The U.S. Department of Homeland Security recently awarded more than $1 million to the Illinois Regional Institute for Community Policing (RICP) to develop, implement and disseminate pet evacuation plans that ultimately affect animal welfare and safety during a disaster. The ASPCA will partner with the RICP on the Animal Rescue and Restore project, the animal organization states.
Recent disasters have focused attention on pets’ plights during and after such tragedies and the strength of the human-animal bond. Legislation has been passed to include pets in disaster plans, and organizations are accepting the challenge to develop response strategies.
“Animal problems are people problems,” says Patricia Rushing, interim director of RICP. “If disaster planning does not take into account the unique bond between people and the animals they consider family, then planning falls tragically short. I am delighted that the ASPCA has agreed to assist us in our Animal Rescue and Restore project.”
For more information on the RICP/ASPCA partnership and the Animal Rescue and Restore project, visit the ASPCA website.