Red Cross and AVMA Collaborate on Disaster Relief
The American Red Cross (Washington), the American Veterinary Medical Association (Schaumburg, Ill.) and its charitable arm, the American Veterinary Medical Foundation, have long worked together to protect animals during disasters—and now have penned a formal agreement to lay the groundwork for increased cooperation.
The formal memorandum of understanding signed by the three groups is meant to help people find temporary housing for their pets and livestock, rather than be forced to leave animals behind after a natural disaster, according to Dr. Heather Case, AVMA coordinator for emergency preparedness and response. She estimates that 100,000 pets and farm animals are separated from their owners during natural disasters because people haven’t taken proper precautions or run into snags with local or state disaster plans.
The AVMA will serve as a technical adviser to the Red Cross on all animal- and veterinary-related aspects of disaster response efforts. The AVMF will help fund programs developed under the cooperative arrangement.
“I am eager to see how we can collectively address challenges in disaster preparedness and response as we look to prepare families for the unexpected,” said Case. “This new [memorandum of understanding] is a call to action for both groups and will allow us to develop new programs on the local level to meet the challenges.”
Mary DeWitt-Dia, senior associate at the Red Cross, said her organization is proud to continue the partnership with the AVMA. “Through our continued collaboration and coordination we will be able to help our communities better prepare for and respond to the needs of families and animals before, during and after disaster,” she said. [June 2009 PET AGE]
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