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Two trailers aid efforts at Animal Services
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Published: December 11, 2009
One of the lessons learned from 2005's Hurricane Katrina was the need for a disaster plan that includes household pets.
Iredell County Animal Services and Control came up with a plan to set up a shelter at South Iredell High School in the event of a disaster, but getting everything needed to the site was difficult, said Director Chris Royal.
Now, thanks to a grant, animal control officials can be ready to go in minutes, with a specially-equipped trailer.
The trailer is a CAMET (Companion Animal Mobile Equipment Trailer) through the N.C. SART (State Animal Response Team) program.
Royal said the trailer includes cages, a generator and a three-page-long list of supplies needed to take care of animals displaced due to a disaster.
After Hurricane Katrina, when many Gulf Coast residents refused to evacuate because pets were not allowed in shelters, local agencies included sheltering companion animals as part of the overall emergency management plan.
With the addition of this trailer, Royal said, all of the necessary supplies to take care of companion animals are in one place.
"We are real excited about getting it," she said. "We have the plans in place, but didn't have one centralized place to put everything. Now we can just hook up the trailer and go."
The CAMET trailer is just one of two additions animal control received through state and federal funding.
The department now has a self-contained trailer to use for off-site adoption events and it is serving as a headquarters for the monthly rabies clinics.
Royal said the trailer came to animal control through FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) and it cost the county $1,000.
It is fully-equipped and can serve as a base of operations in the event of an emergency.
Currently, Royal said, the trailer is being utilized the second Tuesday of each month for the rabies clinics. Those putting on the clinics use the trailer as a place to do the necessary paperwork, rather than the lobby of the shelter, which served as headquarters before.
Royal said the trailer has a canopy that can be pulled out to protect staffers from the rain.
At off-site adoption events, such as one recently conducted at Ace Hardware, the canopy was used to protect the dogs from the weather.
Royal said both trailers are a welcome addition to animal control, and the adoption trailer in particular, will be getting lots of use.
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