The Vermont Disaster Animal Response Team (VDART) is thrilled to announce that we were awarded a $50,000 grant from The Irving and Phyllis Millstein Foundation for Animal Welfare in November 2025.
This significant gift will fund two important projects, including the purchase of a new and fully stocked equipment trailer for our Southwest team ($15,000), as well as additional funding ($35,000) for the Jack Schonberg Emergency Pet Sheltering Municipal Grant. Named in lasting memory of one of VDART’s founders, the grant was initially seeded with donations in Jack’s memory from his family and friends. This grant will allow us to significantly expand our reach, with a focus on prioritizing disaster-prone communities identified in the 2023 Vermont Hazard Mitigation Plan over the next 18 months.
Dr. Jack Schonberg, a founding member of VDART, pictured with one of his cherished Newfoundland Dogs.
Qualifying municipalities (those with written local disaster plans for animals and dedicated space for sheltering pets) in the most disaster-vulnerable areas of the state will receive equipment and supplies, including foldable crates, leashes, collars, bowls, litterboxes and cleaning supplies to shelter up to 10 companion animals, along with specialized training on how to set up and run an emergency pet shelter. Pet Food Warehouse is generously offering VDART a deep discount on the supplies, which they’ll ship directly to approved grant recipients.
“This municipal grant program is an important mitigation step that complements VDART’s direct care work,” said VDART Board chair Joanne Bourbeau. “By empowering and equipping the most disaster-prone towns in Vermont to plan for and respond to local pet needs before disaster strikes, we hope to keep pet families together through crisis. Like any non-profit, VDART has a limited number of resources and volunteers to respond to widespread disasters like we’ve seen in our state, and this project has the capacity to significantly expand our ability to help animals (and their people) when they need us the most. We’d like to thank the Foundation for their unwavering support of these projects.”
VDART has been quite busy since we last communicate as Spring stubbornly refuses to arrive in our state! Nor’easters, power outages and road closures have all had a hand in disrupting Vermonters lives and routines these past few months, and in response regional VDART teams have been activated twice since December to provide pet-sheltering services to our partners with the American Red Cross.