Today was a big day at AKC Reunite! In honor of Emergency Preparedness Month and the one-year anniversary of AKC Pet Disaster Relief, we donated 16 microchip scanners to pet disaster trailers (CAMETs) in North Carolina. Universal microchip scanners are a vital tool Emergency Management relies upon to identify and reunite pets.

AKC Reunite CEO Tom Sharp presented the microchip scanners to North Carolina Emergency Management Director Mike Sprayberry today at our headquarters in Raleigh, North Carolina. The event also included a microchip scanning demonstration featuring Vern, the Great Pyrenees, AKC Pet Disaster Relief trailer tours and a display of the essential supplies that stock them, including crates, microchips and microchip scanners.

Modeled after the North Carolina CAMET program, AKC Pet Disaster Relief donates trailers fully stocked with pet care and sheltering supplies to eligible Emergency Management teams across the country. The life-saving equipment helps create a safe, temporary home-base for at least 65 pets immediately after a disaster is declared, allowing people to safely evacuate with their pets to emergency shelters. No longer will pets need to be left behind, or will people be put in harm’s way by “riding out” a storm to take care of their pets. The purchase of each trailer is made possible by $22,000 in donations and grants from kennel clubs and AKC Reunite. Ten have been donated across the country, with another ten trailers rolling out in the coming months.

Learn more about the program at www.akcreunite.org/relief.