The state is looking for residents willing to assist animals in need a helping hand during disasters.
The Delaware Animal Response program is seeking volunteers that can step up and take care of pets when disasters hit the First State.
“In the State of Delaware whenever there is a disaster, such as a hurricane, a tornado or maybe even a large fire or flood and they open shelters for humans, under the Pets Act we also have to open shelters for pets. Because the most important thing is that we want people to evacuate when they’re asked to evacuate and we want to make sure they bring their pets with them. We want everybody to be safe, ” said DAR coordinator Karen Clark.
Clark says interested community members would be part of the Delaware State Animal Response Team and its specialized unit, the Delaware Veterinary Medical Reserve Corps.
“So what our volunteers do is, whenever we open a human and pet shelter, we go in and we set up equipment to take peoples pets. So when people come in to register for the human side they can bring their pet back to our area, which would be in the same building. And we would take care of their pets for them and they can come back and visit and take their pets out and feed their pets.”
Volunteers can get involved by attending orientation sessions next week.
Clark says there will be three one-hour sessions: January 16th at the DHSS Training Center in Dover’s Edgehill Shopping Center; January 17th at the Sussex County Emergency Operations Center in Georgetown and January 18th at the Office of Animal Welfare at the Carvel Building in Wilmington. All sessions run from 7 to 8 p.m.
The DAR program was created following Hurricane Katrina when some people would not leave their homes without their pets or left pets behind when they did evacuate.
Additional orientation sessions are schedule for April, May and June this year.