Meet KS SART Volunteers in action.
Category Archives: News
2019 Train Today Respond Tomorrow
Registration is OPEN for the 2019 Animal Disaster Response workshop, designed for anyone (18 or older) ready to become a Kansas State Animal Response Team volunteer. CLICK HERE to get registered NOW – Space is Limited!
Emergency shelters set up in Troy during flood evacuation
Families Reuniting With Their Pets
Sunday, March 24 was a great day for families, pets and Kansas State Animal Response Team volunteers at the emergency animal shelter in Troy, KS. The ultimate reward for a response volunteer is to witness the reunion of a family with their pets after a disaster and that is what Sunday was all about, watching pets and families enthusiastically reconnecting. Families were told they could could return to their homes at 9am and shortly after 8am families began arriving to pick up their four-legged family members. By 1pm the shelter was empty. By 4pm volunteers had completed clean up and demobilization. It was as time to reflects and bid fairwell to the communities of Troy, Elwood and Wathena fairwell. The Kansas State Animal Response Team was honored to serve!
Emergency Pet Sheltering in Troy, KS
Elwood Disaster Response
The Kansas State Animal Response Team was requested by Doniphan County Emergency Management and Kansas Emergency Management to respond to support the residents of Elwood and nearby Wathena in north east Kansas. The Kansas State Animal Response Team sent volunteers and equipment trailers to temporary shelter pets at the Doniphan county fairgrounds. The deployment began Saturday, March 16 and completed Sunday, March 24. The team cared for and housed 114 pets which included 68 dogs, 39 cats, 6 birds and 1 guinea pig.
Pets With A Plan Can Save Lives
The Kansas State Animal Response Team encourages people with pets to get prepared for
Spring: to grow; to arise from; to be resilient; and in Kansas also defined as storm season. What you should know about pets, disasters and the Kansas State Animal Response Team (KS SART)!
Growing animal response, the previous Kansas Animal Response Team and regional animal response teams; KC Metro, North East, South Central, South East, and South West have come together as a single, cohesive state team. “The old saying, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts”applies here. Bringing these amazing teams together as one is promising, exciting and necessary to sustain animal response for Kansas” said Ingrid Garrison, DVM, MPH and president of the reorganized Kansas State Animal Response Team.
Arising from disaster experience, the federal Pets Evacuation and Transportation Standards Act (PETS) was passed in 2006. This is important to you and your pets because it requires emergency management at the local and state level to address needs for you, your pets and service animals during a major disaster or emergency. The Kansas State Animal Response Team works with emergency management to advocate for pets through the disaster planning process and responds to assist pets during major disasters.
When seasonal storms produce a major disaster, the Kansas State Animal Response Team responds to provide pets comfort and safety in a pet emergency shelter, while their families seek the same in a human emergency shelter. The pet emergency shelter is staffed and operated by trained KS SART volunteers. The availability of a temporary pet shelter during a disaster increases the likelihood that pet owners will evacuate to safety when requested or required.
Spring into action, make a plan for yourself and your pet. Encourage friends, family and neighbors to do the same. Find help planning for your pet at My Pet Project: PETS Evacuate Too! Pets with a plan can save lives!
The Kansas State Animal Response Team is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization. This team accomplishes it’s work through dedicated volunteers, support from other disaster management and response organizations, grants, corporate sponsorships and donations from caring individuals. To make a difference for pets in disasters go to www.kssart.org.
Co-Located Sheltering in Manhattan
Shelter Opens for Pets and People in Manhattan Kansas
The North East Animal Response Team and the Red Cross partnered to shelter pets and their families in one co-located shelter in Manhattan, Kansas during flooding this September.
Mary Prewitt with the Kansas State Animal Response team said this decision was long overdue.
“People will cross police lines. They will put themselves at risk and go back to rescue their pets if you don’t provide for pets at the same time you evacuate the people,” she explained.
Click here to read the news story…
Animal Response Recognized by APPsheet
Appsheet for Animal Response
Animal in-take and reunion are key pieces of the disaster animal sheltering process. If you don’t track the animals, providing proper care and eventually returning them to their owners is impossible! Paper has been the standard until Appsheet. First implemented and tested during the September 2017 Project Care Exercise and improved upon during the March 2018 exercise, the Appsheet tool used by animal response was developed by the team’s volunteers. Appsheet has been great to work with and offered an extremely discounted rate for the subscription. Read more from Appsheet here…
Hurricane Harvey Update
Photo- Doug Gross (Patch Staff)
Updated August 29, 2017 11:51 am
Update 08/30/2017
KS SART is closely watching the animal response situation in Texas following Hurricane Harvey and is ready to offer assistance IF REQUESTED! Of utmost importance is that NO ONE SELF-DEPLOY!
The nature of disasters is “hurry up and wait”. Texas is skilled at dealing with disasters and has a robust animal disaster response capability. So far, they have handled pet issues locally and have reached out where necessary for assistance with transport and supply deliveries. Pet Friendly shelters have been opened and neighbors are helping neighbors. We are not surprised that they have not called for general outside support yet. Response must be safe for humans and animals, responders and victims.
Again please DO NOT SELF-DEPLOY! Disaster response is a huge challenge and adding unorganized, albeit with good intentions, untrained and unaffiliated responders is NOT acceptable or helpful!
You can make a difference through online donations too. Our recommendations of organizations currently assisting with Hurricane Harvey include: