Agenda - 09-16-2008 - Info 1 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Shelter Co-location of Pets September 5f~', 2008 Page 2 Progress Since the February BOCC meeting, Emergency Services staff has done a considerable amount of research about co-location and the purchase of a Companion Animal Mobile Equipment Trailer (GAMEY). These units are already in use in other parts of North Carolina and Emergency Services has studied the deployment of those and the manner in which Orange County could obtain a CAMET of its own. Staff has also compiled standard operating procedures and policies/procedures from other North Carolina jurisdictions that are using co-location in order to assess best practices and decide what operations will work best for Orange County. As a part of our review of pet co-location, staff has decided it is best for Orange County to obtain a CAMET of its own rather than rely on those that may be available from the North Carolina State Animal Rescue Team. This will ensure the availability of supplies needed to shelter and care for those animals brought to a rescue location. The projected cost of a fully equipped standard CAMET is around $18,000. Action Steps Given the work done to date, County staff has identified a number of action steps that are critical to the implementation of co-location at one Red Cross location in the County. These are as follows: ® State Public Health site inspection of two Orange County locations presently used by Red Cross for people during a disaster • Development of our own standard operating procedures on basis of best practices • Mobilization of human resources needed to operate a pet co-located shelter, which will include community volunteers as well as select County staff. • Incorporation of co-location as an addendum to the general Red Cross memorandum for sheltering in a disaster situation. • Training of County Staff and volunteers in the set up and operation of a co- located pet shelter. Staff does think it best to begin with one CAMET atone Red Cross Shelter in the County until we can assess that Human Resources and staff are fully proficient and completely operational in a co-located facility. As we move toward implementing the first co-located shelter, staff will recommend that efforts be gathered to raise funds for a second CAMET for use at the other Red Cross disaster location. It is the sense of staff that this effort will be successful provided that our elected officials are involved in mobilizing community support.