Virginia State Animal Response Team

When a disaster strikes, who will take care of them?

Providing Prevention, Preparedness, Response, and Recovery for Emergencies Affecting Animals

In today’s world, we all worry about the threat of a natural or man-made disaster. Animals are especially vulnerable when a disaster strikes because they must rely on us for help. In 1998, Hurricane Floyd claimed the lives of millions of animals in North Carolina, and thousands more were separated from their owners. Many of these animals could have been saved by a coordinated response plan. From this tragedy, the State Animal Response Team (SART) concept was born. In 2006, Virginia adopted this concept to address its animal-related disaster response needs.

About VASART

Any Animal, Any Disaster, Anywhere

The Virginia State Animal Response Team (VASART) was created through a private-public partnership to serve as a unifying network of organizations, businesses, federal and state government agencies, and individuals that supports the prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery for emergencies affecting animals. Because disaster response needs to happen at a local level, VASART will build County Animal Response Teams (CARTs) across the state. County coordinators will be selected to lead the development of county teams consisting of volunteers who will respond to emergencies at the local level. Join your county’s state animal response team or if one is not created yet, help us get a CART started in your county.

For more information on CARTs (Community Animal Response Teams) please go to: https://virginiasart.org/cart-resources

1. Volunteer! To become a SART volunteer by completing the form at https://virginiasart.org/volunteer-form-%26-info. We need people with all types of skills, expertise and resources.
2. Donate! Preparing for a disaster and responding to one is expensive and requires a lot of resources and equipment. Plus,VASART helps all animals.This requires us to be ready for any kind of disaster event and depending on the animals involved, it may even require special equipment. Contribute financially to support VASART’s training and response efforts.
   Donate to VASART, click HERE
3. Prepare your home, business, or farm before an emergency occurs by creating disaster preparedness kits and emergency plans for your family, pets, and other animals.

Additional Information

VASART website http://virginiasart.org/