Helping Animals In Disasters
VDART’s Central Vermont Disaster Animal Response Team (CVDART) was mobilized by the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets (VAAFM) on Monday, July 10 th in order to provide pet sheltering services to a co-located American Red Cross shelter in Barre, VT. Volunteers from CVDART and other regional response teams across the state have been providing 24/7 support to the community ever since, assisting dozens of families and pets from the flood zone with their animal needs.
Thanks to our partners on the ground in Vermont, like Pet Food Warehouse, the Onion River Animal Hospital, the Mitzvah Fund, the North Country Animal League and the VT Companion Animal Neutering clinic, VDART is also coordinating the donation of pet food and supplies to impacted community members, as well as other resources like free sterilization and other medical services to animal flood victims.
VDART is also using brand new technology to improve efficiency in our emergency pet shelter operations. DART Command Central is a non-profit that has been working closely with VDART to develop a simple-to-use interface that works on laptops, tablets, and smartphones. Our volunteers have been able to incorporate a totally paperless process for sheltering pets using the group’s Shelter Module software, which helps to coordinate animal care, collect necessary
data and costs, and manage our volunteers more efficiently – all toward our shared goal of keeping people and animals together during crisis.
VDART recruits and trains volunteers year-round to be ready for emergency situations just like this. Thankfully we’ve been able to operate the pet shelter in Barre with volunteers from the CVDART, with support from other regional teams in Chittenden County, the Upper Valley, and Windham County. But as the response to this catastrophic event continues we may need to recruit local volunteers to help us maintain operations. If you’re willing and able to complete an on-line volunteer application and complete a short web-based training, please email info@vermontdart.org for more information about volunteering for this flooding response.
Even if we’re not able to utilize your volunteer services for this event, our regional teams across the state are always looking for more volunteers! Please go to our website to complete an on-line Volunteer Application as your first step. Your completed application will be shared with the team leader for your closest regional team regarding next steps. You must be at least 18 years old to volunteer and there are some mandatory training courses that our responders are
required to complete.
The pet shelter at the Barre Outdoor Rink (next to the auditorium) is set up to receive donations of dry and canned cat and dog food, along with other necessary supplies like cat litter, pet enrichment toys, pee pads, paper towels, etc. Items can be dropped off between 7 am and 8 pm while the shelter is in operation. Any supplies we don’t use in our pet shelter will be made available to flood victims with pets. VDART is also grateful to Chewy for donating 26 pallets of food to the Vermont Food Bank so that local human food banks across the state can also access pet food and supplies for their clients.
VDART receives no state or federal funding and relies solely on private donations and grants in order to operate our life-saving services for pets impacted by disaster. If you would like to make a donation to support our work, visit