Helpful Links for Disaster Planning

The following websites contain excellent information and resources for those planning for or otherwise involved in the care of animals in a disaster.

For training resources, see our Training pages.

Government Resources

Federal Emergency Management Agency
The primary mission of FEMA is to reduce the loss of life and property and protect the nation from all hazards, including natural disasters, acts of terrorism, and other man-made disasters. This extensive website offers a wealth of information about disaster preparedness and response.

FEMA NIC Incident Management System Division
This area of the FEMA website contains extensive information and resources that provide guidance and support to jurisdictions and incident management and responder organizations as they adopt the National Incident Management System (NIMS).

FEMA Resource Management: Job Titles and Descriptions (.pdf)
This area of the FEMA website contains job descriptions for emergency responders, including animal emergency responders. The descriptions include not only the duties but also training and other prerequisites to be a credentialed responder.

Center for Public Safety & Justice
CPSJ provides training and other resources in the areas of specialized development, community policing development, and partnership and community development. These include community disaster preparedness and animal-related courses.

USACOPS: Comprehensive List of Law Enforcement Agencies
This site's home page provides an easy-to-use tool to obtain contact information for law enforcement agencies throughout the United States.

Professional Organizations

American Veterinary Medical Association
AVMA offers educational materials to assist veterinarians, animal owners, and others interested in the well-being of animals to prepare for animal safety in the event of a disaster.

International Association of Emergency Managers
IAEM is a non-profit educational organization dedicated to promoting the goals of saving lives and protecting property during emergencies and disasters. IAEM also offers emergency management training.

National Association for Search & Rescue
NASAR is a professional organization for fields related to search and rescue and also provides search and rescue training.

National Emergency Management Association
NEMA is the professional association for state emergency management directors.

National Organization for Victims' Assistance
NOVA offers crisis response training and has a National Crisis Response Team that can be deployed to assist in disaster response.

State Animal Response Team (North Carolina SART)
Many states, such as North Carolina, have formed a SART, an interagency state organization dedicated to preparing, planning, responding and recovering during animal emergencies in the US. SART programs train participants to facilitate a safe, environmentally sound and efficient response to animal emergencies on the local, county, state and federal level. (One simple way to locate SART websites for other states is to type "state animal response team" and the state name into a search engine such as Google.)

Miscellaneous Resources

Emergency Email Network
This site allows government agencies and nonprofit community services to set up an account to send emergency notification broadcasts on the Emergency Email Network to citizens in their area.

Pets Welcome
This website lists hotels, motels, campgrounds, and other accommodations that accept animals. Listings are for the US, Canada, and some international locations.