which the
  applicant verifies that the contractor or PNP is
  performing or has performed sheltering or
  rescuing operations on the applicant's behalf and
  the expenses are documented.

77
Eligible Costs

• State and local governments may conduct
  sheltering for pets directly, or may contract
  with other sheltering providers for such
  services. Eligible sheltering costs include
• Facilities
• Supplies and Commodities
• Labor
• Equipment
• Emergency Veterinary Services
• Cleaning and Restoration
• Removal and Disposal of Animal Carcasses
• Transportation of household pets

78
Next Steps

• Become better organized locally
• Implement CAMET system
• Integrate into existing volunteer mgt structures
• VOAD, Medical Reserve Corp, CART

79
Training you should have!

• Incident Command System Training
• Required for response to an incident
• Provides the structure and command setup for any
  response to occur effectively
• Provides good communication and standard
  terminology , identifies who is in charge and who
  to report to
• Available free online through ALSART
• ICS 100, 200, 700, 800 most critical
• www.alsart.org www.fema.gov

80
Additional training

• FEMA
• Animals in Disaster, Livestock in Disaster
• AgERT, Center for Domestic Preparedness,
  Anniston, AL
• Extension Disaster Education Network
• Agriculture Emergency Courses

81
Success is not final, failure is not fatal it is
the courage to continue that counts.
Winston Churchill
82
Questions?
83
Contact Information

• CPT Brad Fields, DVM, MPH
• 334-240-SART (7278)
• brad.fields_at_agi.alabama.gov
• Bradley.fields_at_us.army.mil
• www.alsart.org
• sart_at_agi.alabama.gov