The Animal Care program of the U.S. Department 

of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service (APHIS) is charged with providing technical

assistance and subject-matter expertise on the safety and well-being 

of household pets during disasters. In advance of an emergency, this

means facilitating household pet emergency management discussions

among Federal, State, territorial, tribal, and local governments, as well 

as nongovernmental organizations, as they develop and exercise disaster response plans. During a disaster, APHIS’ Animal Care program can

provide support to States to ensure the safe evacuation, transportation,

shelter, and care of household pets and service animals.

In support of the response planning process, APHIS’ Animal Care 

program provides: 

• Information-sharing opportunities for exploring best practices with

planners across the country.

• Detailed examples of effective plan components from various State

or local jurisdictions.

• Training materials suitable for Federal, State, territorial, tribal, local,

and nongovernmental leadership on the emergency management of

household pets.

• Connections to partners (e.g., veterinary associations, humane 

organizations, and private sector entities) with shared goals and 

missions in responding to disasters.

• Assistance in locating resources such as training, grants, cooperative agreements, and equipment.

• Technical support and subject-matter expertise in identifying bestpractice guidelines for use in an animal response plan, including:

• Public messaging

• Forecasting response needs, 

including estimating pet 

demographics

• Animal evacuation and 

transportation

• Opportunities for students, including temporary employment, internships, and post-graduate work, to gain experience in the emergency

management of household pets. 

In support of an ongoing disaster response, 

APHIS’ Animal Care program is ready to provide:

• Support to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)

and States by leading the Household Pets Support Task Force and 

ensuring the coordination of Federal resources and national nongovernmental organizations with the State. 

• Supplemental staffing for State and local Incident Command and

Multi-Agency Coordination centers. 

• Situational assessment of a State or community’s pet welfare needs. 

• Resource identification in support of FEMA to expedite filling 

requests from the State.

• Technical assistance to States and localities in protecting the safety

and well-being of animals in zoos and aquariums, biomedical research

facilities, and commercial pet facilities.

• Facilitation in the

building of productive relationships

between States and

key emergency

management stakeholders, such as

Federal agencies,

humane organizations, professional

associations, and

the private sector.

To learn more about the disaster response role of APHIS’ Animal Care

program, please call APHIS Animal Care Emergency Programs at (301)

734-0746. For information about APHIS Animal Care’s emergency work,

please visit the program’s Web site at

www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_welfare/ep.

APHIS Animal Care

Ensuring the Safety and Well-Being of Household Pets During a Disaster

USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

Program Aid No. 2034 Issued November 2009

• Animal emergency shelter 

assessment and operations 

• Animal decontamination

• Animal search and rescue

• Veterinary medical response

United States Department of Agriculture

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

Animal Care

UDA-104 Fact Sheet V2:Layout 1 10/19/09 2:20 PM Page 1