Imagine the worst has happened: a catastrophic storm requires residents to evacuate their homes immediately, but the beloved family pet or service animal can’t be found. Or what if you want to leave ahead of time with your pet, but you’re not sure what shelters accept animals? What do you do? Leave and protect your personal safety, but leave your pet behind? Put yourself in harm’s way after a major disaster to find your animals?

To help solve this problem, AKC Reunite has donated a pet disaster relief trailer and supplies to the Sacramento County Department of Animal Care and Regulation. AKC Pet Disaster Relief provides the trailers to tax-exempt organizations and municipalities who provide animal care services during the first 72 hours following a disaster, before FEMA support and services are deployed. AKC Pet Disaster Relief trailers help to create a safe, temporary home-base for at least 65 pets immediately after a disaster is declared.

“The AKC Humane Fund works to assist pet owners when their lives have been temporarily disrupted.”

Doug Ljungren, President and CEO of the AKC Humane Fund,Inc.

The purchase of the trailer for the Sacramento County Department of Animal Care and Regulation was made possible by $22,000 in donations and grants from the AKC Humane Fund, Inc., a not-for-profit that promotes responsible pet ownership, and AKC Reunite, the nation’s largest non-profit pet identification and recovery service.

“The AKC Humane Fund works to assist pet owners when their lives have been temporally disrupted,” said Doug Ljungren, President and CEO of the AKC Humane Fund, Inc. “A pet disaster relief trailer will help citizens in Sacramento County find safety for their pets at times when it matters the most.”

The trailers house and deliver essential supplies such as fans, lighting and generators; cleaning supplies; maintenance items; and animal care items including crates and carries, AKC Reunite microchips and an AKC Reunite universal microchip scanner as well as bowls, collars and leashes.

The trailer can provide temporary re-location for pets and service animals for people who evacuate their homes during disasters such as floods, hazmat emergencies, or earthquakes. It can be used to create one of two types of animal shelters:

  • Co-location shelter, which houses both humans and their animal companions. The people housed at the shelter are responsible for their animal’s general care.
  • Lost and found pet shelters, in which displaced animals are housed in what becomes a reunion center for people and their animals.

“When disaster strikes, many animals that are wandering and lost are not necessarily strays but family pets,” said Dave Dickinson, director of Sacramento County’s Animal Care and Regulation. “This trailer and its supplies will prepare us for a better disaster response and the tools to reunite people and their pets during stressful times, when lives are turned upside down.”

Individuals, corporations and other interested parties can donate to trailer projects in local areas or across the country. Donations are tax deductible and accepted online. Approved organizations that raise a minimum of $1,000 will have their logo featured on the AKC Pet Disaster Relief trailer.

Learn more about how to get involved online with AKC Pet Disaster Relief or contact us at 919-816-3980 and relief@akcreunite.org.