The National Capabilities for Animal Response in Emergencies (NCARE) Study: An Assessment of US States and Counties

Abstract

Abstract:Communities with well-developed animal response plans, along with trained and equipped animal response teams, are typically better able to protect resident livestock and companion animals during a disaster, with fewer animals lost, higher human evacuation compliance rates, and a greater percentage of pets staying with their families. The NCARE Study is a cross-sectional descriptive survey designed to assess, among US states and counties, the level of preparedness for managing animals in an emergency. Overall, 65% of participating states (31/48) reported having a State Animal Response Team (SART), while 48% (16/33) of counties with >1 million population (large counties) and 23% (131/565) of a random sample of counties with <1 million population (small counties) reported having a County Animal Response Team (CART). Only 50% of small counties reported having plans for collocated or cohabitational emergency shelters, compared to 73% of states and 80% of large counties. In stratified analyses, the proportion of counties with a CART ranged from 2% in FEMA Region X to 69% in Region II. Our results demonstrate that many regions of the US have taken some important initial steps towards establishing the capabilities necessary for managing animals in a disaster, while other regions have areas for improvement.

Strategies for Implementing a One Welfare Framework into Emergency Management

“…In practice, however, agencies generally work in silos, and do not deploy simultaneously, and if they do it is usually ad hoc due to informal individual relationships [ 7 , 51 ]. This siloed approach leads to unsafe practices [ 7 , 52 , 53 ], inadequate resourcing and capability and, in the case of animal hoarding, a high recidivism rate [ 17 , 49 , 54 ].…”