The National Capabilities for Animal Response in Emergencies (NCARE) Study: An Assessment of US States and Counties

Abstract

Communities with well-developed animal response plans, along with trained and equipped animal response teams, are typically better able to protect resident livestock and companion animals during a disaster, with fewer animals lost, higher human evacuation compliance rates, and a greater percentage of pets staying with their families. The NCARE Study is a cross-sectional descriptive survey designed to assess, among US states and counties, the level of preparedness for managing animals in an emergency. Overall, 65% of participating states (31/48) reported having a State Animal Response Team (SART), while 48% (16/33) of counties with >1 million population (large counties) and 23% (131/565) of a random sample of counties with <1 million population (small counties) reported having a County Animal Response Team (CART). Only 50% of small counties reported having plans for collocated or cohabitational emergency shelters, compared to 73% of states and 80% of large counties. In stratified analyses, the proportion of counties with a CART ranged from 2% in FEMA Region X to 69% in Region II. Our results demonstrate that many regions of the US have taken some important initial steps towards establishing the capabilities necessary for managing animals in a disaster, while other regions have areas for improvement.