Bedford Community 
Animal Response Team
(BCART)

A disaster or major emergency can be natural or man-made. It causes substantial suffering to both humans and animals, and significant damage to property. These emergencies force people to evacuate their homes, which may then displace companion animals and livestock. These emergencies can cause injury / death to animals, and often results in companion animals and livestock being trapped or roaming.

Disaster preparedness for animals includes the coordination of public and private sector resources to meet animal and family needs during an emergency. Bedford Humane Society directors, in partnership with Bedford City and County Emergency planning staff, are leading a planning committee in the development of a Bedford Community Animal Response Team (BCART) and emergency plan. The mission of BCART is to provide guidelines, plans, and resources for rapid response to disasters affecting the health, safety, and welfare of animals including companion animals, service animals, and livestock

Bedford Humane Society Volunteers Attend Noah's Wish Training

Through the generous support of Chief Jack Jones and the Bedford County Fire and Rescue, nine BHS volunteers recently attended Noah's Wish two-day response training in Harrisonburg, VA. The training was designed to simulate the conditions that you may experience during a disaster deployment. Volunteers were required to be self-sufficient during training period, sleeping at the training location and bringing enough food and water for the duration of the training. Noah's Wish training is designed to educate and prepare individuals and organizations to mitigate the impact of emergencies/disasters on animals.

Lectures covered a variety of topics including floods, wildfires, and tornados. Volunteers had a chance to experience realistic situations in labs where rescuers decontaminated "victims" exposed to toxic chemicals, and learned to manage horses and poultry. Rick & Sarah McDonald stayed an additional day to participate in a mock emergency exercise involving human & pet actors, local Community Animal Response Teams, the State Animal Response Team (VaSART), and the Department of Agriculture. Rick reports, "At times the scene got a little hectic. However, this was the point of the drill & there were many lessons learned."

Two primary BCART planning committee members attended the training. In addition to the services she provides to BHS and BCART, Leslie Hudson has experience working at three disaster shelters in Mississippi and New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. "The experiences I had were life-changing & left me vowing to do everything I can to prevent beloved pets and livestock from being tragically lost due to inadequate planning. This training is the most thorough I've attended." Patricia Fitzsimmons, who has served on BHS Board of Directors for several years and is a proactive force behind BCART, reports the training weekend was very helpful and informative, and left her feeling "empowered."

Those attending the training will serve as teachers for upcoming community educational programs. All agreed that Noah's Wish training was extremely helpful in preparing BCART volunteers for working in temporary animal shelters during an emergency or disaster. Look for more information about BCART & the chances YOU will have to learn about disaster planning & response in future newsletters.

Volunteers are needed to serve on the BCART committee. If you are interested in volunteering with BCART please contact Leslie  540/297-3696 or Pat.