On May 19th, Pierce County Animal Response Team celebrates 5 years

PCART started here in Lakewood in 2007, right after the big windstorm and power outages of December 2006.  Red Cross came out to Lakewood's City Hall and had sheltering training for anyone that was interested in volunteering for Lakewood's sheltering program which would include handicapped citizens.  At the next planning meeting, someone said, "What about pets?" and we started having separate meetings (although some continued going to both meetings - people and animals). Many organizations were instrumental in helping us get organized and trained, including the City of Lakewood (which hosted many of our early meetings), the Humane Society in Tacoma (which hosted later meetings), Animal Control officers from many towns all over Pierce County (including Lakewood), and many more.

Mary Dodsworth of Lakewood's Parks and Recreation Dept and Emergency Planning was instrumental in getting our group off the ground by organizing our meetings the first year. Without her, PCART would not have appeared until much later, if at all.  So, here we are 5 yrs later with a trailer full of supplies, training for new volunteers once or twice a year, as well as monthly training to keep us on our toes, ready to be deployed.  We are fine tuning our manual/hand book at each meeting. We are full members of the Citizen Corps Council of Pierce County which is a 503(c)3, which means we can take donations for pet food and other needs in emergencies. 

Pets need you to prepare for them. If you evacuate to a shelter, take cats, birds, reptiles and pocket pets in a carrier or small cage.  Small dogs can be taken in a carrier, larger ones will need a leash and possibly a muzzle if you are not sure how they will react to strangers. We have crates to put them in at the shelter. We have forms to fill out to make sure they are cared for properly and are returned to the proper person.  Please make copies of vet records or shot records and put them in a ziploc bag with a photo of you with your pet. If they need medication, bring it with you.  If they need a special toy or pillow to sleep with, bring that too.

We set up a shelter in Orting in January 2009 and had several dogs there. At the end of 2008 we had a shelter set up and a young man showed up with a tarantula. One of the volunteers took the tarantula home so it would stay warm (and not freak out the other volunteers at the shelter).

Please come to City Hall next Saturday, May 19th to celebrate with us and honor our volunteers. We will have coffee, donuts  from Lakewood's Donut Shop on Gravelly Lake (Thanks Dan!), fruit and a Happy 5th birthday cake for us. Learn more about emergency preparedness and organizations that help in emergencies and are free to join. Applications will be available if you want to volunteer. All you CERT (Community Emergency Response Teams) members are welcome.

* We have door prizes (swag, freebies!) and some donated items that will be raffled off for free, get your tickets when you arrive. Meet fellow pet lovers and make new friends. Stop by 10 to 10:30 am even if you can't stay until noon. Don't miss this party!