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| 09 October 2006 Vol. 2 No. 4 |
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CONTENTS
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| | Update From the Executive Director
Dr. Leonard Bull |
I am pleased to report that the relationship between NC SART and the NC Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (NCDA&CS) continues to strengthen and with that so does also the infrastructure for support of animal interests of all kinds in North Carolina when faced with disasters. I am especially grateful to the efforts of Dr. Marty Zaluski who directs emergency programs in NCDA &CS, and to his staff, for their dedication to the role of SART and for providing the stability, strength and support that SART needs to do perform its mission. In a similar way,
I am grateful to the ongoing support and contributions of the North Carolina Farm Bureau for their hosting of the NC SART office and for the contributions, especially by Mr. Chester Lowder, to NC SART activity.
We have just completed a highly successful Summit with Maryland (reported upon elsewhere in this newsletter), and extend a warm "Welcome" to MSART! We are grateful to the efforts by Dr. Jacob Casper for his outstanding efforts in that development. We are working with Texas in developing the program for the startup of TX SART, and with MART (Mississippi) completed, look ahead to Virginia, Louisiana and Michigan as the next states to be brought into the growing "SART Consortium." I am also pleased to report that there is interest in SART development in Rhode Island, Oregon, Indiana, Arkansas, California, Washington and Arizona, and we look forward to working with those states in the next year. We have posted the Request for Proposals (RFP) for the next round of states on the website (www.sartusa.org) and encourage states that do not have SART programs to file application. The support by PETSMART Charities in providing the matching funds to support the RFP to bring these states on board is appreciated, and deserves the sincere thanks of all who are interested in animals of any kind.
There continues to be interest in business continuity for commercial animal-related businesses in the wake of a disaster. We anticipate that this will continue to be an area when the SART model can assist and provide a substantial service. We have had an interest by the National Institute for Animal Agriculture in forming a collaboration to further develop this model.
As the SART network expands, we are looking at the infrastructure needs for supporting this network and its mission and activities. While each SART or SART-like program will be unique to the state in which it is established, much like each of the 50 States in the United States are different, there is emerging a need for a federated process to link these programs together effectively and efficiently. We are developing a plan to provide for the essential strategic plan on which to build this effort. The planning process will be comprehensive and inclusive. One cornerstone of this plan will be the robust website that was developed as part of the support received from USDA-APHIS. I invite each of you to visit that site (www.sartusa.org). We are continually improving it and invite you to use that in your communication efforts.
At this writing, we are well into the hurricane season for the coastal areas of the US, and it has been a calm season compared to last year. However, wildfires and other disasters are still a threat in addition to coastal storms. The steady development of SART state programs will continue to make the response to disasters involving animals more effective and successful.
We welcome your input and feedback.
Thanks for your interest in and support of the SART concept.
Leonard S. Bull, Ph.D.
Executive Director
 | | | State Department of Agriculture/SART Emergency Porgrams Meetings Held in Support of PETS Act Require
Bill Gentry |
Recently, four meetings were held in North Carolina in less than 30 days, involving the I-95 corridor counties because they serve as host counties for hurricane evacuation. A total of twelve counties attended, with sixty four participants. Jimmy Tickel (Emergency Programs, NC Agriculture) and Bill Gentry (NCSART) facilitated all four meetings. Notebooks were given out to all attendees with North Carolina specific disaster animal response plans, county examples from Florida and shelter training handouts from North Carolina as well. Follow-up training will be conducted across the rest of North Carolina by regional employees of the State Department of Agriculture and State Emergency Management.
Meetings were very well received, everyone participated in some part of the discussion, and overall meeting participation was positive and collaborative. Counties that attended have some existing “pet friendly” plans in place for the most part, albeit different approaches. Plans in place include both co-location at the human shelter, and transport from the human shelter to the local animal shelter. Counties discussed their animal shelter “everyday” capacities and their disaster “surge” capacities. Needs were assessed for response to a large event, and two regional resources were discovered in Warren and Pitt counties. Attendees agreed on interpretation of PETS Act, in that a pet friendly “plan” had to be in place…. so that animals were not turned away from shelters. How each county accomplishes this, is up to the county.
An Interesting point of discussion was that, to date, county shelters have only experienced minimal pet involvement at their human shelters. Discussion was centered around if the media exposure after Katrina regarding pets would increase these numbers. County personnel wanted more media exposure on exactly what “pet friendly” entailed….. that evacuees needed to bring their own cage, pet food, and would be responsible for their pet during their shelter time. (including cage cleaning!)
County Health Departments in attendance were interested in assuring hand washing stations would be prevalent, to ensure that no contaminants would be brought back into the human shelter. It was also requested that the County Environmental Health Specialist inspect the animal area during and after the shelter is opened.
American Red Cross State Liaison attended and suggested good security additions to keep pets and owners segregated from other shelter registrants to prevent bites and health issues. Also endorsed was the idea of co-location, if the local shelters floor plan was conducive.
SART and CARTs were mentioned often as resources that would be called upon, as well as additional cages, animal control officers, and trained shelter staff. The NCSU Vet School was still mentioned by the counties as an “overflow” solution, as well as a higher medical “avenue.”
All in all, it was an excellent exchange, and the counties were very complimentary of State Department of Agriculture – Emergency Programs seeking the counties input on how the task of sheltering animals will be accomplished.
| | | Website Updates
Tara Kreider |
The new NCSART website is up and running and now we need your updates! We ask that all CART coordinators periodically email interesting pictures and news about your local CART activities. This information will help us keep our website fresh and truly reflective of NCSART!
Please note that we cannot guarantee that all submissions will be published due to content restrictions. Also some content may be altered if necessary. However, all submissions will be considered and assessed so that we have a variety of CART content on the website!
Please forward your news, updates or pictures to: tkreider@sartusa.org
| | | PETS Act Signed
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On Friday October 6, 2006, the President signed into law the PETS Act--The Pets Evacuation and Transportation Standards Act of 2006. This act ensures that State and local emergency preparedness plans incorporate the needs of individuals with household pets and service animals during a disaster response. This Act is very important to the SART mission and everyone should familiarize themselves with the details of this act as they work to create their disaster response plans.
| | | Reminder to NC CART Coordinators
Amanda Chamberlin |
Hello, I have spoken and left messages with many of you already. I am happy to see that many have been able to log-in to the website and update their county contact information and county plans. If you have not been able to log-in or have not received my letters, emails, or phone messages, please email me at infonc@sartusa.org for more information. We are looking forward to having all 100 counties with the most recent contact information available on the website, and we can only accomplish this with your diligence and support. Thank you for all that you do.
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