For Animal Owners
If you own an animal, get to know the resources below so that you can be prepared to care for your pet during an evacuation or other emergency.
County Animal Response Team (CART) volunteers and county staff members should also be familiar with these resources so that they can help point families in the right direction.
General Information
- Saving the Whole Family: Disaster Preparedness (PDF) - The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) has developed this booklet to help you avoid having to leave your animals stranded in the event of a disaster or an evacuation.
- GoKit (PDF) - This form helps pet owners to gather all of the information they need about their pets, and to help them remember to have enough supplies on hand for an emergency situation.
- My Pet's Vital Information (PDF) - Similar to the GoKit, this form will help pet owners be prepared.
- ASPCA Pet Preparedness - This page provides simple steps you can follow now to make sure you’re ready before the next disaster strikes.
- American Red Cross Pet Disaster Preparedness - Learn how to prepare your pets for an emergency evacuation and help them recover afterward.
- Pet-Friendly Hotel Finder - Find hotels that will let your pets spend the night.
- Shelter Finder - Find local shelters near you.
Equine Owners
- Equine Vital Information (PDF) - This document helps owners to keep track of their horses' vital information, emergency contact numbers, and more.
- ASPCA: Tips for Safe Emergency Equine Evacuations (PDF) - From the ASPCA, this document guides owners through the specifics of an equine evacuation.
- Equine Transportation - Use the resources below to help you move your horse if needed.
- Equine Disease Communications Center - The Equine Disease Communication Center (EDCC) is an industry-driven initiative which works to protect horses and the horse industry from the threat of infectious diseases in North America.
- Disaster Planning Checklist for Horse Farms (PDF) - This checklist will help you determine what plans you can make now to help mitigate the damage your property may be vulnerable to.
Livestock Owners
- Tips for Obtaining Assistance During a Disaster (PDF) - This document lists contact information for organizations that farmers can call upon during a disaster.
- Disaster Feed Schedule (PDF) - For livestock raging from cattle to pigs and more, this document gives guidelines for how much food and water are appropriate.
- Snow Removal from Barns (PDF) - Learn how to remove significant snow accumulations off a barn roof.
- Farmstead Recovery Checklist: Snow Load and Barn Collapse (PDF) - This resource teaches you how to calculate the load of snow on your barn roof, and how to prevent collapse.
- Farm Crisis Operations Planning Tool - A great resource from the American Association of Swine Veterinarians that applies to many types of farms.
Are you interested in volunteering with animals or learning more about how to keep them safe? View the list of all the existing CARTs and get in touch with yours.
For Animal Response Organizations
The resources below give information on how to set up a CART or other animal response organization, keep it clean and safe for volunteers and animals alike, and organize it effectively.
Set-up & Supplies
- Incident Command System Organization (PDF) - These organizational charts are examples of how CARTs may be organized.
- Suggested Shelter Supply List (PDF) - The Shelter Supply List helps you know how many supplies to get for every 10 animals in your care.
- Shelter Facility Assessment Form (PDF) - This form will help you to understand your facility's resources and risks.
- Emergency Animal Sheltering Planning Resource Guide (PDF) - From the Humane Society, this document outlines suggested minimal shelter set-up equipment needs per 100 animals.
- Best Practices: Pet-Friendly Shelters (PDF) - This document outlines the essential issues that should be considered when developing plans to provide pet-friendly sheltering before, during, and after an emergency.
- PetSmart Charities Emergency Relief Waggin' Program (PDF) - The Emergency Relief Waggin’ (ERW) Program expands PetSmart's ability to donate large quantities of pet supplies in the aftermath of a major disaster involving 350 or more companion animals.
- Volunteer Management for Animal Care Organizations (PDF) - This guide gives information and advice about how best to manage a volunteer-run animal care and control organization.
Intake and Discharge Forms
- Intake Form A (PDF)
- Intake Form B (PDF)
- Lost & Found Pet Form (PDF)
- Pet Owner Sheltering Agreement (PDF)
- Shelter Admission/Discharge Form for Animals (PDF)
Daily Care Forms & Logs
- Information Card: Evacuated & Rescued Pets (PDF)
- Information Card: Owned Pets (PDF)
- Daily Care Log for Pet-Friendly Shelters (PDF)
- Shelter Daily Log (PDF)
- Supply Request Form (PDF)
- Volunteer Log (PDF)
PPE & Cleaning
Caring for Rare Pets
- Operational Guide for Reptile Care (PDF) - This guide provides the minimum information necessary to accept and care for reptiles in a shelter on a short- to medium-term basis.
- Wildlife Rescue Network: Introducing a Rapid Alert System (PDF) - A unique resource for law enforcement agencies, local animal shelters, state veterinarians, and others.
For Emergency Managers
These resources will help Emergency Managers to understand the laws and regulations that are the foundation of the ESART and CART programs, draft MOUs and preparedness plans, and more.
- Creating a Community Animal Disaster Plan (PDF) - A step-by-step guide to building an animal disaster plan and developing the necessary response capacity for your community.
- Animal Emergency Preparedness Plan Draft (PDF) - This document is an example of a tactical plan to protect people, animals, and property during an emergency situation.
- The National Capabilities for Animal Response in Emergencies Study (PDF) - Published in the Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, this article outlines US states' and counties' abilities to respond to disasters.
- Developing a Community Disaster Plan for Animals (PDF) - From the Humane Society of the United States, this document leads you through several steps that will help you be ready for a disaster in your community.
- Animal Emergency Preparedness Self-Assessment Checklist (PDF) - The ASPCA’s Animal Emergency Preparedness Checklist is a tool to help define your community’s resources and capabilities for responding to animals in an emergency.
- Checklists for Animal Transport Planning (PDF) - This document will help you in assessing your organization's capacity and impact with regard to animal transport.
- Eligible Costs Related to Pet Evacuations and Sheltering (PDF) - This policy identifies the expenses related to state and local governments' emergency pet evacuation and sheltering activities that may be eligible for reimbursement following a major disaster or emergency declaration.
- Examples of Memorandums of Understanding - These two documents can serve as models for those groups that are seeking to establish MOUs with partner organizations.
- Workers Comp Law Section 3 (PDF)
If you are a County Emergency Manager and your county does not yet have a CART, find out how to start one.
Programs to Know
The organizations and resources below will help anyone caring for an animal know how to be prepared for any disaster or emergency.
New York State Resources
- Cornell Cooperative Extension-EDEN - This link provides information on disaster preparedness, agrosecurity, agroterrorism, biosecurity, diseases, farm and home fire safety, hazardous materials safety, natural disasters, and animals in emergencies.
- New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets
- New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
- New York State Office of Emergency Management - The Office of Emergency Management provides safety tips, preparedness guides, Citizen Corps information, AmeriCorps information, disaster response information, Emergency Alert System information, weather and traffic alert information, and more.
- New York State Veterinary Medical Society
- NY Prepare
- Department of Environmental Conservation Wildlife Health
Emergency Shelter Resources
- ASPCApro
- Koret Shelter Program UC Davis
- National Alliance of State Animal and Agricultural Emergency Programs
National Resources and Animal Response Organizations
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has developed the Environmental Health Assessment Form for Disaster Shelters to assist environmental health practitioners in conducting a rapid assessment of shelter conditions during emergencies and disasters. The tool is an assessment form that covers 10 general areas of environmental health, ranging from basic food safety and water quality to pet (companion animal) wellness, and allows for the documentation of immediate needs in shelters. Users can easily modify the tool to meet local needs.