Conference Stresses Disaster Planning and Large Animal Rescue

The 2006 National Conference on Animals in Disaster (NCAD) was held May 31-June 3 in Arlington, Va. The event was hosted by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and was sponsored by a variety of animal rescue organizations. More than

Share
Favorite
Close

No account yet? Register

ADVERTISEMENT

The 2006 National Conference on Animals in Disaster (NCAD) was held May 31-June 3 in Arlington, Va. The event was hosted by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and was sponsored by a variety of animal rescue organizations. More than 650 individuals came, including veterinarians, emergency response professionals, and animal care and control professionals. This meeting was dedicated to learning from the 2005 hurricanes, and it included a focus on animal disease/avian influenza preparation and resource typing as part of the Department of Homeland Security’s National Incident Management System (NIMS).


The animal disaster planning, preparation, response, and recovery cycle has become significantly more advanced since the last NCAD Conference in Pennsylvania in 2004. (The meeting is held every other year, and this was the fourth gathering.) This improved response is likely due to the recent passage of the Pets Evacuation and Transportation Standards (PETS) Act and experience gained in the thick of disaster response by numerous animal organizations during the 2005 hurricanes. The issues and lessons learned are fresh in the minds of deployed personnel, so it was a good time to expand on communication and collaborations to make future responses more streamlined and effective. Equine issues and concerns were addressed in many portions of the conference, although the emphasis was generally on pets and companion animals.


Reflecting on the 2005 hurricane season, HSUS representatives said, “In this catastrophe, relief efforts of all kinds suffered from a lack of cohesive planning, insufficient training, and critical resources hung up in the system, incorrectly used, or not available. Some long-standing relationships collapsed under the crushing demands of the moment. These procedures and relationships need to be repaired and made more robust not only to prepare for the next catastrophic event, but also to prepare communities across the country for the everyday disasters that disrupt lives and families year-round.”


On a positive note, many attendees related their individual and collective team success stories about the response and recovery of animals of all species, including livestock, equines, and even wildlife

Create a free account with TheHorse.com to view this content.

TheHorse.com is home to thousands of free articles about horse health care. In order to access some of our exclusive free content, you must be signed into TheHorse.com.

Start your free account today!

Already have an account?
and continue reading.

Share

Written by:

Rebecca Gimenez Husted, BS, PhD, is the primary instructor and president of Technical Large Animal Emergency Rescue. Her first book, Technical Large Animal Emergency Rescue, was published in 2008. She is an internationally sought instructor in technical rescue techniques, procedures, and methodologies, and she has published numerous critiques, articles and journal submissions on horse safety, technical large animal rescue and horse handling issues.

Related Articles

Stay on top of the most recent Horse Health news with

FREE weekly newsletters from TheHorse.com

Sponsored Content

Weekly Poll

sponsored by:

Where do you primarily feed your horse?
328 votes · 328 answers

Readers’ Most Popular

Sign In

Don’t have an account? Register for a FREE account here.

Need to update your account?

You need to be logged in to fill out this form

Create a free account with TheHorse.com!