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Vermont Disaster Animal Response Teams and State Farm Ensure Pets are Included in Emergency Preparedness Plans

During a disaster, evacuating your home is oftentimes necessary.  You may have an evacuation plan for you and your family, but preparing to vacate with your pets is also important. Pet owners will often refuse to evacuate without their animals, so including them in your emergency plan is vital to the safety of the entire family.

Disaster Animal Response Teams (DARTs) across Vermont are committed to educating pet owners on how to prepare their furry friends for emergencies.  To further ensure preparedness, Vermont DARTs have partnered with State Farm to provide go-bags for cat and dog owners to be used during an evacuation.  State Farm has donated nearly 2,000 items, including collapsible water and food bowls, waste bag carriers shaped like dog bones, dog bite prevention coloring books, leashes and compact first aid kits, as well as cat and dog drawstring bags in which to store the items.  Also included in the bags are enrichment pet toys from the Greater Good Foundation, and pet food lids and disaster preparedness information from the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). 

Some regional teams have distributed go-bags to local animals shelters to be given out with every cat and dog adoption, as well as distributed them at community events.  They are also provided at food distribution events to ensure that pet families with food insecurities are included.

“Thanks to the generous donation of disaster supplies from our friends at State Farm, Greater Good and the HSUS, the Windham Disaster Animal Response Team (WinDART) assembled 200 starter go-kits to be distributed to pet families in Windham County,” said Joanne Bourbeau.  “WinDART has been giving the kits away during pop-up food pantry events. Recently, we also distributed bags to pet families who are sheltering with their pets in homeless shelters.”

“Our team held two events – one in Barre and one in Cabot – where we passed out 200 bags,” adds Lisa Lemieux with the Central Vermont DART.  “Needless to say, they were a big hit!  More importantly, we were able to educate local communities on the importance of pet and human preparation in the event of an emergency.  Thank you, State Farm!”

For more information on how to prepare your pet for an emergency, visit the Vermont Disaster Animal Response Team.

Jennifer Young, CPCU
State Farm
Corporate Responsibility Analyst – NJ, NY, CT, NH, VT & ME

CVDART expanding delivery of pet food to food shelves in the Northeast Kingdom

Central Vermont Disaster Animal Response Team (CVDART) Press Release

On January 28, 2021, the Central Vermont Disaster Animal Response Team will be delivering over one-thousand pounds of pet food to food shelves in the Northeast Kingdom.  Without a local DART team in the Northeast Kingdom there is an unmet need for additional pet food to supplement the pet food provided by the Vermont Food Bank.

8These are difficult times for many of us and Vermonters are pulling together to care for each other. CVDART – the Central Vermont Disaster Animal Response Team, as well as other VDART regional teams across the state havebeen making sure that our pets are not forgotten. Together with local food pantries and animal welfare organizations, CVDART has been distributing food for companion animals.

Pets are especially important for those who are housebound or otherwise isolated. In some cases, a cat or dog might be the only companion a person has. The idea of having to make a choice between abandoning a beloved companion or sharing limited food is appalling. Thus, organizations like CVDART are working hard to ensure that doesn’t happen.

Since March CVDART has distributed over $18,500 worth of pet food to families through local food pantries. 

If you are interested in beginning a DART team in the Northeast Kingdom, please contact, Lisa Lemieux, Vice Chair, Vermont Disaster Animal Response Team – 802-505-7677 / cvdart2017@gmail.com

Delivering Pet Food During COVID-19

Pet Food donated to shelters during COVID-19

Click on the video above to watch the interview by WCAX. 

Many of the VDART teams have been collecting money and pet food to donate to food pantries around the state.  Over $4000 of dog and cat food donated.

Here are some of the recipients:

  • Capstone Community Action
  • CERV
  • Connecting Hope
  • Duxbury Elf Shelf
  • Faith in Action
  • Hedding Methodist
  • Montpelier Food Pantry
  • UMC Middlesex
  • Waterbury Food Shelf
  • Waterbury Senior Meals
  • Williamstown Food Shelf
  • Vermont Food Bank (Brattleboro)

Many people donated cash enabling the teams to purchase food to donate to food pantries.  Thanks to the many donations as well on Giving Tuesday!

Ann Ackley Memorial Animal Support Fund

Ann Ackley Memorial Animal Support Fund

Ann Ackley first became involved with the UVDART during 2011 when the
Companion Animal Mobile Equipment Trailer (CAMET) was based at Lucy
Mackenzie Humane Society. Ann then joined the UVDART and rapidly became a
Board member. In March of 2012, Ann became the Vice Chair, a critical role
assisting the current Chair who had many job-related commitments. Ann became the UVDART Board Chair in November of 2012 and held this position for next six
years.

Ann also joined VDART as one of the two UVDART representatives around
December of 2014, rising to Vice Chair of that Board. She religiously attended the Board Meetings of both teams through early 2020 until severe weather intervened.

Ann also led several Disaster Responses (DR’s) involving shelter operations and statewide drills. During these days, she also religiously carried the UVDART Beeper which was used for activation of the team. When the VT-Alert system replaced the beeper, she remained a primary contact person and regularly attended the formal Team training events.
We lost Ann to cancer in 2020 after a tough two-year fight. She is and will always be missed. Ann served well with both class and distinction, and was always ready to help with a smile and a kind word.

(Note: UVDART first began to form during 2004)

Donations can be made in her honor

COVID-19

Covid-19 Resources

Covid-19 Partners

The Vermont Disaster Animal Response Team stands ready to assist Vermonters and their animals in the face of the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic. Here are some additional resources on keeping your animals, yourselves, and your communities safe in the face of this crisis.

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VDART Introduces Training Webinar

VDART Introduces Training Webinar

Do you have questions about how state and regional disaster animal response teams operate? Would you like to know how you could qualify as a trained volunteer to help animals in YOUR community and beyond during times of crisis? The Vermont Disaster Animal Response Team (VDART) is pleased to announce a new free, self-paced introductory webinar, Volunteering for Your State Disaster Animal Response Team, which can be completed in the comfort of your own home in less than an hour!

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VDART Adopts New Emergency Notification System for Volunteers

VDART Adopts New Emergency Notification System for Volunteers

VTalert
On March 14th the Vermont Disaster Animal Response Team’s (VDART’s) Board of Directors voted to adopt Vermont Alert (VTAlert) as its official emergency notification system. The system can issue alerts about pending disasters, weather conditions, traffic and road issues, public health notifications, and countless other issues or events that could affect Vermonters or their loved ones. VTAlert is based on the belief that a major key to preparedness is having up-to-date information.

This web-based system, which is hosted and maintained by the Vermont Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security, provides a portal by which information can be disseminated by state and local authorities to the public, including schools and colleges, state, local, and federal government, and first responders. The system will not only allow us to activate our volunteers for real-life emergencies, but also for drills and training exercises.

VDART will be requiring all of its volunteers to register for this free service at http://vtalert.gov. This will allow them to sign up for and receive notifications through a number of delivery systems such as text, e-mail, telephone, or game console. Users will create accounts, chose their local area, select what types of alerts they wish to receive, and identify which delivery system they wish to use to receive those notifications.

“We’re tremendously excited about the possibilities that this notification system holds for our trained animal responders here in Vermont,” said VDART board chair Joanne Bourbeau. “By working in cooperation with state officials and other response agencies, we will be better poised to respond quickly and effectively across the state to assist with animal needs in the face of disaster.”

New Teams Added

New Teams Added

The Vermont Disaster Animal Response Team (VDART) is excited to announce the recent formation of 2 additional chartered regional response teams to cover 3 additional counties:
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10 Things for Pet Owners to Consider When Preparing For a Disaster

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10 Things for Pet Owners to Consider When Preparing For a Disaster

Planning ahead and preparing for a disaster before it strikes is very important to your pet’s safety and well-being. Here is a list of things you can do today:

1.  Be prepared by planning ahead. With your family, plan your evacuation routes. Plan for multiple routes (be prepared for poor or impassable road conditions or nuclear events). Decide on a meeting place away from home in the event you are at work, or away from your family and are unable to return home. Plan how to exit your home if an emergency occurs inside the home.

2. Put together a pet emergency supply kit.

3. Keep a collar and id tag on your pet at all times (including indoor cats – which can escape). Consider micro chipping your pet. A microchip can be scanned and your pet easily identified at a time when a collar or tag may get lost.

4. Keep a list of emergency contacts handy and alternate care contacts for your pets.

5. Know where you can find a pet friendly hotel before disaster strikes.

6. Call 211 when a disaster strikes to find out where your nearest pet friendly shelter is located.

7. Keep your local animal shelter/humane society contact information handy. A pet that is lost may very likely end up at your local shelter.

8. Keep carriers/crates handy and easy to move in the event of a disaster. Always stock the number of carriers/crates for the number of pets you have.

9. Be prepared to be self-sufficient. Shelters may not be operational at the time you need to evacuate, or you may not be able to get to them due to poor or impassable road conditions (in Tropical Storm Irene, many areas were cut-off and isolated).

10. Put together a Pet First Aid kit:

     Pet First Aid book
     Gauze or vet wrap
     Q-tips or longer cotton-tipped applicators
     Antiseptic wipes
     Antibiotic cream
     Tweezers, scissors
     Instant cold pack
     Disposable gloves
     Betadine solution for cleansing and disinfecting
     Styptic powder or corn starch to stop minor bleeding
     Eye wash

**If you bring a reptile to a shelter, bring a heat source, thermometer, your cage, and an extension cord. Consider that many reptiles live on fresh/frozen prey. Plan ahead for this or incorporate baby food (without added sugar or salt) into your emergency pet supply kit. Baby food can be a good substitute for fresh fruits and vegetables for a short period of time when fresh/frozen produce and prey are not available. This items will also store better and longer in your pet emergency supply kit.

VDART and the American Red Cross Team Up!

VDART and the American Red Cross Team Up!

Historically, emergency shelters have not accepted pets due to health and safety regulations, the exception being service animals.

The American Red Cross (ARC) has recently been faced with residents lining up at shelters with their pets when the shelter has not been designated as a “pet friendly” shelter. The first incident occurred during the December 2013 ice storm. A more recent event involved a gas leak and subsequent fire in St. Albans. Residents that had evacuated showed up at the ARC shelter with their pets.

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Mission

The Vermont Disaster Animal Response Team (VDART) was established in 2007 in order to strengthen and support the state’s capacity to respond to animal needs in the event of a disaster. We provide vital resources and advice to pet owners, animal-related businesses and non-profits, local communities, and state agencies in this area. Read More

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