 This is Dennis McMahon and welcome to Positively Vermont Today we have with us Barry Laundere The chair of the board of directors of the Vermont disaster animal response team Otherwise known as VDAR direct welcome Barry. Thank you glad to be here and we'll be speaking about helping animals in crisis That's what your website has right. We're gonna make some references to that About what the work you do and how other people can help but first Barry tell us a little bit about yourself So I am the chair of VDART. I live here in Burlington and I we are a state organization and During my kind of day job. I work for the Humane Society of the United States as their state director here in Vermont and work on All kinds of animal policy issues. So came to VDART through my work kind of my day job and You know was really interested in how we could make sure that when disasters happen when animals are at threat and in danger and along with their Human owners and caretakers, you know, there's a place for people to bring in care for animals that are That's safe and that You know can provide the care that they need and get them through a challenging situation. So Learned about VDART and and got involved and was elected chair a couple years ago and serving the second to your term right now As chair that's great. Well, I understand this was sorted in 2007. Tell us tell us about how this all came about sure, you know, I think There is a under a appreciation in 2005 with Hurricane Katrina just how important Planning and preparing for animal needs are there were studies that were done after Katrina hit that significant portion, I think around 40% or so of individuals who chose to stay did so in part or in full to because they didn't know where they were going to take their pets and There was a appreciation and could after Katrina really that if you're not planning for pets in a disaster Situation when people, you know, must leave their homes on short notice that the humans Were more likely to make bad decisions like staying in places where they were in danger and and could very well Die and I'm sure there are people in Katrina that quite frankly died because they didn't leave Because they didn't know where they would take their pets and they weren't willing to just leave their pets in a in a dangerous situation while they sought refuge so Out of Katrina, we had changes in federal law. The pets act was passed in 2006 that Did really two things one required state and local officials to Incorporate planning for pets into their disaster Preparations and then also allowed for FEMA to reimburse After the fact for those expenses that go into sheltering and feeding and housing animals So it essentially really incentivized groups like VDAR to to to start up and around the country you saw state and local Organizations like that are created and that's you know kind of why why it was created here in Vermont as we responded to the need responded to changes in federal law and created VDAR to really be that Point organization for disaster response for for for pets and companion animals Well, no one really I mean it was you know, I think prior to 2000 prior to You had Hurricane Andrew and other storms that that's sort of more forward-thinking areas and practically areas that were more impacted by frequent storms and Disaster type situations began to realize that It wasn't a luxury, you know, I think before you kind of had the idea well planning for pets putting money into thinking about what you what you do with pets that's a luxury we should really be thinking about humans and You know most of their shelters that were set up for humans in the 90s and early 2000s just wouldn't take in pets So you really that's why you were really faced with the choice of do you seek refuge and leave your pets behind or do you stay where you are and It led people to make bad decisions. I think it was a really a sea change and sort of how the emergency response more broadly thought about pets and how they could actually be A way of getting people to make the right decisions by by ensuring that they had a place for them to go So before before this not there wasn't a whole lot. You really were faced with a bad choice if you had to leave in many places of Stay or leave your pets behind. What about service animals? Well, that's a tough. I mean it I think it would probably depend on the state and local laws in the area But I think that was a huge issue too. I mean you You know, I think there would be more Desire, you know more efforts to accommodate that but there was certainly no guarantee that even you know service animals would be allowed into a shelter either So certainly now we want to make sure that whether it's a service animal whether it's just a companion pet that you you know treat like a family member that That we plan for them accordingly and that they're not treated separately because they are a part of Why people make the decisions that they do to leave or stay. That's great Well, give us an idea of how VDAR is structured how it operates What its facilities are throughout the state? Sure So we VDAR is kind of the state umbrella organization for several regional teams So we we fully believe that the best and most effective response Begins at the local level. So we have several regional teams within VDAR Chittenden County Central Vermont Upper Valley Wyndham the Orleans Essex area All those are chartered regional teams So we really focus on providing the services the Response of course in in a situation the outreach to local officials that we do to help make sure that they're planning for pets and in their Emergency plans the education and outreach that we do at the local level so that individual pet owners are prepared All that's really carried out through our regional teams. That's where a lot of the kind of Direct service and work gets done VDAR is is the organization that encompasses all those teams and takes care of the a lot of the more logistical and and operational Things that we need to do to kind of keep the lights on and and allow us to be functioning and allow those regional teams to do their work so we really believe in and having local regional teams that work in the community and get to know the the local shelters the People the vets and others that are in the area that are going to be needed in any type of response What type of foresight is possible? Do you have about? Disasters coming in we had a very rough winter this winter How did you plan? Yeah? you know, I think we're fortunate in a way because Being in Vermont that is in term You know, I think a lot of the disaster situations we deal with we do have some degree of foresight whether it's a winter storm you can kind of see that coming even a hurricane or tropical storm like Irene in 2011 which we we helped You know provide response and assistance to that for pet owners You could see it coming in advance versus other areas where you're dealing with tornadoes or wildfires or things that are much more instantaneous and you may not have that type of preparation so To some extent we're a little bit fortunate to have Our disasters are more likely to be things that we can foresee a little in advance, but it certainly it's a challenge in our organization just as is it is I'm sure in the Red Cross and other response groups of knowing that you are Working towards and training and planning towards these events that you hope don't happen And if they do you hope are fairly rare, but that when they do happen You really need someone there to be able to provide the services at that time. That's kind of what we do we sort of train and prepare to be on standby knowing that You know when we're needed, it's probably gonna be a pretty important moment. That's great What type of experience or an expertise that do people have to have to become a volunteer? Yeah, I mean I think it's helpful to be familiar with animals and have probably cared for them and have them You know in your home or certainly be comfortable around animals That's kind of a baseline, but other than that we know we we will help provide the training that you need I mean we take every you know a lot of the Volunteers for our group certainly come from the shelter world. They are staff at shelters or they volunteer at local animal shelters so they we certainly recruit heavily from people who are already involved in animal care and adoption and well-being of pets and other companion animals Vets are important Certainly if you're having a shelter and your lots of animals are coming in at one time And you're trying to triage and figure out, you know, are there any that with illnesses? Are they any with injuries that need to be treated? Having some vets that are involved and we have a few but we could certainly use more, but really there is no We really just need people who are passionate about this organization. We certainly you know we have You could be someone who just likes to fundraise quite frankly We could certainly use things like that So we'll take any skill set you might have that that any non-profit group would would find helpful marketing experience kind of allowing us to share our message more effectively so we'll we can utilize any any Any type of expertise in our organization, but we will We we will teach you what you need to know about setting up and running an animal shelter handling and caring for animals That's part of our may know our required training as a volunteer but Certainly any other experience or skills you bring we will find a way to put them to use What type of training opportunities do you afford to volunteer? Yeah, so about Three or three to four times a year. Well, we have kind of our main basic training course, which is called Emergency animal sheltering Class and that's a day-long course where we really walk through How we set up and run a shelter what the protocols are Basics of handling cats dogs other small animals that might be coming in you know rabbits and other Animals that are likely to be brought some from somebody's home We'll walk through how to set up and break down a shelter Walk through the intake process of people bringing animals how to make sure that we You know get them Identified and have you know are able to take it into our care in the most consistent effective way we can We'll go through all that that's kind of our basic day day long course that we that we provide for to most Provide to new volunteers and like I said, we offer three or four times a year and Then we also have other opportunities that regional teams have done So pet first aid classes a lot of the regional teams when they meet In their periodic Meetings will bring in a local vet or someone from a local shelter do a pet pet first aid class. They'll Some teams have also held equine and large animal handling classes to get folks even though that's not Really are necessarily our focus, but we also want to have volunteers that if the need arises They can go and assist in those type of cases and help and be comfortable around animals that they may not you know not everyone has Is this familiar with a cow or a horse as they are with a dog or cat? So we want to at least have our volunteers be Familiar with that so pet first aid large animal classes Those are other opportunities that are available that either we will help organize or you know Another good reason to kind of be involved and on our email list and get our newsletters and our website is we'll try to advertise other Training opportunities in the state or in the region that are available that we we're not running But we can we can make sure that people are aware of and they can go to and attend on their own and develop their own skills One of the things we discussed in preparation for this was this Activation protocol that have how does someone request assistance and what happens next? Yeah, I think yeah I think it's important because it can be a little confusing and and and we certainly have had cases we will have Contacted us directly thinking we are We can you know to respond directly to some particularly a certain Situation that a person is having and there's some confusion about what we do. So we really are in this we work Primarily through the state And through state authorization so the main and really the primary way that we're activated is Through the state veterinarian who works with the Vermont emergency management agency So when they a town or a local service organization like the Red Cross or the state Decides that there is an emergency situation. They make a declaration There's a request for our assistance from one of those groups. They'll contact us. We'll We'll reach out to the regional team that covers that area of the state or We have a few areas of the state that they do not have a regional team yet Which is one of the things we want to work and build and have a regional team everywhere We'll find whatever regional team is closest to that particular town or area And ask them to deploy and go wherever, you know, we're told usually it's a auditorium or a gymnasium at a high school or middle school or something and We'll go set up. We'll usually working alongside the Red Cross and other emergency management State personnel to run those shelters and we'll go in and we'll set up essentially an animal shelter companion, you know right in the if it if it's Ideal it'll be you know the room next door to wherever they have the main Shelter set up for the humans that are coming in and we'll you know set up and run a shelter When requested by those agencies if somebody has a particular emergency for their own companion animals we advise them to contact, you know, their local animal control or law enforcement same thing that's wildlife there's the You can go to the Fish and Wildlife Warden or Wildlife rehabilitator, which is you can find on the Fish and Wildlife website and again if it's a large Large animal equine. There's the large animal technical response coalition in Vermont that can help provide say An animal has fallen into a ditch or something like that and needs to be Rescued out there are people who can really focus on that so we can be a clearinghouse for people who come in and have questions We can get them to the right agency, but in terms of when we deploy it's really at the request of the state and at the request of service organizations who are Responding to a human natural disaster that we need to be able to go in and provide some Option for the pets that might be being brought into the shelter. That's great. Well, how should some prepare? Advance for emergencies. Yeah, that's a yeah, that's important thing because a lot of times you you know a lot of what we do is In addition to the direct services and the training is trying to go out into the community Educate the public on the ways that they can prepare we go to a lot of festivals and Farmers markets and things like that in the local community do tabling events to try to get the word out that The best thing you can do as a pet owner is to be prepared to have supplies for your own pets So we recommend for each pet or collectively if you have several kind of Putting together in a backpack or some kind of bag, you know food water Medicine are the kind of three main things for for you know at least a week or so supply of each Then you might want you should also have a Vaccine records any veterinary records that might be necessary in a situation where you're you know taking it in and leaving it somewhere for someone else to care for and Identification so a good idea is to take a picture with your pet and maybe on the back of it kind of right The breed the description color sex and is the basic information you might need that's good for both You have that information. It's also a way of identifying the pet afterwards you know kind of proof of ownership with you there with the pet and so all those are things to good to have ready because In many cases it might not be You might not need to come to a shelter But you might seek refuge say in a another family member or friends home elsewhere They may not have the things that you need for your pet and there may not be an ability to get the things you need So really preparing ahead of time for what would I do if I was cut off from? from resources and Services for a week or so how would I just make sure my pet had the basics of what they needed to to make it through that That's what we recommend. We have You know a lot of these are this kind of our main brochure flyer that we hand out that has a lot of information about what we do and then also contains a section on Preparedness for yourself and for your own pets and we have a section on our website Vermont dart.org that has a whole section on things that you might want to think about putting in a go kit for your pet That's interesting a go kit. That's I haven't heard that And what about things like fires? How do you cope with that? Yeah, that's that's an immediate thing. Yeah, and that's that's one of the things that we are looking at Get so we we currently we we will help in those situations On a kind of one-off basis right now We're not necessarily set up because we're really made we're organized really to run through the emergency response system which is more about State declared emergency situations which you point out a very good and that's something we want to work with the towns directly with towns to develop mo use and To be able to come in and provide that type of assistance on smaller scale situations that are that are not a disaster situation but are certainly a disaster for the people that are involved, you know Intimately in that fire and need a place to go We also can partner with you know, we can provide support to local shelters and others that might take in those animals on a short-term basis if somebody's needed so We're definitely interested in getting more involved in kind of those smaller scale, but acute events for the people that are involved and We have teams working now to develop those agreements with all you know We have to work through the various towns around the state to make sure that we kind of have the Agreements and the policies all in place that we need to be able to respond in those situations that like we do When their state emergencies, but we want to get more involved in that That's kind of one of the things on our horizon to see how we can be more involved in those local response That's great. I guess it's a question of growing awareness of what you sure and I think that's also Part of reaching out to the local emergency management officials in each in town to make sure that they are In their emergency plans, they have all the right information that they need so they know to turn to who's their local shelter who they contact who is their What regional team covers their area and who's appropriate contact there We want to make sure that the local officials who are who do have a Responsibility both to prepare for the for the larger disaster natural disaster type situations, but also a Provide care in those smaller scale situations that they know who we are that they know the resources that are available And we hope that can build relationships with towns to where we can come in and play Play more of a role in in any type of situation that might come up It's great. What we like to ask on the positively Vermont is as we're Kind of wrapping up. What do you need from the community? maybe from government and Especially people who are watching this show right now sure I mean, I think the two things that we always need are And it probably is similar to a lot of nonprofit groups are volunteers and and financial donations They know like I said before we will take Anyone who's interested in volunteering certainly vets or people who have some type of expertise particular expertise large animal farm animals equines That you can bring a particular skill set to our organization We would certainly be eager to have folks like that join us but even if you just someone who wants thinks this is a good cause wants to To help and find a way to assist We'll take you know anyone who has a skill to bring to us that could be fundraising. It could be marketing. It could be you know website design technical skills that we that we might Not have or could improve on so we certainly welcome anyone who has an interest to be a volunteer You can go to our website Vermont door Vermont dart org. There's a whole page on volunteer Becoming a volunteer. We actually just added earlier earlier this year A way for people to register right there online in a fillable format that they can fill in their information We'll just ask, you know basic contact information. We also ask questions about You know, do you have experience carrying or handling for certain types of animals? You have equipment or things that might be useful tractors trailer things like that that that Could be used in a response. So a few questions, but you get you know, you support put that in and you'll be added to our email list you'll be added to Receive the information that we put out about training opportunities and events that are going on and more and most importantly you'll be Put in contact with your local regional team that wherever it is in your town And that's really going to be the point person for those volunteers to get involved And then and obviously the other question is donations. I mean we are we're we pride ourselves on being you know a very lean organization and You know, we we really fundraise mainly to Keep the lights on and to make sure that we have Supplies in our trailers. So we have I mentioned this earlier, but we we have soon to have four trailers that we have stationed around in various parts of the state and They're able to respond they essentially have everything you would need to set up an animal shelter create supplies like that. So We use, you know, whatever donations that we receive to make sure that we have the supplies we need to make sure that we Are able to do the trainings each year to keep our volunteer sharp on the skills that they need and then to just kind of maintain the Financial Necessities of an organization insurance and other things like that. So we we certainly could use financial support and like I said, we we we are We have a lot of really great volunteers that put in a lot of time and effort to to to take care of the things that we need to be prepared and With what we what we have we we try to go a long way with what we raise and to make The best use out of it as we can to really be there when The unfortunate rare situation happens, but you need people who are trained and prepared and the resources ready to go We're that organization That's great. Oh, is there any particular events coming up between now and the end of the year? Well, we're we're looking now to schedule Some trainings for the fall. We don't have dates for them yet, but we I know that the chitenden county, which I'm involved in Local team is looking to schedule a emergency animal shelter and training sometime this september october. They'll be on our calendar We have lots of regional events That I don't off time ahead. I'm not sure that what the regional teams are are doing but they go to a lot of festivals and events you should look for them in and In your local town farmers market or other kind of Seasonal events that are taking place. We try to get the word out and do tablings I know there's a petapalooza event that pet food warehouse host in the fall that that the the chitenden county team that I'm That's the regional team that I work in directly with you know, we go to that and do public awareness and again handout brochures and things to Get people to do what they can to prepare ahead of time and to know that we exist and that the services are out there So we have a calendar on our on our website that has events But also we put them out in our newsletter that that we send out so if you're interested in and Even just learning about what we do and getting more information You can go fill out the volunteer form and be added to that email list. That's great Well, thank you very much barry. I'm glad to be here and my guest. It's in barry. Wanderay the chair of the romant Disaster animal response team otherwise known as v. Dot This is Dennis McMahon for positively vermont. Thank you for watching