Emergency and Disaster Planning at Ohio Animal Shelters

Among the 115 Ohio animal care and control agencies responding to this survey, 68% said that emergency and disaster response planning was important to their organization, but only 13% had completed a written plan. Most of the agencies (80%) said they would provide critical resources to their community during an emergency or disaster, although only one-third of agencies were aware of the PETS Act of 2006, which mandates that state governments include companion animals in emergency and disaster response planning to be eligible for federal funds.

This study concludes that Ohio animal care and control agencies are currently being underutilized in the development of emergency and disaster plans and that most agencies are ill-prepared to respond if their own agency is affected by the emergency. Improved coordination and communication among veterinarians, animal control agencies, and emergency responders would improve the situation, but additional research is needed to facilitate such efforts.