Big Bend DART has worked closely with the American Red Cross to provide emergency pet sheltering for evacuees who evacuate with their pets. We have been activated by the Red Cross several times during hurricanes and floods for this, and our volunteers have provided round-the-clock care for the companion animals of evacuees. We also have an agreement with the local regional hospital to provide emergency sheltering of pets of doctors and staff when the hospital goes into emergency medical staffing in response to large-scale medical events.
Our DART volunteers are trained to retrieve animals left behind during evacuations and disasters, and assisted with retrieving many animals during Hurricane Katrina, as well as the emergency sheltering at Hattiesburg, MS. We see ourselves as emergency responders who are trained to work within the incident command system, and can be activated by city, county, state or national incident management teams.
Review from Guidestar