VDART

Helping Animals In Disasters

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VDART Shelters Animal Storm Victims

VDART Shelters Animal Storm Victims

 

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.

Our Central Vermont DART deployed its team on Christmas eve to provide supportive pet services to an emergency shelter in Barre. Team members quickly mobilized to move their response trailer to the site and set up several cages for potential animal residents. Although our services weren’t ultimately used, pet families had the peace of mind knowing that they had somewhere to go with their animals if needed.

In mid-March our Windham DART was deployed to a shelter at the Brattleboro Union High School after a Nor’easter dropped more than 3 feet of snow, creating extensive power outages. Similarly, the team brought supplies to the shelter and was on standby when our first (and only) overnight guest arrived—with her dog! “This is what our teams train for year-round,” said VDART board chair Joanne Bourbeau. “I’m thankful for our skilled and dedicated volunteers who were able to help their communities with this critical need.”

Pets Sheltering With Their Humans by Dr. Renee Poirrier

Pets Sheltering With Their Humans by Dr. Renee Poirrier

UVDART hosted an online presentation by Dr. Renee Poirrier.  Many VDART members joined via Zoom.  Dr. Renee Poirrier is a veterinarian and owner of Acadiana Veterinary Clinic in Alexandria, LA.

Play Video

About the presenter:

Dr. Renee Poirrier is a veterinarian and owner of Acadiana Veterinary Clinic in Alexandria, LA. She practices both traditional veterinary medicine, as well as holistic medicine, veterinary acupuncture, and water therapy. She graduated from Louisiana State University School of Veterinary Medicine in 1988, and has spanned a career as a veterinarian across three states. A lifelong animal owner and advocate, Dr. Renee puts into practice the belief that healing pets is a collaboration between veterinary practice and pets’ owners.

Throughout Dr. Renee’s career, she has been grateful for the opportunity to practice veterinary medicine, and she has always shared her skills in charitable work. After traveling overseas for veterinary mission and disaster relief work, Dr. Renee focused her efforts on disaster relief work closer to home. In 2003, she began volunteering with the Louisiana State Animal Response Team. In 2004, she became the director of the Louisiana State Animal Response Team; and she has coordinated many pet shelters and animal response efforts. Dr. Renee’s work made a difference during several hurricanes including Katrina, Rita, Gustav, Laura, Delta, and Ida; as well as in the wildlife response to the BP oil spill and the Haitian earthquake.

Each year, Dr. Renee volunteers to teach workshops and trainings on pet evacuation and sheltering, with animal responders as her audience. She wants to ensure that people will be able to evacuate with their pets during disasters. Dr Renee’s work was recognized in 2019 when she was honored to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award for long term commitment and excellence in Emergency Preparedness from the Louisiana Emergency Preparedness Association (LEPA).

In 2011 she was named Outstanding Woman Veterinarian of the Year by the Association for Women Veterinarians Foundation. Dr Renee was also named the 2008 Louisiana Veterinarian of the Year. In 2006 she received the Everett Besch Distinguished Service Award for her community service work from the Louisiana Veterinary Medical Association. 

Dr. Renee has also come full circle in her educational career, as she serves as an adjunct assistant professor at Louisiana State University’s School of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Renee is part of a team of instructors, teaching the next generation of veterinary students about animal emergency response.

Vermont Emergency Management Conference

VDART Speaks at Vermont Emergency Management Conference


VDART and DART Command Central teamed up to speak and table at the annual Vermont Emergency Management Agency conference held in Killington in September. It was a wonderful opportunity to speak to local and state emergency managers and our partners in first response across the state on VDART’s mission and capabilities, along with the new app being developed by DART CC to streamline sheltering protocols and data management.

Our virtual presentation, Using technology to improve emergency pet sheltering during disasters, can be viewed on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=479iEGtggaM&list=PLkV2VZBHkd08eF1tz56yQyNt0sGDleJ67&index=9

Team Mock Drills 2022

Team Mock Drills

Chittenden County DART to Host Mandatory EAS Training

VDART requires all of its volunteers to take an Emergency Animal Sheltering (EAS) workshop before responding, which we provide free of charge in various parts of the state. On Sunday, May 21 st , the CCDART will be hosting an EAS at the South Burlington Police Department. More details will follow and you can also check our Facebook page and website for updates.

CCDART is also looking for new leadership for the board of directors, so if you live in the area and have an interest in taking on a greater role with this regional team, contact VDART Board Chair Joanne Bourbeau at info@vermontdart.org.

Saturday, October 15th – 8:45 am – 3 pm – East Barre Fire Department

CVDART hosted a mock drill designed for both new and seasoned members of VDART. This drill satisfies the requirement of attending an Emergency Animal Sheltering (EAS) workshop.

Emergency Animal Sheltering (EAS)

Sunday, October 30th – 10 am – 3 pm – Training Matters, West Brattleboro

WinDART is organizing this free workshop (which is a pre-requisite for VDART volunteer responders) for new and interested members. Among the topics we’ll cover are small animal behavior and handling (dogs and cats) and our emergency shelter set-up protocols. The training will culminate with a mock shelter set-up exercise that will allow us to practice these skills in a real-life setting, using the app being developed by DART Command Central.

WinDART Mock Drill

State Farm Helps Prepare Vermonter’s

WHEN A DISASTER STRIKES, JOANNE BOURBEAU IS READY TO DEPLOY HER TEAMS TO STEP UP AND HELP. 

During a disaster, Bourbeau, who is the board chair of the nonprofit Vermont Disaster Animal Response Team (VDART) as well as the Northeast Regional Director for the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), works behind the scenes to coordinate a response to keep animals out of harm’s way. That means when incidents ranging from widespread floods to traffic accidents overwhelm local resources, they procure and set up temporary animal shelters, transport pets to safety and provide for their needs — such as food, water, shelter and veterinary care — until they can be reunited with their families.

“WE NEVER WANT PEOPLE IN A SITUATION WHERE THEY HAVE TO CHOOSE BETWEEN THEIR ANIMALS AND AN EVACUATION.”

Download the PDF State Farm Fall/Winter Good Neighbor (pages 5-6)

Introducing the VDART Video Training Library

Introducing the VDART Video Training Library

This library is meant to be a resource for you to pursue training in the area of your interests.  There are numerous websites with thousands of training videos, so the VDART’s Training and Development Committee selected a few that would be pertinent to our emergency sheltering work.  Jump in and have fun!

Free Red Cross classes

Free Red Cross classes for non-Red Cross volunteers.  One particular class that will assist VDART members is: “Psychological First Aid”.  Here’s the link to register: http://bit.ly/ext_register

Maddie’s Shelter Medicine Conference via ASPCApro 

https://www.aspcaonline.org/#/catalog/77bf1b6d-aabc-470a-b983-7859c229eeb8

  • Caring this much is exhausting
  • Engaging volunteers
  • Enacting laws that keep pets and people together

 

ASPCA On-line Learning Lab

https://www.aspcapro.org/training-online-courses/online-courses-aspca-learning-lab

 

ASPCApro Tools & Tips 

https://www.aspcapro.org/resource-library

Giving Tuesday 2021

Help Animals in Crisis this Giving Tuesday

The Vermont Disaster Animal Response Team (VDART) was formed in 2007 to improve the state’s response to natural and man-made disasters impacting animals. Since then, hurricanes and tropical storms like Irene in 2011, and most recently Henri in 2021, have directly threatened Vermont, and demonstrated the importance of planning for pets in order to keep ALL members of the family safe. The human/animal bond is never stronger than it is during times of crisis, and VDART volunteers stand ready to assist their communities with animal needs that might arise in the face of life-threatening emergencies.

The covid-19 pandemic has also significantly challenged food-insecure pet families in Vermont, and VDART has been on the front lines of this fight, providing pet food directly to local food pantries across the state for the past 20 months.

VDART receives no federal or state funding to serve this important role as a safety net to pets and pet owners in Vermont, and relies solely on grants and YOUR generous donations to keep our equipment operational and our teams trained and ready to deploy at a moment’s notice. VDART now boasts five regional teams covering the Northeast Kingdom, Chittenden and Grand Isle Counties, Central Vermont, the Upper Valley, and Windham County. And we work cooperatively with independent DARTs in Franklin County and Rutland County.

This Giving Tuesday, you can help us make a real difference for animals (and the people who love them) in YOUR community, by making a donation to VDART’s Anne Ackley Memorial Animal Support Fund. Click  donate to make your donation today!

Thank you for your support!

Joanne Bourbeau, VDART Board Chair

CVDART to host emergency pet sheltering training


CVDART to host emergency pet sheltering training

Sep 8 2021, 12:20 PM

You have probably seen or heard about the massive damage caused by hurricanes Henri and Ida, the fires in the West and the torrential rains in the South. You may know that organizations exist to provide temporary housing for people forced to evacuate their homes, but are you aware that Vermont also has an organization ready to mobilize to care for your pets in such a situation?

When families must evacuate their homes VDART (Vermont Disaster Animal Response Team) steps in to provide emergency shelters for pets. VDART has teams across the state trained to deal with such emergencies. According to their mission statement:
“Our goal is to provide uniformity and excellence in response to animal needs by training and exercising our volunteers in best practices, supporting the development of regional DART teams throughout the state, and providing local emergency managers with guidance on including the community’s pet population in local response plans.”

(Visit their website: https://vermontdart.org/ for more information.)

Recently, hurricane Henri threatened to hit our area and VDART alerted team members to be prepared to mobilize. If the idea of taking part in this rewarding work appeals to you consider attending the free Emergency Animal Sheltering (EAS) training, hosted by CVDART (Central Vermont Disaster Animal Response Team). This is a state wide event, open to both VDART members and interested members of the public. Previous sheltering experience is not required to attend.

This will be hands-on training. Visit https://vermontdart.org/training-2021/ for more information and to register. Open to all. Proof of COVID Vaccination required.

Contact: cvdart2017@gmail.com.

Strengthening Our Community

The Montpelier Food Pantry is rich in partners and this month we’re spotlighting a group that focuses on our four-legged friends. The Central Vermont Disaster Animal Response Team (CVDART) is part of the Vermont DART that helps animals across the state by strengthening and supporting the State’s capacity to respond to animal needs in a disaster. CVDART trains its volunteers in best practices and helps guide local emergency managers on including the pet population in crisis response plans.

In March of 2020, as the threat of the coronavirus became real, VDART had an emergency board meeting to plan how to help animals in the coming pandemic. CVDART then began supplying as much pet food as possible to area food pantries so that those impacted most could still feed their pets. Using a network of volunteers, CVDART supplied 22 area pantries upwards of $38,000 worth of pet food! Much of the food was purchased using CVDART’s emergency funds and individual donations, but some was salvaged from the Pet Food Warehouse (damaged packaging but still safe to eat) and some was surplus food donated by the Central Vermont Humane Society. Volunteers from CVDART have been integral in collecting donated food and helping get it to the pantries who need it — like ours!

CVDART is seeking volunteers and has a September 25th volunteer training in Barre. If you want a rewarding way to help animals, consider attending or contacting them about volunteering in general. 


Photo below: Pantry patron and his four-legged friends.

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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