Warwick, Rhode Island, shows off its pet project In Warwick, Rhode Island, Project Impact is going to the dogs. This Project Impact city has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Rhode Island Disaster Animal Response Team to turn a local skating rink into an emergency shelter for pets in the event of a disaster or call for evacuation. Most people won't leave their house if they can't take their animal with them.
Pets are part of a person's life.
For some people, that's all they have for family. Rhode Island has experienced two devastating hurricanes this century and evacuating the coastline is of particular concern to Bob O'Brien, the state's natural hazards program manager. The problem we've seen in other states is they won't evacuate if there aren't accommodations for their animals. In little Rhode Island, he said, there were 1 million people and 400,000 registered animals. Generally, American Red Cross shelters are prohibited from housing anything except service animals.