New Adventures in PA Animal Rescue

Hello Friends.

I haven’t been very good about keeping up with Up On The Woof over the past year, and I apologize for that. . . however, my life has undergone major changes. Let’s catch up:

You may be aware that I was the sole caregiver for my partner for the past seven years, which took a toll on the time I had for writing and being creative, and just about anything else that I wanted to do. Her health began to deteriorate rather quickly in January, and I began clearing our belongings out of the cabin we lived in at the Cuyahoga Valley National Park for twenty-one years. In February, I moved her to a nursing facility and gave the Park notice that I’d be moving out. There was so much to do! I had to get rid of things we had accumulated during our 38 years together, decide what I’d be taking with me, and find a place of my own. Dalene died on May 9, 2023, and on the 19th I moved to the Pittsburgh area with our one remaining dog, and a cat. To say my life is different, is a gross understatement.

One of the things I had been missing over the past seven years, was involvement in animal rescue. Because all of the apartments I looked at only allowed a maximum of two pets, it means that I can’t foster. I wanted to be active in rescue again, and to be around dogs, who are the joy of my life. So, I was thinking that after I was settled, I’d look into transport, or I’d contact Animal Rescue Corps, and see how I could go about getting trained to work with them during national animal emergencies. Somehow — I wish I could remember how — I heard about CART: County Animal Response Team. It is a group here in my new county that does the same sort of thing as ARC. They are trained to respond to animal emergencies, and dispatched via 911 or are requested by Police or Fire on the scene of an incident. Training with them would make me a first responder for animals! CART teams in PA are branches of PASART: Pennsylvania State Animal Response Team. These groups were formed after Katrina, because in the aftermath of the hurricane was the realization that many animals had been left behind, and also that many people hadn’t evacuated because there was no place to go with their pets. The Federal Government passed the PETS Act. This opened the door for emergency animal groups to form that would work in conjunction with FEMA and The Red Cross to get pets to safety in the event of an emergency.

CART isn’t only about major disasters, though. We can be requested by police and fire when they have a situation that involves an animal, such as an auto accident or pets that have been in a house fire. The group I joined has been dispatched to round up farm animals on the freeway when the truck they were in overturned, hoarding situations, horses stuck in mud, an animal that fell in a well, rescuing animals after a flood, after a tornado, all sorts of things!

Training has been intensive, and is ongoing. I had to pass three FEMA classes to qualify, and then attended CART training classes in animal handling, equipment, first aid, animal behavior, lost pet recovery, and how to set up an emergency animal shelter. There are still many classes ahead, and also field work. I was activated as a team member at the beginning of October, and was dispatched for the first time. Several rescue groups responded to the incident, which involved the removal of 49 animals. It was a pretty big case for my first experience. There were dogs, cats, ducks, chickens, a cockatiel and a turkey. Training kicked right in, and I was able to be an effective team member. All the animals were removed safely and transported to foster homes, rescues, or kennels. It was very satisfying! I’m looking forward to future rescue experiences with CART.

In addition to extensive training, CART provides some equipment to their volunteers, but there’s a lot of things that we still have to buy for ourselves. I have a wish list on amazon of things I still need, if any of you would like to help me gear up. You can access it here: GEAR UP.