[House Hearing, 116 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
ANIMALS IN DISASTERS
=======================================================================
(116-54)
HEARING
BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, PUBLIC BUILDINGS, AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON
TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED SIXTEENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
__________
FEBRUARY 12, 2020
__________
Printed for the use of the
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Available online at: https://www.govinfo.gov/committee/house-
transportation?path=/browsecommittee/chamber/house/committee/
transportation
______
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
42-576 PDF WASHINGTON : 2020
COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE
PETER A. DeFAZIO, Oregon, Chair
SAM GRAVES, Missouri ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON,
DON YOUNG, Alaska District of Columbia
ERIC A. ``RICK'' CRAWFORD, Arkansas EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON, Texas
BOB GIBBS, Ohio RICK LARSEN, Washington
DANIEL WEBSTER, Florida GRACE F. NAPOLITANO, California
THOMAS MASSIE, Kentucky DANIEL LIPINSKI, Illinois
MARK MEADOWS, North Carolina STEVE COHEN, Tennessee
SCOTT PERRY, Pennsylvania ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey
RODNEY DAVIS, Illinois JOHN GARAMENDI, California
ROB WOODALL, Georgia HENRY C. ``HANK'' JOHNSON, Jr.,
JOHN KATKO, New York Georgia
BRIAN BABIN, Texas ANDRE CARSON, Indiana
GARRET GRAVES, Louisiana DINA TITUS, Nevada
DAVID ROUZER, North Carolina SEAN PATRICK MALONEY, New York
MIKE BOST, Illinois JARED HUFFMAN, California
RANDY K. WEBER, Sr., Texas JULIA BROWNLEY, California
DOUG LaMALFA, California FREDERICA S. WILSON, Florida
BRUCE WESTERMAN, Arkansas DONALD M. PAYNE, Jr., New Jersey
LLOYD SMUCKER, Pennsylvania ALAN S. LOWENTHAL, California
PAUL MITCHELL, Michigan MARK DeSAULNIER, California
BRIAN J. MAST, Florida STACEY E. PLASKETT, Virgin Islands
MIKE GALLAGHER, Wisconsin STEPHEN F. LYNCH, Massachusetts
GARY J. PALMER, Alabama SALUD O. CARBAJAL, California,
BRIAN K. FITZPATRICK, Pennsylvania Vice Chair
JENNIFFER GONZALEZ-COLON, ANTHONY G. BROWN, Maryland
Puerto Rico ADRIANO ESPAILLAT, New York
TROY BALDERSON, Ohio TOM MALINOWSKI, New Jersey
ROSS SPANO, Florida GREG STANTON, Arizona
PETE STAUBER, Minnesota DEBBIE MUCARSEL-POWELL, Florida
CAROL D. MILLER, West Virginia LIZZIE FLETCHER, Texas
GREG PENCE, Indiana COLIN Z. ALLRED, Texas
SHARICE DAVIDS, Kansas
ABBY FINKENAUER, Iowa
JESUS G. ``CHUY'' GARCIA, Illinois
ANTONIO DELGADO, New York
CHRIS PAPPAS, New Hampshire
ANGIE CRAIG, Minnesota
HARLEY ROUDA, California
CONOR LAMB, Pennsylvania
------ 7
Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency
Management
DINA TITUS, Nevada, Chair
MARK MEADOWS, North Carolina DEBBIE MUCARSEL-POWELL, Florida
GARY J. PALMER, Alabama SHARICE DAVIDS, Kansas
JENNIFFER GONZALEZ-COLON, ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON,
Puerto Rico District of Columbia
CAROL D. MILLER, West Virginia HENRY C. ``HANK'' JOHNSON, Jr.,
GREG PENCE, Indiana Georgia
SAM GRAVES, Missouri (Ex Officio) JOHN GARAMENDI, California
ANTHONY G. BROWN, Maryland
LIZZIE FLETCHER, Texas, Vice Chair
PETER A. DeFAZIO, Oregon (Ex
Officio)
CONTENTS
Page
Summary of Subject Matter........................................ iv
STATEMENTS OF MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE
Hon. Dina Titus, a Representative in Congress from the State of
Nevada, and Chairwoman, Subcommittee on Economic Development,
Public Buildings, and Emergency Management:
Opening statement............................................ 1
Prepared statement........................................... 2
Hon. Mark Meadows, a Representative in Congress from the State of
North Carolina, and Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Economic
Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management:
Opening statement............................................ 3
Prepared statement........................................... 4
Hon. Peter A. DeFazio, a Representative in Congress from the
State of Oregon, and Chair, Committee on Transportation and
Infrastructure, prepared statement............................. 33
Hon. Sam Graves, a Representative in Congress from the State of
Missouri, and Ranking Member, Committee on Transportation and
Infrastructure, prepared statement............................. 33
WITNESSES
Wesley T. Bissett, D.V.M., Ph.D., Director, Texas A&M Veterinary
Emergency Team, Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine and
Biomedical Sciences:
Oral statement............................................... 5
Prepared statement........................................... 7
R. Douglas Meckes, D.V.M., State Veterinarian, North Carolina
Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services:
Oral statement............................................... 11
Prepared statement........................................... 13
Teresa MacPherson, Canine Search Specialist, Fire and Rescue
Department/Virginia Task Force 1, Fairfax County, Virginia,
oral statement \1\............................................. 16
Richard Patch, Vice President, Federal Affairs, American Society
for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals:
Oral statement............................................... 18
Prepared statement........................................... 19
SUBMISSIONS FOR THE RECORD
Statement of the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities
Emergency Management Task Force, Submitted for the Record by
Hon. Dina Titus................................................ 34
----------
\1\ Ms. MacPherson delivered an oral statement but did not submit a
prepared statement.
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
February 7, 2020
SUMMARY OF SUBJECT MATTER
TO: LMembers, Subcommittee on Economic Development,
Public Buildings, and Emergency Management
FROM: LStaff, Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public
Buildings, and Emergency Management
RE: LSubcommittee hearing on ``Animals in Disasters''
_______________________________________________________________________
PURPOSE
The Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings,
and Emergency Management will meet on Wednesday, February 12,
2020, at 10:00 a.m. in 2167 Rayburn House Office Building, to
receive testimony on ``Animals in Disasters.'' At the hearing,
Members will receive testimony regarding several matters
concerning animals in disasters. The Subcommittee will hear
from the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to
Animals; the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and
Consumer Services; the Texas A&M University Veterinary
Emergency Team; and Fairfax County, Virginia's Fire & Rescue
Department, the sponsoring agency of Virginia Task Force 1, a
member team of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA)
Urban Search & Rescue System.
BACKGROUND
The Subcommittee has conducted significant oversight of
FEMA for several years, following an increase in the volume of
Presidentially-declared disasters and emergencies.\1\
Additionally, we have observed an increase in the severity of
losses from disasters, increasing Federal spending to recover
from costly events, and sometimes an increase in the scale of
these hazard events.\2\
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\1\ https://www.fema.gov/disasters/year.
\2\ Munich Re (2012). ``Severe weather in North America--Perils
Risk Insurance.'' Munich, Germany: Muchener Ruckversicherungs-
Gesellschaft.
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Animals and veterinary issues are often overlooked when
examining the full cycle of emergency management--planning,
preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation. However, in
the wake of recent disasters, there are clear challenges--for
first responders and their working dogs, individuals and
families and their domesticated animals, and farmers and their
livestock--which go beyond existing statutory considerations
and Federal assistance.
Under the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA), State and
local governments, businesses, and nonprofit organizations that
serve the public generally must allow service animals to
accompany people with disabilities in all areas of the facility
where the public is normally allowed to go.\3\
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\3\ U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, Disability
Rights Section, ``ADA Requirements--Service Animals.'' Available at
https://www.ada.gov/service_animals_2010.pdf.
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FEDERAL ASSISTANCE RELATED TO ANIMALS IN DISASTERS
FEMA--SERVICE ANIMALS AND PETS
The Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency
Assistance Act , as amended, mentions pets and service animals
four times.\4\ These references reflect statutory changes
resulting from the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act
(PKEMRA, P.L. 109-295) and the Pets Evacuation and
Transportation Standards Act of 2006 (PETS Act, P.L. 109-308).
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\4\ Stafford Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.) , Sec. 403(3)(J), Sec.
611(e)(4), Sec. 611(j)(2), and Sec. 613(g). Available at http://bit.ly/
FEMA-Stafford.
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Post-Katrina examinations of the disaster survivor
population indicated that 44% of those who failed to evacuate
did so because they did not want to leave behind their pets.\5\
Americans treat their pets as family members--in 2018, pet
owners spent $72.56 billion dollars on pet-related
expenditures, nearly doubling what was spent in 2005, when
Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma all made landfall.\6\
Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma were amongst the most
deadly, costly, devastating storms to date.\7\
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\5\ Fritz Institute, ``Hurricane Katrina: Perceptions of the
Affected.'' Available at http://www.fritzinstitute.org/PDFs/findings/
Hurricanekatrina_Perceptions.pdf.
\6\ American Pet Products Association. ``Pet Industry Market Size &
Ownership Statistics,'' Available at https://
www.americanpetproducts.org/press_industrytrends.asp.
\7\ U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, National Hurricane Center, ``Costliest U.S. tropical
cyclones tables update.'' Available at https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/news/
UpdatedCostliest.pdf.
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PKEMRA and PETS transformed emergency management at the
State and local levels, allowing not only for advance planning
for evacuation plans, sheltering, and food and water for pets
and service animals, but also for Federal cost-share assistance
to cover related execution of these plans. Since enactment of
these laws, many communities have been able to plan better and
ensure that when those in harm's way are instructed to
evacuate, local shelters are appropriately equipped to
accommodate pets and service animals, as well.
In recent disaster events, FEMA and local emergency
managers have relied on voluntary agencies and organizations to
assist with both emergency veterinary services and relocation
of thousands of evacuated and surrendered animals.\8\ While
many of these animals were reunited with their families
following the initial disaster, there are hundreds that were
not. There are currently no Federal requirements when it comes
to consistent tracking of pet reunifications following
disaster.
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\8\ Domesticpreparedness.com, ``Animal Relocation After Disaster--
Four Cases in 2017.'' Available at https://
www.domesticpreparedness.com/resilience/animal-relocation-after-
disaster-four-cases-in-2017/.
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Section 1218 of the Disaster Recovery Reform Act (DRRA,
Division D of P.L. 115-254) authorized the establishment of one
or more veterinary emergency teams at accredited colleges of
veterinary medicine. The intent behind Sec. 1218 was for the
veterinary team, or teams, to care for canine search teams,
companion animals, service animals, livestock, and other
animals; to recruit, train, and certify veterinary
professionals, including veterinary students, regarding
emergency response; to assist State governments, Indian tribal
governments, local governments, and nonprofit organizations in
emergency planning for animal rescue and care; and to
coordinate with other Federal, State, local, and Indian tribal
governments, veterinary and health care professionals, and
volunteers. However, with regards to Section 1218, ``FEMA
determined that this authority is outside the scope of FEMA's
mission and duplicates capabilities already provided by HHS and
USDA.'' \9\ The experiences of existing non-Federal veterinary
teams active in recent disasters provide evidence that
additional Federal resources are needed in this area.
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\9\ FEMA DRRA Implementation Snapshot dated July 1, 2019 and
provided to the Committee.
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FEMA--URBAN SEARCH AND RESCUE SYSTEM
First established following the 1989 Loma Prieta
earthquake,\10\ and formally authorized in PKEMRA, FEMA manages
a National Urban Search And Rescue (USAR) System, comprised of
28 task forces located across the continental United
States.\11\ In the event of an emergency or disaster, FEMA can
deploy the three closest task forces within six hours of
notification and additional teams as needed.\12\
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\10\ The Federal Response to Hurricane Katrina: Lessons Learned,
The White House (Feb. 2006), available at http://www.floods.org/PDF/
Katrina_Lessons_Learned_0206.pdf.
\11\ FEMA, National Urban Search & Rescue Response System: Task
Force Locations, available at http://www.fema.gov/task-force-locations.
\12\ Federal Emergency Management Agency, National Urban Search and
Rescue Response System Operations Manual, (September 2012), available
at http://www.usarcd.org/forms/manuals/Operations%20Manual%2012-
001.pdf.
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These task force teams are comprised of career and
volunteer first responders, including firefighters, engineers,
medical professionals, and canine/handler teams with
specialized skillsets and training.\13\ Urban search and rescue
task forces support State and local emergency response efforts
by conducting physical search and rescue operations; providing
emergency medical care; assessing damage and providing feedback
to local, State, and Federal officials; assessing and shutting
off utilities; surveying and evaluating hazardous material
threats; providing structural and hazard evaluations;
stabilizing damaged structures; and carrying out search and
rescue operations in a water environment.\14\
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\13\ U.S. Government Accountability Office, GAO-16-87, Disaster
Response: FEMA Has Made Progress Implementing Key Programs, but
Opportunities for Improvement Exist 5-6 (2016).
\14\ FEMA, Urban Search & Rescue Participants, available at https:/
/www.fema.gov/urban-search-rescue-participants.
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The canine/handler teams of the national USAR System, as
well as the non-federal USAR teams, are currently not
guaranteed protections like those for service animals when it
comes to their commercial travel, lodging, and dining services
while activated.\15\ The Committee has heard reports that this
lack of parity has resulted in challenges for some Federal
teams, but also for local teams serving under Emergency
Management Assistance Compact (EMAC) activations.
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\15\ Department of Justice, ``Nondiscrimination on the Basis of
Disability in State and Local Government Services'' 75 Fed. Reg. 56164
(September 15, 2010). Available at https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/
FR-2010-09-15/pdf/2010-21821.pdf.
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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE (USDA)--CATTLE, LIVESTOCK, AND POULTRY
Animals impacted in disasters not only include pets,
companion animals, and service animals, but also cattle,
livestock, and poultry critical to farming communities. The
potential impacts related to managing livestock in the planning
for, response to, and recovery from disasters can be
significant given the potential impact on State, local, tribal,
and territorial economies. For example, agriculture, food, and
related industries represented 5.4% of the Nation's gross
domestic product or $1.053 trillion in 2017.\16\ Cash receipts
for animals and related products in 2018 was over $176
billion.\17\ More broadly, the impact could include the
Nation's food supply depending on the severity of the disaster.
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\16\ USDA, Economic Research Service, using data from U.S.
Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis, Value Added by
Industry series. Available at https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/
ag-and-food-statistics-charting-the-essentials/ag-and-food-sectors-and-
the-economy/.
\17\ USDA, Economic Research Service, Farm Income and Wealth
Statistics, November 27, 2019.
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As with other animals, planning for livestock in disasters
includes evacuation plans, sheltering, and food and water.\18\
However, preparedness for and response to impacts on livestock
has its own unique challenges. For example, mitigating against
and responding to large scale animal mortality post-disaster is
critical to public health and safety. Livestock, cattle,
poultry, and other large animals, in the context of farms and
agriculture, typically involve a high number of animals that
must be managed in developing preparedness and response plans.
For example, while small pets may be more easily accommodated
during evacuations, the solutions for herds of cattle may be to
shelter in place.
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\18\ ``Do You Have a plan for Your Livestock Should Disaster
Strike?,'' USDA Preparedness Factsheet, October 2016; See also ``Large
animals and livestock in disasters,'' American Veterinary Medical
Association. https://www.avma.org/resources/pet-owners/emergencycare/
large-animals-and-livestock-disasters.
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There are a number of disaster assistance programs
available through the USDA such as: the Livestock Forage
Disaster Program (LFP); the Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP);
the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees and Farm-
Raised Fish Program (ELAP); and the Emergency Loan Program
(EM). The LFP, LIP, and ELAP were all first authorized by the
2008 Farm Bill and reauthorized in 2018.\19\
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\19\ P.L. 110-246; see also P.L. 115-334.
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The LFP provides compensation to eligible livestock
producers that have suffered grazing losses due to drought or
fire on land that is native or improved pastureland with
permanent vegetative cover or that is planted specifically for
grazing.\20\ LFP payments for drought are equal to 60 percent
of the monthly feed cost for up to 5 months, depending upon the
severity of the drought. LFP payments for fire on Federally
managed rangeland are equal to 50 percent of the monthly feed
cost for the number of days the producer is prohibited from
grazing the managed rangeland, not to exceed 180 calendar
days.\21\ There is a $125,000 annual payment limit for payments
under this program.\22\ LFP activity in FY 2018 included 89,332
payments totaling $487,454,684.\23\
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\20\ USDA, Livestock Forage Disaster Program Factsheet, July 2019.
Available at https://www.fsa.usda.gov/Assets/USDA-FSA-Public/usdafiles/
FactSheets/2019/livestock_forage_
disaster_program-fact_%20sheet_july-2019.pdf/.
\21\ Id.
\22\ Id.
\23\ President's FY2020 Budget Request, USDA Farm Service Agency
Congressional Justification. Available at https://www.obpa.usda.gov/
24fsa2020notes.pdf.
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The LIP provides benefits to livestock producers for
livestock deaths in excess of normal mortality caused by
adverse weather or by attacks by animals reintroduced into the
wild by the Federal government. LIP payments are equal to 75
percent of the average fair market value of the livestock. It
also provides benefits for the sale of animals at a reduced
price if the sale occurred due to injury that was a direct
result of an eligible adverse weather event or due to an attack
by an animal reintroduced into the wild. There is no longer a
payment limit on assistance provided under this program. During
FY 2018, LIP activity included 4,792 payments totaling
$36,615,003.\24\
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\24\ Id.
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The ELAP provides emergency assistance to eligible
producers of livestock, honeybees and farm-raised fish for
losses due to disease (including cattle tick fever), adverse
weather, or other conditions, such as blizzards and wildfires,
not covered by LFP and LIP. As with LIP, there is no longer a
payment limit on assistance provided under this program. During
FY 2018 ELAP activity included 3,770 payments totaling
$47,064,049.\25\
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\25\ Id.
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While these assistance programs are available through USDA,
there remain gaps in planning and assistance for animals in
disasters.\26\
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\26\ Heath SE, Linnabary RD, ``Challenges of Managing Animals in
Disasters in the U.S. Animals,'' Published 2015 Mar 26, US National
Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health.
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USDA--ANIMAL WELFARE ACT
The Animal Welfare Act (AWA, P.L. 89-544) was signed into
law in 1966. It is the only Federal law in the United States
that regulates the treatment of animals in research,
exhibition, transport, and by dealers. Other laws, policies,
and guidelines may include additional species coverage or
specifications for animal care and use, but all refer to the
AWA as the minimum acceptable standard.\27\
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\27\ ``Animal Welfare Act,'' USDA National Agriculture Library,
available at https://www.nal.usda.gov/awic/animal-welfare-act.
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Under the AWA, certain facilities are Federally licensed.
There is currently no Federal requirement for facilities
holding an AWA license to have emergency or disaster plans in
place. This puts animals in these facilities--and the
responders who take action to rescue them--at particular risk.
During both Hurricane Katrina and Superstorm Sandy, thousands
of animals in AWA-licensed facilities perished due to
flood.\28\
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\28\ Slate, ``Sandy's Toll on Medical Research.'' Available at
https://slate.com/technology/2012/11/animals-drowned-in-sandy-nyu-
medical-research-is-set-back-years-by-dead-laboratory-mice.html; see
also The Hill, ``The PREPARED Act will protect vulnerable animals when
disaster strikes,'' available at https://thehill.com/blogs/congress-
blog/politics/462453-the-prepared-act-will-protect-vulnerable-animals-
when-disaster.
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WITNESS LIST
LWesley T. Bissett, DVM, PhD, Director, Veterinary
Emergency Team, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical
Sciences, Texas A&M University
LR. Douglas Meckes, DVM, State Veterinarian,
Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, State of North
Carolina
LTeresa MacPherson, Canine Handler, Fire and
Rescue Department/Virginia Task Force 1, Fairfax County, VA
LRichard Patch, Vice President, Federal Affairs,
American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
(ASPCA)
ANIMALS IN DISASTERS
----------
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2020
House of Representatives,
Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public
Buildings, and Emergency Management,
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure,
Washington, DC.
The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:04 a.m. in
room 2167, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Dina Titus
(Chairwoman of the subcommittee) presiding.
Ms. Titus. We will call this hearing to order.
I ask unanimous consent that the chair be authorized to
declare recesses during today's hearing.
Without objection, so ordered.
I also ask unanimous consent that Members not on the
subcommittee be permitted to sit with the subcommittee at
today's hearing and ask questions.
Without objection, so ordered.
I guess that means that Beau and Remy are allowed to stay.
[Laughter.]
Ms. Titus. So thank you two for coming.
This morning we are going to be discussing an issue of
great importance to me, and I think to the country, when it
comes to emergency preparedness and response, and that is
animal welfare in disasters.
Eighty-five million families in the United States have at
least one pet. That is nearly 67 percent of all households in
the country. These pets, these animals, are like members of our
family, and their safety has a major impact on how people
prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters.
[Slides shown during Hon. Titus' opening statement.]
Ms. Titus. The issue of caring for animals in emergencies
is not a new concern. In fact, we can look to many of the
world's oldest cultures and religions for the first evidence of
emergency planning for animals in disasters. In Genesis, we
find the story of Noah and the great flood. In it God directs
Noah to gather up two of each animal onto the ark to save them
from the impending flood.
So, whether it is a family cat, a service animal, the
cattle on your ranch, or a working dog alongside a first
responder, when we take care of these animals during a
disaster, it makes it easier for people to be willing to
evacuate, and then later to begin the process of recovery.
And speaking of evacuation, in fact there was a study done
after Katrina that showed, of those who failed to evacuate, 44
percent stated that it was because they didn't want to leave
their pets behind.
So today we will explore existing authorities in the
Stafford Act that help guide FEMA's work in this space, and the
assistance it provides to States and localities. We will
examine gaps in Federal emergency management policy that have
led to families' separation from their pets, and the deaths of
tens of thousands of animals.
We will also hear from groups providing services outside of
the Stafford framework, and hear about opportunities where the
Federal Government could promote animal welfare and help
alleviate these separations and losses.
I will note that, in the recently passed Disaster Recovery
Reform Act, known as DRRA, we included language to establish
veterinary response teams, utilizing the expertise of our
Nation's unsurpassed higher education veterinary programs.
The provision, section 1218, is the next step in a
progression of public policy developed in response to animal-
related challenges dating back to the early 1990s and Hurricane
Andrew. They have, unfortunately, continued to be an issue in
large- and small-scale events, such as Hurricane Katrina, Rita,
Wilma, Florence, Harvey, Irma, Maria, and Michael, Superstorm
Sandy, and the recent California wildfires.
However, much to my dismay, FEMA has so far chosen to
ignore this provision. During the last 5 years alone, our
Nation has experienced nearly 500 Presidentially declared
disaster events, including, as I have listed, significant
hurricanes, wildfires, floods, and earthquakes. In each of
these instances, we have repeatedly seen the challenges that
come with the Federal response to disaster when tens of
thousands were rescued and evacuated, some reunited, but some
lost.
Prussian-German philosopher Kant famously said, ``We can
judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals.'' So let
us be judged today by what we can accomplish to protect animals
in disasters.
So today's hearing will provide this subcommittee with an
opportunity to examine whether our Federal emergency management
policies measure up to our Nation's affection for our pets and
our flocks.
I want to thank our witnesses who are here today; we look
forward to your discussion. And I also thank other animal
groups, including the Humane Society, that have helped us to
work on this issue.
[Ms. Titus' prepared statement follows:]
Prepared Statement of Hon. Dina Titus, a Representative in Congress
from the State of Nevada, and Chairwoman, Subcommittee on Economic
Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management
This morning we are discussing an issue of great importance when it
comes to emergency preparedness and response and that is animal welfare
in disasters.
Eighty-five million families in the United States have at least one
pet.
That's nearly 67 percent of all households in this country.
These animals are members of our families, and their safety has a
major impact on how people prepare for, respond to, and recover from
disasters.
The issue of caring for animals in emergencies is not a new
concern.
In fact, we can look to many of the world's oldest cultures and
religions for the first evidence of emergency planning for animals in
disasters.
In Genesis, we find the story of Noah and the Great Flood. In it,
God directs Noah to gather two of each animal on the Ark to save them
from the impending flood.
Whether it is a family cat, a service animal, the cattle on your
ranch, or a working dog alongside a first responder, when we take care
of animals during a disaster, it makes it easier for people to be
willing to evacuate and then later to begin the process of recovery.
Today we will explore existing authorities in the Stafford Act that
help guide FEMA's work in this space and the assistance it provides to
states and localities.
We'll examine gaps in federal emergency management policy that have
led to family separation from their pets and the deaths of tens of
thousands of animals.
We will also hear from groups providing services outside of the
Stafford framework, and hear about opportunities where the federal
government could promote animal welfare and help alleviate these
separations and losses.
I'll note that in the recently passed Disaster Recovery and Reform
Act, also known as DRRA, we included language to establish veterinary
response teams utilizing the expertise of our nation's unsurpassed
higher-ed veterinary programs.
This provision--Section 1218--is the next step in a progression of
public policy developed in response to animal-related challenges dating
back to the early 1990s and Hurricane Andrew.
They have unfortunately continued to be an issue in small- and
large-scale events such as Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Wilma, Florence,
Harvey, Irma, Maria, and Michael; Superstorm Sandy; and the recent
California wildfires.
Much to my dismay, FEMA has so far chosen to ignore this important
provision.
During the last five years alone, our nation has experienced nearly
500 Presidentially-declared disaster events, including significant
hurricanes, wildfires, floods, and earthquakes.
In each of these instances, we have repeatedly seen challenges that
come with a federal response to disasters, when tens of thousands of
animals were rescued, evacuated, and--hopefully--reunited with their
owners.
Prussian-German philosopher Immanuel Kant famously said, ``We can
judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals.''
Today's hearing provides the Subcommittee with an opportunity to
examine whether our Federal emergency management policies measure up to
our nation's affection for our pets and our flocks.
I want to thank our witnesses for being here today and look forward
to today's discussion.
Ms. Titus. I would now like to call on the ranking member
of the subcommittee, Mr. Meadows, for his opening statement.
Mr. Meadows. Thank you, Chairwoman Titus. Thank you for
your leadership. And I thank all the witnesses for being here
today.
Obviously, examining the issues of animals in disasters is
not only an important topic for preparing and responding to
disasters, but, as we all know, animals play a unique role in
terms of the resources following a disaster: aiding in search
and rescue, serving people with disabilities, necessary to
individuals' livelihood in the agricultural community, or, even
as many Americans feel today, pets are truly part and members
of their family.
All of those variations of animals in disaster situations
present unique challenges and opportunities for the Federal
Government aiding in all phases of disaster response and
recovery.
Particularly today I am pleased to have a witness from my
home State of North Carolina, Dr. Meckes, who serves as the
State veterinarian.
Thank you for being here. You know very well what it is
like to deal with these issues, having a number of storms hit
North Carolina. And so, whether it is from small household pets
to larger animals in the agricultural community, they provide
unique challenges. So I look forward to hearing your expertise
today.
I also want to go a little bit further, because we are
going to focus on the critical issue of saving lives and
helping communities rebuild smarter and faster after a
disaster. Addressing these challenges related to animals is
also important.
The canines and their handlers in the search-and-rescue
teams are critical to saving lives. My son actually has trained
a chocolate lab that is actually not only a companion, but part
of the family, and they travel everywhere together. And you can
mess with the dad, but you can't mess with his dog. So ensuring
their proper care while engaged in search-and-rescue missions
also is critically important so that we don't put them in
harm's way.
In rural communities, as I mentioned earlier, livestock is
critical to State and local economies, and ultimately to the
Nation's food supply. Effective preparedness and planning for
response and recovery must include how we plan for and manage
animals in these areas hit by disasters. I know that in the
hurricane in North Carolina we were having to bring in boxcars
to try to move some of the livestock that potentially was in
harm's way.
And so I look forward to hearing from all of you today as
we look at this issue and how we can address best practices,
where we can do better, and I thank you all for being here, and
I yield back to the chairwoman.
[Mr. Meadows' prepared statement follows:]
Prepared Statement of Hon. Mark Meadows, a Representative in Congress
from the State of North Carolina, and Ranking Member, Subcommittee on
Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management
Examining the issue of animals in disasters is an important topic
in preparing for and responding to disasters.
Animals play unique roles as they can be resources following a
disaster: aiding in search and rescue, serving people with
disabilities, necessary to individuals' livelihood in the agricultural
communities, or even as many Americans feel today--pets that are truly
members of the family. All of those variations of animals in disaster
situations present unique challenges and opportunities for the federal
government aiding in all phases of disaster response and recovery.
Particularly today, I am pleased to have a witness from my home
state of North Carolina, Dr. Meckes, who serves as the State
Veterinarian. I look forward to hearing about how North Carolina has
handled animal response during the several disasters that have hit our
state over the past few years.
While we focus on the critical issues of saving lives and helping
communities rebuild smarter and faster after a disaster, addressing the
challenges related to animals is important.
The canines and their handlers in our search and rescue teams are
critical to saving lives. Ensuring their proper care while engaged in
search and rescue missions ensures those operations are effective.
In rural communities, livestock is critical to the state and local
economies and, ultimately, to the Nation's food supply.
Effective preparedness and planning for response and recovery must
include how we plan for and manage animals in areas hit by disaster. I
look forward to hearing from our witnesses today about best practices
and where we can do better.
Ms. Titus. Thank you, Mr. Meadows. Other Members will come
and go, but for now we will just move on to our witnesses. And
I would like to welcome you all and thank you for being here.
You are truly the experts in this area, and we look forward to
your testimony.
Dr. Wesley Bissett, who is here, he is the director of the
veterinary emergency team, College of Veterinary Medicine at
Texas A&M.
Dr. Douglas Meckes, the State veterinarian for the
Department of Agriculture in the State of North Carolina.
Teresa MacPherson, who is a canine search specialist with
the Fire and Rescue Department, Virginia Task Force 1, Fairfax
County, Virginia.
And Mr. Richard Patch, who is vice president, Federal
affairs, for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty
to Animals.
Thank you very much for being here today. We all look
forward to hearing what you have to advise us.
And without objection, our witnesses' full statements will
be included in the record.
Since your written testimony has already been made a part
of the record, the subcommittee requests that you limit your
testimony to 5 minutes.
So we will proceed with Dr. Bissett.
TESTIMONY OF WESLEY T. BISSETT, D.V.M., Ph.D., DIRECTOR, TEXAS
A&M VETERINARY EMERGENCY TEAM, TEXAS A&M COLLEGE OF VETERINARY
MEDICINE AND BIOMEDICAL SCIENCES; R. DOUGLAS MECKES, D.V.M.,
STATE VETERINARIAN, NORTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
AND CONSUMER SERVICES; TERESA MacPHERSON, CANINE SEARCH
SPECIALIST, FIRE AND RESCUE DEPARTMENT/VIRGINIA TASK FORCE 1,
FAIRFAX COUNTY, VIRGINIA; AND RICHARD PATCH, VICE PRESIDENT,
FEDERAL AFFAIRS, AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY
TO ANIMALS
Dr. Bissett. Chairwoman Titus, Ranking Member Meadows, Vice
Chairwoman Fletcher, and members of the subcommittee, thank you
for inviting me to testify regarding the impact of disasters on
animals. My name is Dr. Wesley Bissett, and I am the director
of the Texas A&M Veterinary Emergency Team at the Texas A&M
College of Veterinary Medicine.
All too often disaster impacts on animals and their owners
are seen as separate issues. But, as you will hear from my
testimony, they are one and the same, and must be looked at in
that manner. Human health, well-being, and safety is always the
highest priority in disaster settings. And I am not here to
testify that animals should be given equal priority. The
reality is, however, that people will factor in their animals
when deciding how to respond to a threat, and many will make
decisions that are not in their best interests if their animals
are not provided for.
And an example is provided by a woman from the coast of
Texas who refused to evacuate prior to Hurricane Ike. She had
had a knee replacement, lived in an elevated house, and had an
elderly dog, could not carry it down the flight of stairs. She
did not know that help was available. And unfortunately, she
was identified by the serial number on her knee replacement
hardware across the bay, and about 6 miles from her home. That
was shared with me by an official in Chambers County. That is
the county in which her body was found.
As the director of the Texas A&M VET, I have experienced
just how intertwined the human and animal condition is. Through
our response to numerous disasters in Texas, and to the Camp
wildfire in Paradise, California, we have experienced those
times when victims are reunited with their animals. These are
powerful interactions that I believe provide one of the first
opportunities for their recovery. A common phrase that I hear
during these interactions is, ``Doc, everything is going to be
OK.'' It is often the first time these people tell their
stories, and realize that they can indeed take a step toward a
renewed future. So it is a matter of hope.
I would further argue that the highest priority--human
health, well-being, and safety--can never be fully addressed
without addressing the animal condition.
Agricultural animals have the additional distinction of
also being economically important species. Animal ag losses for
Hurricane Harvey in Texas was estimated at $93 million. That is
a huge number at the State level. But think, what does it mean
on a finer scale? A family farm's losses reflect the loss of
years of hard work, and threaten their ability to recover their
operations and feed their families. This escalates, as you have
multiple producers that are impacted, particularly in
communities whose economic basis is derived from the
agricultural sector. It threatens recovery at the community
level, and persists well beyond the time when all the debris
has been cleared.
Solving these problems is complex and, quite frankly,
beyond what many local and even State governments can
accomplish.
I would also argue that the current approach to Federal
level support, particularly in the veterinary medical arena, is
insufficient, as well.
The Texas A&M VET was formed in 2010, with the charge of
providing a holistic approach to the animal problem in our
State. We have fulfilled this charge through working in four
domains grounded in veterinary medicine.
First, we provide direct support for development of local-
level, animal-focused emergency plans, and also by developing
mitigating strategies for animal-based entities.
Second, we provide veterinary medical support to local
communities in response to natural and man-made disasters.
Third, our team supports Texas Task Force 1 and other
members of the USAR network that train in and are deployed to
Texas. We have an aggressive approach for dealing with search-
and-rescue dog issues that is based in prevention and recovery.
Texas Task Force 1 estimates that we increase the operational
time of search dogs by at least 50 percent. And that is
significant, because that is also hope for the person that is
lost.
Fourth, our senior vet students participate in all of our
activities. This augments immediate operational capacities, and
also builds capacity for the future. The Disaster Recovery
Reform Act authorized FEMA to establish national veterinary
emergency teams at colleges of veterinary medicine. This
provides an opportunity for teams like ours to be an immediate
Federal resource, and for new teams to be built.
The programs I have described above represent a significant
advancement over veterinary medical disaster response assets
that are currently in the Federal inventory.
In closing, I would like to thank you again for inviting me
to testify. I appreciate the committee's commitment to ensuring
that the highest priority, human health, well-being and safety,
is fully addressed by also addressing the animal issue.
[Dr. Bissett's prepared statement follows:]
Prepared Statement of Wesley T. Bissett, D.V.M., Ph.D., Director, Texas
A&M Veterinary Emergency Team, Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine
and Biomedical Sciences
Chairwoman Titus, Ranking Member Meadows, Vice Chairwoman Fletcher,
and Members of the Subcommittee, thank you for inviting me to testify
regarding the impact of disasters on animals and their owners. All too
often, the impact of disasters on animals and owners are seen as
separate issues, but as you will hear from my testimony, they are one
in the same and must be looked at in that matter. My name is Dr. Wesley
Bissett and I am the Director of the Texas A&M Veterinary Emergency
Team (VET) at the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine and
Biomedical Sciences.
The Texas A&M VET was formed at the request of the Texas Division
of Emergency Management in 2010 to provide the State of Texas with a
robust and deployable veterinary medical capability. The Texas A&M VET
has deployed to all major disasters and numerous smaller-scale
incidents that have occurred in our state since that time. The Texas
A&M VET has been a key contributor to the state response effort on
behalf of resident animals across a wide array of incident types
including wildfires, explosions, hurricanes, floods, and the 2014
Dallas, Texas Ebola virus incident. We have also been active through
our integration with Texas Task Force 1, one of the 28 FEMA Urban
Search and Rescue Teams, through our provision of veterinary medical
support to canine assets attached to the team. The Texas A&M VET has in
addition developed subject matter expertise in the area of emergency
preparedness and are key members in our state's animal focused
emergency planning efforts down to the local level.
Animal Issues
``All hazards emergency plans'' is a common mantra in the emergency
management discipline. I would argue that the mantra needs to be ``all
hazards and all species'' as animals are impacted in virtually all
disaster scenarios. The State of Texas has had ample opportunity to
learn this lesson given the many disasters that have occurred in our
state, with one of the most recent being Hurricane Harvey in 2017.
Human health, well-being, and safety is always the highest priority in
emergency and disaster situations and I am not here to testify that
animals should be given equal priority. The reality is however, that
people will factor in their animals when deciding how to respond to a
threat and many will make decisions that are not in their own best
interest if their animals are not provided for. An example is provided
by an elderly woman who refused to evacuate from Bolivar Peninsula in
Texas prior to Hurricane Ike in 2008. She had recently had a knee
replacement and would not leave her home prior to landfall due to her
inability to carry her elderly dog down a flight of stairs. She did not
realize help was available and was unfortunately identified by the
serial number on her knee replacement hardware which was found
approximately 6 miles and across the bay from her home. A more current
example is provided by the 2019 novel Coronavirus incident unfolding
before us. I am aware of a person who refused evacuation from Wuhan,
China because their animal could not be evacuated with them.
I, as a veterinarian, believe that animals are inherently worthy of
an effective disaster response. As the Director of the Texas A&M VET,
I, along with our team members have experienced just how important
animals are to the human victims of a disaster. The reality of a human
disaster victim is that it is someone who may have lost a home, a loved
one, or a friend. They may be facing a tremendous sense of financial
insecurity due to destruction of their place of employment, a bleak
outlook for income generation, and the high costs of recovery. The
reality is that our pets, our animals, our livestock are an important
source of comfort and yes, security. These lessons have come through
the many times that we have been involved in addressing disaster-
related animal injuries and illnesses on behalf of their owners and
when we are involved with reuniting an owner and animal that had been
separated by disaster conditions. These are powerful interactions that
I believe provide one of the first opportunities for recovery of
disaster victims. A common phrase that I hear during these interactions
is ``Doc, everything is going to be okay.'' The reunion with their
beloved pet or even herd of livestock is often the first time these
people tell their stories and recognize that they can take a step
forward to a renewed future. These situations are moments that I and
other VET members will forever cherish. They illustrate that we, the
Texas A&M VET, in addition to being in the business of veterinary
medicine, are in the business of hope. I would argue that hope is a
tremendous commodity to be brought into a community impacted by a
disaster. I would further argue that the highest priority, human
health, well-being, and safety, can never be fully addressed without
addressing the animal condition.
This role that animals play in our lives transcends the different
species of animals. Household pets, in today's society, are often
considered part of the family and the emotional bonds are strong.
Emotional ties also exist for agricultural animals and while these
animals are managed for profit and introduction into the human food
supply, their care-givers have a tremendous emotional and psychological
commitment to the health and well-being of the animals under their
care. We have experienced the same expressions of hope when we have
reunited ranchers and their cattle.
Agricultural animals have the additional distinction of being
economically important species. The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension
Economic Unit estimated Hurricane Harvey agricultural animal losses at
$93 million dollars. This is significant at the state level, but what
does it mean on a finer scale? The loss of agricultural animals can
most certainly be devastating to family operations. This loss is most
certainly financial, but may also represent the loss of a lifetime or
even generations of effort and genetic selection. An individual
producer's losses reflect the loss of years of hard work and
potentially threatens the ability to recover their operation and feed
their family. The cost of lost agricultural animals escalates as
multiple producers are impacted, particularly in communities whose
primary economic base is derived from the agricultural sector. In these
communities, lost agricultural income is multiplied across all of the
businesses that provide services to animal agriculture producers. This
can threaten recovery at the community level and persist well after the
houses are rebuilt and roads are repaired.
The need to consider and have resources capable of responding to
animal issues exists throughout the disaster timeline spanning
evacuation, rescue, veterinary medical care, sheltering, and
reunification. These all require significant planning and development
of resources, both of which may be beyond what can be provided in
jurisdictions across the country. Our experience has been that many
communities struggle to identify professionals with appropriate levels
of animal-related and emergency management experience to develop
effective animal-focused emergency plans. This is exacerbated due to
the paucity of jurisdictional employees engaged in animal-related
activities. Animal-related expertise employed by jurisdictions is
typically limited to animal control officers, livestock officers and
extension agents.
The reality is that most jurisdictions struggle to provide adequate
staffing and leadership for all emergency functions required for an
effective animal-focused response. Animal response, as with other areas
of emergency response, necessarily extends into the non-governmental
arena. The challenge is that there are no underlying standards that
apply to all involved and therefore no standardized foundation from
which to build an effective response. There are also differences in
agendas or underlying beliefs that make a cohesive response difficult.
Our experience has been that there may often be differences between
Animal Control Services and local non-governmental animal shelter or
rescue groups. These differences are understandable given that there
are differences in the underlying missions of these types of
organizations. Neither are wrong; they are just different. We have seen
similar difficulties when rural-based and urban- based units operate in
the same disaster theater. There are often differences in what is
considered acceptable when viewed from the lens of very different
experiences and also differences in thought of what should be done for
household pets versus livestock. This issue is compounded by most
jurisdictions having budgetary limitations on what they can invest on
behalf of animals. The end result is that the local response,
particularly in larger scale disasters, falls short on providing for
animals and therefore incompletely serves the highest priority of human
health, well-being and safety.
The role of veterinary medicine in emergency management is worthy
of additional discussion. Local jurisdictions typically employs few, if
any, veterinarians. This drives veterinary medical support into the
private sector. The veterinary medical industry is still predominantly
one driven by small businesses. It has also evolved to a point where
more veterinarians are focusing on household pets rather than
livestock. The Texas A&M VET experience is that most jurisdictions
cannot pay for veterinary medical services provided in a disaster
setting due to their not having the budgetary capacity for entering
into veterinary service agreements. This is exacerbated for
agricultural animal-related expenses given that they are expressly
excluded from Stafford Act provisions addressing reimbursement of
animal-related costs. The end result is that veterinarians are often
expected to participate as volunteers with their business centers often
being the epi-center of veterinary medical operations.
It is important to note that this is not just a person
volunteering. Veterinarians, to be effective, must have the ``tools of
the trade.'' To make the point, would you expect a fireman to
extinguish an apartment fire with a garden hose? In the case of
veterinarians, the equipment, supplies, and pharmaceuticals are
expensive, yet necessary and critical. Performing emergency operations
in their place of business also interferes with their ability to
recover their businesses and resume the process of income generation.
They are also typically not trained to be in the disaster theater.
Disaster conditions are often exceedingly hazardous and emergency
operations complex. These two issues make it exceedingly difficult for
veterinarians to commit to being a component of emergency operations.
The 2011 Bastrop, Texas Complex Wildfire provides an excellent example.
Two veterinary practices, one small animal and one mixed, participated
on behalf of their county prior to the Texas A&M VET being deployed to
the area. They estimated their financial losses associated with the
response in the six-figure range. This was compounded by the shrinkage
of their client pool after the disaster. An additional example is
provided by a Large Animal veterinarian in coastal South Texas. He
participated on behalf of his county during Hurricane Harvey in 2017.
Recent personal conversations with this veterinarian revealed that he
will not be participating in the future. Reasons expressed included
significant financial investments with no reimbursement, lost ability
to generate income for a period of approximately 45 days, and a lack of
training for working in the hazards of the post-disaster environment.
The result of the issues described above is predictable. There are
many people and organizations who are passionate about animals yet very
inexperienced in emergency management. Many of these individuals and
groups are willing to self-deploy into a disaster area. This creates
numerous issues. They rarely have the ability to be self-sustaining in
terms of re-supply of necessary supplies or providing for themselves
and quickly become another problem for the jurisdiction to manage.
The lack of integration also results in the disposition of animals
that are not consistent with the desires of the local government and
citizens. Most local governments are committed to providing for their
citizen's animals, with reunification of animals and the appropriate
owner a priority. This is a complicated mission-tasking that requires a
highly organized approach where knowing where the animals were rescued
is key.
The Texas A&M VET has witnessed self-deployed animal rescue groups
simply remove animals from, for example, flood waters and deposit them
on the most convenient high spot with no documentation of location of
rescue. They have failed to deliver the animals to the sanctioned
animal shelter. Our team has also witnessed the removal of household
pets and livestock from safe locations where the animals were being
sheltered in place.
The end result of the issues discussed above is that animals of all
species are not able to be reunited with their owners. There is a
perception that I believe to be true, that many animals are rapidly
removed from the disaster area, in some cases to out of state
locations. The consequences are two-fold; a family or producer is not
reunited with their animals and there is the potential for spread of
disease to new areas. Heartworm disease is perhaps the best example of
the latter issue.
Texas A&M Veterinary Emergency Team
The Texas A&M VET was formed and officially incorporated into the
State of Texas emergency management infrastructure so that the human
priority can be fully addressed through dealing with the animal issue.
The Texas A&M VET is comprised of faculty veterinarians, staff, and
senior veterinary medical students from the Texas A&M College of
Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences and veterinary medical
professionals from the private sector. The VET is focused on providing
holistic solutions for the human-animal issue and is active in all
phases of emergency management. Senior veterinary medical students at
the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences
participate in all VET activities. This augments immediate operational
capacities and also builds capacity for the future. The Texas A&M VET
will have educated approximately 1,400 veterinary medical professionals
in the emergency management discipline by the end of this academic
year. Ours is a capacity building effort.
The Texas A&M VET also builds animal-focused capacities through
providing critically needed animal-focused emergency planning support
at the state and local level. The team works at the community level to
make sure local jurisdictions have effective animal evacuation, rescue,
veterinary medical support, decontamination, and sheltering tactical
plans in place. This direct planning assistance is provided at no cost
to the community and provides a unique educational opportunity in the
veterinary medical educational arena with ours being the only program
of this type in the country. The VET is also the primary provider of
Secure Food Supply planning efforts in the State of Texas. In 2019
alone, the team provided enhanced biosecurity planning expertise for
concentrated animal feeding operations in the Texas Panhandle. The
operations for which we developed enhanced biosecurity plans controlled
in excess of 220,000 animals. The 2020 VET planning schedule will see
the team develop plans for an additional 300,000 animals in the Secure
Food Supply planning arena as well as a full suite of animal-focused
tactical plans for numerous Texas counties.
The Texas A&M VET response activities are typically centered in
providing veterinary medical assistance for search and rescue canines
and a wide range of mission taskings for resident animals. The Texas
A&M VET developed a collaborative partnership with Texas Task Force 1,
one of the 28 USAR teams, shortly after inception. Our role is to
manage all of the veterinary medical issues that arise during in-state
deployments. Search and rescue canines are a key component of the
search and rescue effort. The canine search and rescue mission is a
highly demanding job defined by strenuous physical exertion in
difficult environments. The canines wore trackers in the 2014 Wimberly,
Texas flash-flood response and were tracked at covering approximately
13 miles per day in a river-bottom environment. Exertion and wear and
tear associated with search operations had the potential to reduce the
operational times that the dogs could operate.
The Texas A&M VET focuses on the recovery process at the end of the
dog's operational period and through these efforts keeps the dogs
working. The team's management of search and rescue dogs includes laser
therapy, preventive therapy, and pharmacological intervention. Texas
Task Force 1 has reported that the efforts of the VET extends the
intra-deployment operational lifespan of the search dogs by at least 50
percent. The reality is that keeping these dogs working provides hope
for those that are lost. This is all made possible through a focused
commitment of VET members to become search and rescue dog experts as
well as investments in medical platforms designed to facilitate
treatment and care of the dogs.
The Texas A&M VET also provides support for resident animals
throughout the disaster timeline. The team has mission ready packages
(MRP) for each phase of the disaster cycle. These include an Animal
Evacuation MRP, Animal Shelter Incident Management Team MRP, and
veterinary medical support MRPs that are scaled to the demands of the
incident being responded to. The suite of Texas A&M VET MRPs provides a
holistic approach for dealing with animal-related disaster issues.
Hurricane Harvey provides one of the best examples of the
capabilities of the Texas A&M VET. The team deployed with Texas Task
Force 1 during the pre-landfall period to provide veterinary medical
support for search and rescue dogs. As the storm made landfall and
moved up the coast we were tasked with providing veterinary medical
assistance and emergency animal shelter support for local
jurisdictions. The VET was ultimately assigned to 10 Texas counties
across a 400 mile operational theater. The VET's operational platform
design and approach to planning and exercising allowed the team to
provide veterinary medical support in an organized and highly efficient
manner. In the words of Dr. Jimmy Tickle, formerly with the North
Carolina Department of Agriculture, ``VET operations were a model for
the nation.'' The Texas A&M VET provided direct support for 4,000
animals in this deployment. This number escalates significantly when
considering that many interventions were performed at the herd or
population level.
The value of the Texas A&M VET approach is recognized at a national
level as evidenced by the team's deployment to Butte County, California
in response to the 2018 Camp Wildfire. The assigned mission was to
provide an Incident Management Team for emergency animal sheltering
operations. The Texas A&M VET joined forces with the Texas A&M AgriLife
Extension Service Animal Strike Team for the requested 60 day
deployment. The team empowered local resources and provided consistency
in management, allowing the mission to successfully conclude after a 30
day period.
The Texas A&M VET also fields a high consequence infectious disease
(HCID) MRP. The VET trains for and is equipped to provide veterinary
medical assistance when animals are involved in high consequence
infectious disease events. Our first HCID deployment was during the
2014 Dallas, Texas Ebola virus incident. The VET provided quarantine
and monitoring of a household pet belonging to one of the U.S. victims
of the disease. This is a particularly timely point of discussion given
the concern of the novel Coronavirus circulating in China. Household
pets belonging to U.S. citizens being evacuated from China are not
being allowed to leave the country but the Texas A&M VET stands ready
to provide quarantine if necessary. This is, given the potential for
the introduction of HCIDs into the country, a critical resource that
needs to be available at a federal level.
FEMA Opportunity
Section 1218 of the Disaster Recovery Reform Act (P.L. 115-254)
authorizes the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency
(FEMA) to establish a national veterinary emergency teams at accredited
colleges of veterinary medicine. This provides FEMA with an opportunity
to address the issues discussed above. The capabilities of the Texas
A&M VET described above has the potential to provide a significant
advancement in federal veterinary medical emergency response
capabilities and enhance Urban Search and Rescue capabilities through
excellence in veterinary medical support for search and rescue canines.
The programs I have described above, represents a significant
advancement over veterinary medical disaster response assets currently
in the federal inventory.
In closing, I would like to thank you again for inviting me to
testify on animal issues in disasters. I appreciate the committee's
commitment to ensuring that the highest priority, human health, well-
being, and safety is fully addressed by also addressing animal issues.
Ms. Titus. Thank you.
Dr. Meckes?
Dr. Meckes. Chairwoman Titus, Ranking Member Meadows,
greetings from downtown Raleigh. Members of the Subcommittee on
Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency
Management, I am Dr. Doug Meckes, and I serve as a State
veterinarian, and director of the Veterinary Division in the
North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
The division includes 150 employees that serve North
Carolina's poultry and livestock industries, manage and operate
the State's four veterinary diagnostic laboratories, and are
charged with the implementation of our Animal Welfare Act in
kennels, shelters, and other animal facilities throughout the
State.
North Carolina's robust agriculture and agribusiness
industry is the number one industry in the State, and generated
$91.8 billion in economic value to North Carolina's economy in
2018, more than 17 percent of the State's gross domestic
product.
The sector also employs 17 percent of the State's
workforce. Within agriculture and agribusiness in North
Carolina, the animal agriculture industry, comprised of
livestock, dairy, and poultry, accounted for 68.5 percent of
$11.13 billion in farm cash receipts in 2018.
North Carolina ranks second in hog production, second in
turkey production, and is one of the most diverse poultry-
producing States in the U.S.
At these levels of production, there are significant
numbers of animals and poultry on the ground on any given day
in North Carolina, as many as 9 million pigs and 190 million
poultry. That said, natural disasters or animal diseases have
the potential to impact large numbers of any of these species.
The single most significant disaster in North Carolina
history, the event that is now the frame of reference for all
natural disasters, is Hurricane Floyd, September 11th, 1999. It
resulted in the most severe flooding and devastation of North
Carolina's history at that point in time. The flooding resulted
in $813 million in agriculture losses, the demise of 2.9
million birds, 28,000 pigs, and 619 cattle.
Disposal of mortality was managed in whatever fashion was
most convenient. And sadly, to the detriment of the environment
in some circumstances. Given North Carolina's commitment to
properly managing mortality today, such an approach is
unacceptable. In fact, Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler's
marching orders with regards to storms and animal disease are,
``We will not create an environmental disaster associated with
an incident of mass mortality in our animal or poultry
production.'' That guidance has served us well in North
Carolina of late, for we have experienced three major
hurricanes since 2016, two of which required significant
mortality management efforts on our part.
North Carolina also has engaged in planning efforts since
2015 and 2016 for management of an outbreak of high-path avian
influenza in our State. Fortunately, that has not come to pass.
And since 2018 we have engaged in planning efforts for
management of swine mortality in the event of an outbreak of
African swine fever.
The efforts of North Carolina's agricultural response teams
have undertaken in collaboration with our State colleagues, our
subject matter experts from around the country, have
contributed mightily to the current state of the art of
composting in animal and poultry mortality.
I must also note that, during Hurricanes Matthew and
Florence, FEMA engaged with our agriculture community in a most
meaningful way, providing support for our various activities in
managing poultry mortality. FEMA's support of North Carolina's
efforts to protect public health and minimize environmental
impact markedly decreased our response duration and provided
for a more timely recovery of participating poultry farms.
North Carolina looks forward to expanding our partnership with
FEMA, and moving forward to a better understanding of FEMA's
role in response to animal agriculture disasters.
With regard to the management of companion animals during
disasters, I highlighted in my written testimony the activities
of the Veterinary Division's Animal Welfare Section, Emergency
Programs Division, and county animal control assets in response
to such incidents.
Finally, I must say the Veterinary Division and the
Emergency Programs Division in North Carolina believe there are
currently gaps in existing capability at the State and Federal
level to manage a catastrophic animal disease outbreak. Such an
incident, usually considered the sole responsibility of USDA,
could be of such consequence that all responses available would
need to be brought to bear. Given the global character of
trade, of travel, of illegal movements of agricultural
products, perhaps it is time to consider a fully integrated
approach to such an event.
Thank you for the opportunity to speak today on North
Carolina's management of animals in disaster, and I am happy to
answer any questions you may have.
[Dr. Meckes' prepared statement follows:]
Prepared Statement of R. Douglas Meckes, D.V.M., State Veterinarian,
North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
Chairman DeFazio, Ranking Member Graves, and members of the
Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency
Management, I am Dr. Doug Meckes, and I serve as the State Veterinarian
and the Director of the Veterinary Division at the North Carolina
Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (NCDA&CS). The division
includes 150 employees that serve North Carolina's poultry and
livestock industry, manage and operate the state's four veterinary
diagnostic laboratories, and are charged with implementation of the
Animal Welfare Act in kennels, shelters, and other animal facilities
caring for and housing companion animals in North Carolina.
North Carolina's robust agriculture and agribusiness industry is
the number 1 industry in the state, contributes nearly $91.8 billion on
an annual basis to North Carolina's economy, more than 17% of the
state's gross domestic product, and employs 17% of the state's
employees.
Within agriculture and agribusiness in North Carolina, the animal
agriculture industry--comprised of livestock, dairy, and poultry--
accounted for 68.5% of $11.13 billion of farm cash receipts in the
state in 2018. Additionally, North Carolina ranks second in hog
production, second in turkey production and, as one of the most diverse
poultry producing states in the U.S., second or third annually in
overall poultry cash receipts.
The Veterinary Division and the NCDA&CS's Emergency Programs
Division (EP Division), established in the early 2000's, lead the
Department's agricultural preparedness, response, and recovery
activities. The EP Division partners with the Veterinary Division to
protect North Carolina's animal agriculture industry and to formulate
plans to meet the challenges facing agriculture and food in the 21st
century. The mission of the EP Division is to ``support the agriculture
community and protect consumers by coordinating the Department's
efforts to plan for, respond to and recover from emergency events and
public health concerns that may impact agriculture in North Carolina.''
The EP Division is a unique operating entity as few other states in the
nation have used this model. It is fully integrated into the State
Emergency Management Division's operational structure as the lead
agency for Emergency Support Function #11 (ESF#11) and engages on a
day-to-day basis with internal and external stakeholders from the
local, regional, state, and national level. Since its inception, the EP
Division has had an all hazards approach and participated in response
to animal disease, food illness outbreaks, wildfires, and, of course,
hurricanes. Additionally, members of the EP and Veterinary Divisions
have deployed in a variety of other incidents around the country to
assist our counterparts in other states. Particularly impactful has
been the Veterinary and EP Divisions' engagement with the animal
agriculture industry at all levels regarding potential threats from
catastrophic disease outbreaks to natural disasters.
In the past 3 years, North Carolina has been significantly impacted
by, and stood up a robust response to, 3 major hurricanes--Hurricane
Matthew (2016), Hurricane Florence (2018), and Hurricane Dorian (2019).
Hurricane Matthew made landfall on the coast of South Carolina on
October 8, 2016 but caused historic flooding across central and eastern
North Carolina--greater than that of Hurricane Floyd in 1999. Almost
half of the state received a major disaster declaration. Though there
were far greater numbers of poultry and livestock on the ground in
2016, there was less mortality: 2,800 swine (of 9 million on the ground
in North Carolina every day), 1.9 million poultry (of the 190 million
birds on the ground in North Carolina every day), and only a few
cattle. All carcasses were properly managed, the swine predominately by
their respective integrators and growers, and the poultry by
integrators, growers and the significant efforts of state response
teams which composted the birds. As a result, environmental
consequences and public health concerns associated with mortality
management were minimal. $1.5 million from a FEMA Public Assistance
Grant was used for the purchase of carbon source to facilitate the
composting of poultry mortality. This was the first time that FEMA
supported such an effort in a mass animal mortality incident.
Hurricane Florence made landfall near Wrightsville Beach in North
Carolina as a Category 1 hurricane on September 14, 2018, again causing
historic flooding across Eastern North Carolina and resulting in a
major disaster declaration for more than half the state. The storm
dropped as much as 35 inches of rain in the densest animal agriculture
production areas of Eastern North Carolina. Approximately 4.2 million
poultry and 5,500 swine were lost in 14 counties due to the storm.
Well ahead of landfall, on September 7, 2018, NC Governor Roy
Cooper issued two storm-related Executive Orders. Executive Order 51
was the Declaration of a State of Emergency. Executive Order 52 was a
Temporary Suspension of Motor Vehicle Regulations to ensure restoration
of utility services and transporting essentials. It suspended,
temporarily, weighing vehicles, including those used to transport
animal feed, livestock, poultry, and crops, and waived the maximum
number of hours of service for drivers of these vehicles. The
agriculture industry of North Carolina relies on this wavier to move
animals and harvested crops out of harm's way to reduce the impact to
the agricultural industry as well as pre-position feed, fuel, and other
supplies to ride out the storm. It is estimated that this wavier
allowed the industry to move approximately 1.5 million poultry and
thousands of swine prior to the storm, preventing further catastrophic
losses.
NCDA&CS organized conference calls and meetings with industry
partners (poultry, livestock, dairies, food firms) many days prior to
the storm and continued those calls on a regular basis through landfall
and response. The Veterinary Division also sent out maps created by
Emergency Programs staff to industry partners that overlay National
Weather Service data, including wind and rain forecasts, with farm
location data (which the industry provides voluntarily to NCDA&CS) so
the industry knows which farms may be impacted.
NCDA&CS fully activated its Agriculture Incident Management Team
for coordination of all response and recovery operations for the
Department on September 16, 2018. NCDA&CS also provided an ESF#11
Liaison to the State Emergency Operations Center. A typical Incident
Command System (ICS) structure was used for response activities and
included the following Operations Groups--Poultry, Livestock, Mortality
Management, Companion Animal, Food and Drug, and Agronomic Services. A
24-hour public hotline was opened and staffed for the duration of the
response.
The Poultry Group received reports from poultry companies and
producers of damage and mortality and requests for assistance with
depopulation and disposal. They deployed teams and equipment to assess
and depopulate poultry due to animal welfare concerns in houses
impacted by power loss, partial flooding, or building collapse.
The Livestock Group received reports of impacts to both commercial
livestock facilities and small farms which included livestock running
at large or stranded with farmers unable to deliver feed and fresh
water or operate and refuel generators to run critical electrical
functions of the animal housing. NCDA&CS response included the use of
boats, high-clearance vehicles, and helicopters to address impacts to
livestock.
The Mortality Management Group provided technical expertise
specific to mortality issues on each impacted farm. The group also
prioritized, planned, and monitored response operations on farms,
verifying that prescribed activities were conducted and completed
properly. Of 75 total poultry farms impacted, 58 farms entered the
state's Mortality Management Program.
Based upon lessons learned from Hurricane Matthew in 2016, NCDA&CS
and FEMA worked together to develop a $12.6 million grant through
FEMA's Public Assistance (PA) Program to support the Department's
Mortality Management Program. The grant outlined three contracted
service components for management of animal mortality by composting:
Composting Subject Matter Experts, Carbon Acquisition and Delivery, and
Removal and Hauling. Using this approach, which will become the model
for all such future responses, the entire project was completed in only
35 days. The efficiency of this process protected the environment and
public health and allowed for a timely return to production for
affected integrators and growers.
NCDA&CS Veterinary and EP Divisions' experiences with animal
mortality composting began in a meaningful way during the 2015 HPAI
outbreaks in the Midwest. During the disease outbreak, composting as a
means of mortality management became the method of choice. NCDA&CS
staff adapted lessons learned about composting from that response to
managing mortality due to flooding. Burial of animal carcasses in
Eastern North Carolina, especially after a flood event such as
Hurricanes Matthew and Florence, is not a solution to mass animal
mortality due to the high seasonal water table.
NCDA&CS staff have continued to expand and perfect capability. In
collaboration with Maine Cooperative Extension and USDA, NCDA&CS
obtained grant funding to research effective techniques to improve
animal mortality composting. In 2019, two demonstration projects and a
composting school were conducted in North Carolina. Today, in the face
of the threat of African Swine Fever to our swine industry, and with
the knowledge of the catastrophic losses of swine in China and the far
East with perhaps as many as 350 million swine dead, the necessity for
a solution to mass animal mortality takes on even greater urgency.
Going forward, State agriculture agencies need more financial
support to prepare and develop robust response programs. In addition,
livestock response activities should be eligible for FEMA PA funding.
Although response activities related to keeping livestock animals alive
align with the FEMA Public Assistance eligibility requirements, such
activities are often deemed ineligible for this funding. Providing
relatively simple emergency response actions to save livestock animals
potentially reduces mass mortality--a cascading event. Moving livestock
to safer locations, feeding them, repairing fences and other
containment structures, and other means of securing livestock are
critical from a public health and safety standpoint. If livestock are
outside of their containment areas (fenced pastures, barns, etc.),
injury or death of nearby citizens, including responders, is an
immediate concern, especially if the animals are in roadways.
We know that owners of companion animals are less likely to
evacuate during a disaster unless they can bring their animals with
them--this is, of course, the basis for the PETS Act. Livestock owners
and their employees may likewise risk their lives to take care of these
animals without proper equipment or supplies. Human lives can be saved
by providing PA funding to those agencies or groups that have the
authority to assist these owners in saving their animals. FEMA has
previously determined that the expenses for providing shelter, bedding,
feed, and supplies to horses and livestock incurred during wildfires in
California in October 2007 were eligible for reimbursement as emergency
protective measures (https://www.fema.gov/appeal/219472).
Uniquely associated with the management of animals in disasters in
North Carolina is waste management. Within the state there are
approximately 3,300 waste treatment lagoons associated with swine
production operations. Proper management of these lagoons is recognized
as essential to protection of the environment in anticipation of
significant storm and rainfall events. The Veterinary, EP and Soil and
Water Conservation Divisions cooperate with the Department of
Environmental Quality of North Carolina which is charged with oversight
of animal feeding operations and their waste management plans, in their
efforts in anticipation of such storms to properly manage these
lagoons.
Those pro-active efforts were successful during Hurricane Florence.
Lagoons on just 6 farms suffered structural damage, 8 farms experienced
inundation of lagoons with flood waters, and 28 farms experienced
overflows of rainwater during the storm--98% of North Carolina's active
swine lagoons did not experience any of these issues. An inconvenient
truth that received scant mention in media coverage is more than 121
million gallons of untreated and partially treated human sewage that
discharged directly to surface waters at more than 200 municipal
wastewater treatment systems across the state.
Finally, the rescue, care, and housing of companion animals must
also be addressed during disaster. The Veterinary Division's Animal
Welfare Program, established by the North Carolina General Assembly to
create a uniform system for the regulation of private and public animal
shelters, oversees 930 such shelters and other companion animal
facilities throughout the state. This Program is managed by the Animal
Welfare Section (AWS) of the Veterinary Division. Many of these
shelters and facilities stand in harm's way of the hurricanes that
frequently impact North Carolina. To appropriately prepare for these
events, the AWS requests that every licensed/registered shelter or
facility have a natural disaster response plan that has been approved
by the local emergency management agency. The AWS and the EP Division
work with local government, emergency management, and animal shelters/
facilities to identify how these facilities will manage the animals
long before a storm or disaster hits the community. The AWS also
coordinates with these agencies and facilities ahead of time to develop
protocols for set-up, registration, intake, animal care, sanitation,
and demobilization of temporary animal sheltering areas co-located with
human shelters. Temporary animal sheltering resources are prepositioned
near the expected landfall area in the event of a forecasted disaster;
these resources are then readily available, after the event, to care
for displaced animals. Subsequent to the passing of the storm or when
conditions permit access to shelters/facilities in the affected area,
the AWS and the EP Division coordinate with national and local
resources to support the hardest hit areas with personnel and
resources. In the immediate aftermath of the event, AWS and EP act as a
clearinghouse for donations of both monetary and material resources.
Assistance is also provided to direct teams of volunteers to the
shelters and counties that have the greatest needs.
During recovery from a disaster the AWS and EP Division continue to
offer support and coordinate relief efforts for the animal shelters/
facilities and affected communities. Inspections of temporary shelters
continue until they have been demobilized and citizens are assisted
with complaints concerning events that occurred during the disaster and
its aftermath when under the jurisdiction of the AWS. The rescue, care,
and sheltering of companion animals during disasters has been
recognized as essential to a successful response. The Department's
Animal Welfare Section leads the way in this important endeavor in
North Carolina.
Thank you for the opportunity to provide insight into North
Carolina's programs and efforts to address natural disasters and/or
animal disease emergencies. Given the state's location on the eastern
coastline of our Nation, there will, no doubt, be continuing needs to
deploy our State's response teams. In such events, we look forward to
expanding our partnership with FEMA, moving toward a better
understanding of livestock response activities eligible for
reimbursement, enabling our teams to readily manage storm impacts and,
going forward, building upon current capabilities to improve outcomes.
Additionally, our Veterinary and EP Divisions believe there currently
exists a gap in capability at the state and Federal level for a
catastrophic animal disease outbreak. Such an incident, usually
considered the sole responsibility of USDA, could be of such
consequence that all response resources available would need to be
brought to bear. Given the global character of trade, travel, and
illegal movement of agricultural products, perhaps it's time to
consider a fully integrated approach to such an event.
Ms. Titus. Thank you, Doctor.
Ms. MacPherson?
Ms. MacPherson. Good morning, Chairwoman Titus, Ranking
Member Meadows, and members of the subcommittee, thank you very
much for this opportunity to testify on the issue of animals in
disaster--in my case, search and rescue dogs.
I am Teresa MacPherson. I am a member of Virginia Task
Force 1, which is one of the 28 urban search-and-rescue teams
in the country. And my position on the task force is canine
search specialist. I am a dog handler. I have been a member of
the Federal system since 1993, and have some extensive
experience with flying dogs commercially in cabin.
I will be speaking for the Federal USAR dogs, but I
understand that many, if not most, of the State teams also fall
within the realm of what I will be talking about.
In the past, we dog handlers have had it pretty good with
flying our dogs for training, testing, and deploying. We have
been loosely lumped under service animals, and I would say our
dogs are on a par with service animals, as far as health,
temperament, and obedience training, which are the main things
that the airlines are concerned with. After that, our paths
diverge from service dog training, but the airlines don't
really care that our dogs are trained to climb ladders, take a
direction from 50 yards out, traverse rubble searching for
victims in disaster situations like earthquakes, hurricanes,
explosions, mudslides, tornadoes, pretty much whatever comes
up. Our dogs are trained and tested to handle it.
In 2005, for Hurricane Katrina, all of the FEMA task forces
responded on a rotational basis to Louisiana and Mississippi,
some task forces responding twice. At one point I was asked by
the FEMA USAR branch office for the FAA regulation that allows
our dogs to fly in cabin commercially. They needed to get a lot
of people to and from this place.
I responded that there is none. This was met with surprise,
and there was discussion of addressing this issue in the
future. But at this time we really weren't having any problems
with flying our dogs commercially in cabin. They were being
very accommodating, even welcoming. They treated our dogs like
heroes.
But this has changed drastically in the past few years. The
last time I was in the security line with my dog, I heard a
passenger behind me say, ``Wow, anyone can buy a working vest
for a dog online.'' And sadly, it is true. And people do.
Currently, the airlines have to deal with dogs with virtually
no training, poor temperament, health issues, mainly because of
fake working dogs and fake emotional support animals.
And I do not mean to disparage the legitimate service dogs
or the legitimate ESAs. I am talking about the passenger who
rings her call button and advises the flight attendant that her
emotional support animal just pooped on the floor and needs
cleaning up. True story.
Now the regulations are tightening up, and we are happy
about that. But it is affecting our dogs in a negative way,
because of the definition of a service animal, which is an
animal that provides a specific function for a disabled person.
That is not us.
So now we have no place, and the airlines don't know what
to do with us. They make individual regulations that vary from
airline to airline, change often, and result in general
confusion on the part of the handler, as well as the airline
personnel. Many times we have to wait while a supervisor is
summoned, or get in a special line and wait until the dog guy
comes in.
It is time to legitimize our dogs, and to be on a par with
service animals for air transport. All of our dogs are
screened, trained, tested, and certified. It is important to
know that we can get to and from a disaster with our dogs, that
we can respond as a specific canine resource. Most often we
respond with our task force, which is 50 to 70-plus members,
and comprised of heavy rescue, logistics, medical, hazmat,
structural engineers, and more. And getting the dog component
onboard can be problematic for the whole team.
We can provide the necessary paperwork to show our dogs are
of sound temperament, healthy, and well-behaved. We would like
to see this request to fly our dogs in cabin expanded to apply
to training and testing, as well as deployment. It is important
that the dogs are trained and tested in a variety of
situations. They need to travel to different training sites.
They need to experience different environments, because we need
to train them to expect the unexpected.
The Haiti deployment really validated our dogs. There was
no way to replicate in training a scene of such mass
destruction, never-ending rubble, decomposing bodies
everywhere, garbage, loose animals running around. Yet our dogs
worked in this nightmare and they found people, including
children and babies, saving their lives. So our training works.
But in order to teach our dogs to expect the unexpected, we
need to continue to have the opportunities to train for it. And
I thank you for this opportunity. I look forward to working
with the subcommittee as it looks to address the challenges to
ensure our search-and-rescue dogs are able to travel without
restriction, whether for disaster response, training, or
evaluation in our effort to save lives.
[Ms. MacPherson did not submit a prepared statement.]
Ms. Titus. Thank you so much.
Mr. Patch?
Mr. Patch. Good morning, Chairwoman Titus, Ranking Member
Meadows, and members of the subcommittee. Thank you for the
opportunity to present our testimony on the importance of
protecting animals during disasters.
My name is Richard Patch. I am the vice president for
Federal affairs for the American Society for the Prevention of
Cruelty to Animals. Founded in 1866, the ASPCA was the very
first animal welfare organization established in North America.
The ASPCA has a strong history of leadership in protecting
animals in times of disaster.
We are pleased that local, State, and Federal agencies are
increasingly prioritizing the care of animals during disasters.
The ASPCA has witnessed firsthand how a lack of preparation can
lead to dire consequences for animals left behind, and how the
absence of appropriate planning can create burdens and risks
for human victims, as well as responders.
It is important that we continue to elevate the need to
include animals in disaster planning. Today I would like to
discuss our organization's work in disasters, as well as some
policy changes that will ensure our animals are better
protected.
The ASPCA deploys nationwide at the invitation of State and
local authorities to assist in relocation, search and rescue,
sheltering, and placement of animals during disasters,
including wildfires, tornadoes, hurricanes, and floods. Recent
examples include responding with local authorities to the
wildfires that devastated northern California last fall,
assisting with search and rescue for animals affected by
historic flooding in central Arkansas, and responding to
multiple hurricanes, including Florence in North Carolina and
Michael in Florida.
One of the key lessons learned during and since Hurricane
Katrina, where an estimated 600,000 animals died or were left
to suffer without rescuers or shelter, was that animals must
always be a part of disaster planning. We cannot forget the
images of dogs swimming to rescue boats or stranded on
rooftops, nor can we forget the heartbreak of a 9-year-old boy
separated by authorities from his dog, Snowball, while boarding
a bus to evacuate. Many, faced with a difficult choice between
evacuating to safety without their pets or staying behind,
chose to stay with their pets. This is why modern, thoughtful
disaster planning should always include animals.
We are thankful that Congress responded to the lessons from
Katrina by passing the Pets Evacuation and Transportation
Standards Act, the PETS Act, which requires that State and
local entities include the needs of individuals with household
pets and service animals into their disaster plans.
Additionally, Congress passed the Veterinary Medicine
Mobility Act, which clarified that veterinarians could
transport and dispense vital medicines while practicing in the
field, including during disasters.
However, there are still gaps for animals in disaster
planning that Congress can and should address.
First, the ASPCA urges Congress to pass H.R. 1042, the
PREPARED Act. This bipartisan legislation, sponsored by
Chairwoman Titus and Congressman Peter King, will ensure that
animals in certain institutional settings like zoos, research
facilities, and commercial breeding operations create
commonsense plans to protect the animals in their care during
disasters. Although these entities are regulated by USDA under
the Animal Welfare Act, there are no Federal requirements that
these facilities have emergency or disaster plans in place.
Second, we see a need for more resources to provide
training and equipment for first responders to better handle
and care for animals. An ASPCA survey revealed that more than
75 percent of responding States and counties reported
additional needs for emergency training, expertise and
equipment.
Third, veterinarians need more flexibility to deploy across
State lines in response to disasters. We know hurricanes and
other storms don't stop at State lines. Neither should our
ability to provide emergency care to animals in disasters.
Lastly, there should be greater use of cohabitated and
colocated shelters. Cohabitated shelters house people and pets
together within a shelter, while colocated shelters have
separate facilities for the humans and pets, but are typically
in close proximity, enabling the families to regularly visit
their pets, and even provide for their care.
We look forward to working with the subcommittee to find
the best solutions to these challenges. With natural disasters
occurring with increasing frequency and greater ferocity,
preparedness is becoming ever more important.
Thank you so much for the opportunity to testify. I look
forward to responding to your questions.
[Mr. Patch's prepared statement follows:]
Prepared Statement of Richard Patch, Vice President, Federal Affairs,
American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
Chairwoman Titus, Ranking Member Meadows, and members of the
Subcommittee, thank you very much for the opportunity to testify on the
importance of protecting animals during disasters.
My name is Richard Patch, and I am the Vice President of Federal
Affairs for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to
Animals. The ASPCA was the very first animal welfare organization
established in North America. Since our founding in 1866, we have
worked constantly to alleviate animal suffering. In particular, the
ASPCA has a strong history of leadership protecting animals in times of
disaster.
We are pleased that local, state, and federal agencies, as well as
communities around the country, are increasingly prioritizing the care
of animals during disasters. The ASPCA knows firsthand that lack of
preparation leads to dire consequences for animals left behind and that
the absence of appropriate plans and operations creates burdens and
risks for human victims and emergency responders. It is extremely
important that we as a society continue to elevate the need to include
animals in disaster planning.
The ASPCA's Commitment to Disaster Response
The ASPCA regularly deploys nationwide at the invitation of state
and local authorities to assist in pre- and post-storm relocation,
search-and-rescue, sheltering, and placement of animals during
disasters such as wildfires, tornadoes, hurricanes, and floods. Since
2010, we have deployed for disasters across 24 states and territories.
The ASPCA maintains memoranda of understanding with cities, counties,
and states across the country that specifically define the roles our
organization and emergency management authorities will play if we are
asked to respond to a disaster. Even when we are not needed for
deployment, we often provide remote expert consultation to help
agencies prepare and carry out their operations.
In October 2019, the ASPCA, at the request of Sonoma County Animal
Services, was on the ground helping animals impacted by the Kincade
wildfire that devastated Northern California. The ASPCA's team of
disaster response professionals deployed with emergency response
equipment and conducted animal search and rescue requests. We also
performed welfare checks on non-evacuated pets and livestock. With
support from the ASPCA and other groups, Sonoma County Animal Services
was able to assist approximately 1,500 animals.
That response was in addition to our June 2019 deployment, at the
request of the Arkansas Department of Agriculture, Livestock and
Poultry Commission, to assist the Faulkner County Office of Emergency
Management and the Faulkner County Animal Response Team with search and
rescue and sheltering of over 70 animals affected by the historic
flooding in central Arkansas.
In 2018, the ASPCA responded to a string of natural disasters,
including deploying to North Carolina and South Carolina for Hurricane
Florence, to Florida for Hurricane Michael, to Hawaii following a
volcano eruption, and to California in the wake of both mudslides and
wildfires. In that year alone, we assisted more than 9,000 animals
through pre-evacuation, field rescue, and post-disaster relief efforts.
For a typical weather-related event such as a major storm or
hurricane--which we can track before it makes landfall--the ASPCA's
work begins by monitoring the storm and directing resources towards the
likely affected areas. We maintain constant communication with
emergency management agencies and local animal shelters to determine
the best course of action to help animals in affected communities.
Often, we deploy small teams of our responders, supplies, and other
resources to staging areas located near locations expected to be
heavily impacted. Once situated, those teams can monitor weather and
transportation conditions as we await official requests for assistance.
We know that animal shelters are often inundated with displaced
animals in the immediate aftermath of hurricanes and other major
storms. To accommodate the increase in animals brought to shelters
during these events and to ensure that displaced pets can be reunited
with families, the ASPCA assists local shelters in advance work,
including transporting their adoptable animals out of impacted areas to
shelters in our relocation network or to other facilities. During the
response to back-to-back Hurricanes Irma and Harvey in 2017, the ASPCA
set up a temporary emergency shelter in South Carolina where adoptable
animals from impacted areas were transported and cared for before being
sent to shelters that could focus on their adoption. During those two
storms, the ASPCA helped relocate more than 1,500 adoptable animals
from impacted areas to shelters around the country to give them a
second chance for a loving home. Working with Wings of Rescue in the
response to Hurricane Dorian last year, the ASPCA transported nearly
200 adoptable animals from South Carolina's coast to animal shelters
well outside of the storm's path.
In addition to our work on the ground during disasters, our
organization provides grants and training opportunities to local
agencies across the country to help enhance their animal response
capabilities. In cases that do not require our direct deployment, we
often consult to provide animal-specific expertise to FEMA and to state
and local emergency management teams.
The ASPCA has been a member of the National Animal Rescue and
Sheltering Coalition (NARSC) since its inception in 2006. This
coalition of national organizations works with states to identify
collaborative solutions to major human-animal emergency needs.
Additionally, our organization has granted over $2 million in the past
decade to support animals affected by emergencies and disasters.
Through our direct deployments, our subject matter expertise and
consultation, and our grant awards, the ASPCA leads the nation in
elevating the importance of including animals in disaster preparedness
and response.
Congressional Response to Challenges for Animals in Disasters
One of the key lessons learned during and since Hurricane Katrina,
where an estimated 600,000 animals died or were left to suffer without
rescue or shelter, was that animals must always be a part of disaster
planning. We cannot forget the images of dogs swimming to rescue boats
or stranded on rooftops, nor can we forget the heartbreak of the 9 year
old boy separated by authorities from his dog Snowball while boarding a
bus to evacuate. Many faced with the difficult choice between
evacuating to safety without their pets or staying behind chose to stay
with their pets. A Mississippi county emergency manager estimated that
one quarter of the fatalities in their area were residents who chose to
stay behind with a pet. This is why modern, thoughtful disaster
planning should always include animals.
In response to these lessons from Katrina, Congress passed the Pet
Evacuation and Transportation Standards (PETS) Act. Introduced by the
late Representative Tom Lantos and Representative Christopher Shays,
this law requires state and local entities to include in their disaster
plans the needs of individuals with household pets and service animals.
We have witnessed the benefits of the PETS Act in recent disasters. For
example, more emergency shelters now allow families to bring their
companion animals with them, and cities and municipalities routinely
relax restrictions on animals on public transportation during disasters
to aid evacuations. We have also seen increased inclusion of animals in
planning and response by FEMA and other federal agencies engaged in
disaster response, as well as more collaboration and communication
between disaster response groups and local animal welfare
organizations.
In 2014, Congress also acted to ensure that veterinarians can more
effectively and easily respond to disasters by enacting the Veterinary
Medicine Mobility Act. This law specifically clarifies veterinarians'
ability to transport and dispense vital medicines while practicing in
the field, including during disasters.
Congress can and should address the remaining gaps in the inclusion
of animals in disaster planning. In particular, the ASPCA urges
Congress to pass H.R. 1042, the ``Providing Responsible Emergency Plans
for Animals at Risk of Emerging Disasters Act'' or ``PREPARED Act.''
This bipartisan legislation, sponsored by Chairwoman Titus and
Representative Peter King, will ensure that animals in certain
institutional settings--such as zoos, research facilities, and
commercial breeding operations--create detailed plans to protect the
animals in their care during disasters and ensure that their employees
know what steps to take when an emergency occurs. Although these
entities are regulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture under the
Animal Welfare Act (AWA), there are no federal requirements that these
facilities have emergency or disaster plans in place.
Animals in AWA licensed facilities are particularly vulnerable to
disasters and pose a unique high risk to first responders. For example,
Hurricane Katrina killed approximately 8,000 animals, including dogs
and monkeys, at Louisiana State University's Health Sciences Center
School of Medicine. The storm also cut off power to the New Orleans
Aquarium of the Americas, resulting in the deaths of 10,000 fish. Many
animals in these types of facilities may be dangerous or require highly
specialized handling, further necessitating pre-planning that would
help ensure they do not escape and put the public at risk. In 2015, big
cats and other exotic animals escaped an AWA licensed zoological park
in Oklahoma after a tornado struck. The risk to public safety forced
the local sheriff to advise residents to stay indoors until the animals
were accounted for.
The PREPARED Act is just one of many avenues for policy change to
facilitate more effective disaster responses and to save more animals.
For example, we see a need for more resources to provide training and
equipment for first responders to better handle and care for animals.
The ASPCA's National Capabilities for Animal Response in Emergencies
(NCARE) survey findings, published in the Journal of Homeland Security
and Emergency Management in 2017, revealed that more than 75% of
responding states and counties reported needs for additional emergency
training, expertise, and equipment.
Also, veterinarians need more flexibility to deploy across state
lines in response to disasters. While the Department of Health and
Human Services' National Veterinary Response Team (NVRT) has been
helpful in major disasters, many veterinarians whose expertise is
needed in disasters not large enough to meet the NVRT's activation
threshold may have trouble attaining waivers to practice across state
lines. Regulatory challenges relating to the transport of animals
suggest a need for more flexibility during disasters. Hurricanes and
other natural disasters don't stop at state lines--neither should the
ability to provide emergency care to animals in disasters.
Another policy change that would positively impact companion
animals during disasters is a greater use of cohabitated and co-located
shelters. Cohabitated shelters house people and pets together in the
same space. Co-located shelters house people and pets separately but
are typically in close proximity, enabling families to easily and
regularly visit and care for their pets (alleviating the burden on
responding agencies). According to our NCARE survey, only 50% of
counties with fewer than one million inhabitants reported having plans
for cohabitational shelters, compared to 80% of larger counties. With
the proper planning and implementation, these shelters give pet owners
the option of seeking shelter where both they and their pets will be
safe. That peace of mind can be solace to a family that has lost
everything in a disaster. We encourage FEMA to ensure that cohabitated
shelters become the norm for housing animals in disasters. For millions
of people, pets are part of the family. It is vital to implement
disaster plans that consider the entire family.
We look forward to the opportunity to work with this Subcommittee
to find the best solutions to these challenges.
Keeping Pets Safe During Disasters
The PREPARED Act would help protect animals housed in certain
federally regulated businesses and institutional settings. However,
individuals also have a responsibility to prepare for and take the
necessary actions to protect their own animals when a disaster strikes.
Though each type of disaster requires different measures to keep pets
safe, the ASPCA urges families to take the following general steps to
prepare their pets should they be impacted by a disaster:
First, if you must evacuate, take your pets with you. If
it's not safe for you--it's not safe for your pets. Pets should not be
left behind or tethered to trees. This will prevent them from escaping
emergency situations and getting to safe areas.
Second, make sure all pets are wearing ID tags with up-
to-date contact information. A pet's ID tag should contain his or her
name, telephone number and any urgent medical needs. The ASPCA also
recommends checking microchip registration information to ensure that
contact information is up to date.
Third, along with the emergency kit for human members of
the family, we recommend creating a portable pet emergency kit with
essential items including medical records, water, water bowls, pet
food, leashes, and any required pet medications.
Finally, it's important to choose a designated caregiver,
such as a friend or relative outside the evacuation zone, who can take
care of a pet in the event one is unable.
Conclusion
With natural disasters occurring more frequently, preparedness has
never been more important. The ASPCA urges Congress to continue its
work to protect animals in need by passing the PREPARED Act and to
explore the other measures discussed here today. Thank you very much
for the opportunity to testify on this very important topic. I look
forward to answering any questions that the members of the Subcommittee
may have.
Ms. Titus. Thank you, Mr. Patch. Thank you all again for
your testimony. You are the experts, and you have given us some
things that we can work on.
We will now move on to Member questions. Each Member will
be recognized for 5 minutes, and I will start by recognizing
myself.
I would like to start with you, Ms. MacPherson. You were
talking about the challenges for your dogs going for training,
for deployment, and for evaluation, and the problem with being
on--airline travel. You are an elite first responder. You need
to get there. Your dog is your team. Are there other places
where you have experienced some challenges being with your dog,
besides on the airlines? And do you have any specific
suggestions that we might do, working with the airlines to
solve this problem?
Ms. MacPherson. Thank you----
Ms. Titus. Because you are right, I have seen people carry
a snake on a plane to say it is a support animal. It didn't
give me much support, having that sitting near me, but, you
know.
Ms. MacPherson. Thank you for that question. Really, our
main concern right now is the in-cabin airline travel. As far
as restaurants or public locations, we are not that concerned
about, because we try to be respectful. If they don't need to
be there, we don't try to put them there.
Hotels, though, hotels, that would be good to come under
the service dog label, or--not their label, but our own label,
but under that same category, so that we can--so we can lodge
with our pets. Because sometimes, with our dogs, and on
deployment, we are in hotels, and that can become problematic,
just like the airline flying. It is, like, well, it is not
really a service dog.
Ms. Titus. That is what I was going to ask you. When you
get to the scene of the disaster, where do you go with your
dogs? I mean----
Ms. MacPherson. Oh, lots of times we are in tents.
Sometimes we are in a sleeping bag on a parking lot until we
can get the tents up.
But for many deployments, especially hurricanes, we are
lodged in hotels, if it is possible.
Ms. Titus. OK, thank you. Well, we will look at that
definition, see if we can expand that.
Mr. Patch, you mentioned in your last recommendation--and
the ones you gave were really good, and some things that we can
actually get done. I don't want to wait until we get a massive
bill. If there are little pieces that we can make improvements
on, that is the intent of this committee. But the need for
adequate resources, I would ask all of you--Mr. Patch says we
need more resources.
Doctor, could you address that? What can FEMA be doing
better, and what kind of resources do we need to enhance?
Dr. Bissett. Well, I would start with the veterinary
medical piece. And again, FEMA has this opportunity, and there
are distinct differences between what teams like ours does and
what the current inventory of response capabilities does from a
veterinary medical perspective.
And so we really need to push that because, you know, a key
part of what we do is working with communities on preparedness.
We are planners, as well as responders. My own personal
opinion, I think you need to be both. And we do that down at
the local level. And the reality is they struggle to have the
expertise, many local jurisdictions, to develop animal-focused
plans. And so it just makes the situation worse when something
does happen, because there is not a good plan there.
And so, having resources like ours that can play into that,
I think, is critically important.
Ms. Titus. Have you looked at the PREPARED Act that was
mentioned that I have introduced to see if that kind of goes in
the direction you are talking about?
Dr. Bissett. It does. It does. And I think that--I know
that there is a desire to have more accountability on
information that is kept for animals by local jurisdictions.
And that is so important, because the reality is we have--I
think in many disasters we have animals wind up leaving the
disaster area, and those victims don't have that opportunity to
recover. It is typically household pets, but it could be
livestock, as well.
And so any provisions like that to tighten things up and to
drive us to a more prepared society, I think, is a really good
thing. And a team like ours can help toward that end.
Ms. Titus. Dr. Meckes, North Carolina has got a good
reputation for leaning in on planning. We appreciate that. I
know that FEMA has, like, a field hospital that it can take to
a disaster site. Do we need something like a field hospital for
veterinary services similar to that?
Dr. Meckes. During our most recent disasters, our Animal
Welfare Section, our Emergency Programs Division, and our
county animal control staff responded to all of the companion
animal needs in a timely fashion, and we were able to move
animals out of shelters that were in harm's way. We were able
to bring resources to bear once the storm passed. And most of
the animals ended up in shelters and with veterinary resources
to care for them. So I am not certain that a hospital, as such,
would be needed. If it were, it would be for a very short-term
basis.
With regards to the livestock side, which is what we have
been so engaged with, in Matthew we met with FEMA the day after
landfall. We had a feel for the impact, especially to our
poultry industry, given the knowledge we have of the location
of the landfall, and the location of our poultry farms. And
FEMA stepped up and provided us funding to buy carbon source
material to begin to compost these birds in short order.
So--and in the subsequent Hurricane Florence, in which we
had to respond, as well, we had really perfected some of our
techniques, perfected our movement of product, movement of
animals to make certain that we could do it in a timely
fashion. So after Matthew it took almost 4 months for us to
finish all the composting activities. After Florence it took us
35 days and we got folks back in business.
Ms. Titus. I am glad to hear you had a good relationship
with FEMA, because that is part of the challenge, is getting
the FEMA reimbursements after some of these problems to deal
with the animals.
Dr. Meckes. Yes.
Ms. Titus. Mr. Meadows?
Mr. Meadows. Dr. Meckes, I want to come back to the FEMA
reimbursement side, because you mentioned that in your opening
testimony. And obviously, sometimes the response, in terms of
reimbursement, is either ambiguous or not at all.
What would be the two things that you would recommend that
we could do, in terms of reimbursement for this component of
either livestock reimbursement or animal shelters?
Obviously, if you have a number of household domestic pets
that are being housed, there is an expense that goes along with
that. Is that something that the counties just take on
themselves? Does it get reimbursed? Or what could we do to
improve that?
Dr. Meckes. Well, with regards to the companion animals,
the counties have taken that on themselves. And again, as I
mentioned, our Animal Welfare Section, volunteers from
different counties will move to those counties most profoundly
affected.
And we have not had to call upon FEMA for funds for
managing of companion animals. We have gotten donations, we
brought our colleagues from around the country to assist us.
And any number of rescue groups are engaged, as well.
With regards to reimbursement for livestock and poultry
issues, some of the pieces have been well accepted. Our
proposals have been well accepted by FEMA. Others less so.
Persistence has been the key for us in receiving
reimbursements.
Mr. Meadows. All right. So how do we take the need for
persistence right now, as you would delicately put it, and
maybe change that into something that is a little bit better
defined, that says, all right, if you hit this, then you
qualify?
Here is my concern, is county by county you have different
budgets.
Dr. Meckes. Right.
Mr. Meadows. And, as you know, in the eastern part of the
State some of those counties are well-equipped and well-funded
to be able to loan the money.
Dr. Meckes. Right.
Mr. Meadows. Other counties have an extremely difficult
time, especially when you are taxing with other issues that are
not livestock-related.
Dr. Meckes. Right.
Mr. Meadows. So it could be, you know, search and rescue,
it can be a number of other taxing--so how do we take that part
where--what I don't want you to have to do is call the
chairwoman or me and say, ``We are having a problem getting
reimbursed from FEMA,'' if there is something that we can do,
legislatively, to address that.
Is that something that you could come up with two or three
recommendations and get back to the committee on?
Dr. Meckes. We can get back. I will say that it is all a
matter of interpretation at the end of the day. We interpret
some of the guidance from FEMA as meaning they will fully
embrace our activities associated with response to livestock
incidents. There is a gap there. USDA, obviously, has no piece
of natural disasters, and responding to them.
But, from our point of view, it is much better to get feed
to animals and diesel fuel to farms to keep the animals alive
than it is to buy a carbon source material to compost them
after they are dead. And so----
Mr. Meadows. Well, I would agree with that. And so I guess
what I would say----
Dr. Meckes. Clarity that we----
Mr. Meadows. So on that clarity, if you could get with
Commissioner Troxler and Mr. Sprayberry, and get a
recommendation back to this committee, we would--I think there
is a bipartisan support to do what is practical, and not make
it ambiguous.
Mr. Patch, let me come to you. One of the difficulties any
time that you have displaced people is that you have displaced
animals, as well. And I can tell you that--what I would ask for
you is maybe get to this committee your recommendations on how
we can address the difficulty of cohabitating with animals that
are perhaps displaced. Because when you put people in an
emergency shelter, it becomes, you know--my pet may not be as
welcomed as some other domestic pets. And it is kind of like
with children, you know, some of them are great, and some of
them are not as great.
[Laughter.]
Mr. Meadows. And I--these are great, back here.
So--and so my concern is what is acceptable for someone may
not be acceptable for someone that--you are in a close confines
with kids, and all kinds of other things.
And so, if you could help us with some recommendations on
what you think is ideal, and then maybe what is practical, if
you could get the committee some recommendations there, knowing
that what is maybe ideal is not achievable, but the next best
thing, if you could do that for us, Mr. Patch.
Mr. Patch. Sure, Congressman. We will get you those
recommendations. I will say--I wanted to tell you I am from
Greenville, North Carolina.
Mr. Meadows. No, I know, and I tell you--I was going to--I
was--I knew, when I introduced him, I actually--my staff had
told me that, and I could say, ``Go Pirates,'' or go something,
you know, that is there. So I am not sure if you are in G.K.
Butterfield's district, or in Dr. Murphy's district. But
regardless, on their behalf, welcome, as well.
Mr. Patch. Thank you. Well, let me say, my mother lives in
Morehead City, North Carolina, and I live here in DC, so I
worry about her a lot. These storms that are affecting the
coast of North Carolina have been tremendous, particularly in
recent years.
Some of the work that the ASPCA does is to move animals out
of those shelters in those affected areas before the storms
come, and free up the resources of the hard-working people that
operate those shelters while the storms are happening, so that
there is someplace for those animals to go.
And as I mentioned in the testimony, I think greater
flexibility is what you have heard from all of these witnesses
today in times of disaster. And that is true for the
cohabitated and colocated shelters.
Mr. Meadows. I thank you.
Mr. Patch. Thank you.
Ms. Titus. Ms. Mucarsel-Powell.
Ms. Mucarsel-Powell. Thank you, Madam Chair. I have a
special guest here with me today, Remy, because he is very
interested in hearing from all of you this morning.
This issue hits very close to me. I represent an area in
south Florida where we are heavily impacted by storms. It seems
like every summer, every year, we have to prepare for a
hurricane. And I have two dogs at home, Kali and Spike, and
they are part of our family. I have kids, also. And my kids and
my dogs actually behave very well, Mr. Meadows. I don't know
what you are----
[Laughter.]
Ms. Mucarsel-Powell. But----
Mr. Meadows. I would expect nothing less.
Ms. Mucarsel-Powell. So I just can't imagine leaving them
behind.
And it was so interesting to me to see that 44 percent of
the people who didn't evacuate during Hurricane Katrina did so
because they didn't want to leave their pets. And I know that
this is even more of a reality for our seniors. So I don't want
anyone in my district to have to make the decision of whether
they leave, and leave their pet behind or not.
So Mr. Patch, in your written testimony--I just wanted to
start by asking--you outlined some ways that people can prepare
to care for their pets. And I just want to--if you could
briefly describe that for everyone that is listening right now
at home, what people can do. And if you can, highlight those
steps that people need----
Mr. Patch. Sure.
Ms. Mucarsel-Powell [continuing]. To take to prepare for a
hurricane.
Mr. Patch. Yes, ma'am. And in response to your observation
about people staying behind with their pets, it is heroic that
they stay behind to care for their pets, but it is a failure of
proper planning. And part of that planning is ensuring that you
are prepared to leave when it is necessary. And in a district
like yours, where these storms seem to hit with tremendous
force, it is important that anyone that lives in an area like
that have their--have ID tags for their animals, and have their
microchips updated, and that they have supplies for the
animals, and that they have a plan. Where are they going to go?
Who is going to take care of the animals? Who--can they keep
the animals with them? Can they get on a bus, or a train, or a
plane? Being prepared and knowing those things in advance is
important.
And back to the chairwoman's legislation, ensuring that
commercial enterprises--zoos and research facilities and
breeding operations--they know that these things could happen,
and they should be prepared. And the title of your bill, they
need to be prepared in advance.
Ms. Mucarsel-Powell. We have one of the most beautiful zoos
in the country in my district also, Zoo Miami. And I know that
they do a really great job of preparing for hurricanes. Is it
possible, since you are mentioning this again, that they can
actually coordinate with vets in the area to actually also take
in some of these pets?
I just--I don't see that working as well. But if you can,
provide some examples or ideas on that.
Mr. Patch. I can't speak to that exact idea. I think--in
response to your question, I think good zoos, good, accredited
zoos are prepared. They have a disaster plan, and they are
already--they are more prepared than many others. Whether or
not they could help it, I think it depends on the events of
that particular moment. But they should be prepared to provide
that service, if it is possible, sure.
Ms. Mucarsel-Powell. Thank you. And Dr. Bissett, like your
emergency team at Texas A&M, the important work that they do to
keep both animals and their owners safe--I am very proud of the
similar work that we have in Florida by the University of
Florida VETS Disaster Response Team. But unfortunately, there
aren't enough people who are trained to take care of animals
during disasters.
In your testimony you demonstrate how emergency teams from
colleges of veterinary medicine are so crucial to disaster
responses. And I can't imagine trying to coordinate disaster
response for people without public health professionals or
hospital systems involved. So it seems like there should be
veterinary professionals involved in animal disaster planning
and response.
Do you know of any available funding streams to strengthen
training programs for veterinarians to be on the ground during
disasters?
Dr. Bissett. So I can tell you that has been a significant
problem. Even with our team, we are the State's deployable
veterinary medical resource, and yet we have had to survive and
prepare primarily on donations. And donations wax and wane. And
the challenges of maintaining a deployable unit with a constant
level of readiness and a wildly fluctuating budget is a
challenge.
And you do have to be trained to go into these situations.
Our team, which is made up of faculty, staff, and students from
the college, as well as private practitioners, private
veterinary medical professionals from around the State, we have
aggressive training. We have monthly trainings. We have
multiple exercises a year. And it is all geared toward making
sure that we can go into a community, work with that community
to perform a safe and effective response.
Another thing that we do is very much work to enable that
community. What we don't want to do is to go in, and then we
are demobilized, and they have got issues. And so we try and
leave a structure for that response to carry on as it winds
down. And our history has been that most of those communities
that we deployed to, we wind up going back to and helping them
plan. And we become, you know, basically lifelong partners. All
that takes a budget. That is a challenge.
And I would just comment veterinarians are willing to
volunteer. One of the things that we have seen, though, in
Texas, where we have had so many things happen, is they will
volunteer once. And then, the next time you have a
conversation, it is, ``I can't afford that. I wasn't trained to
be there. I am not going to do it again.'' And so having these
structured teams, I think, are critically, critically
important.
Ms. Mucarsel-Powell. Thank you so much. I am out of time.
Ms. Titus. Thank you. Just to follow up on that, do you
ever get reimbursed by the communities you serve? And does that
come through FEMA? Or maybe it should.
Dr. Bissett. So we are--the way our State has us set up, we
are an eligible applicant. And so we submit our reimbursement
packages through the State to FEMA, just like the other State
response assets. That is in the declared events. And so we do
get reimbursed. On the smaller events, we typically don't. That
comes from our donor base.
Ms. Titus. Do you have any recommendations to make that
reimbursement work better, just as we were asking?
Dr. Bissett. So, in all honesty, I have had really positive
experiences, but we also have a very aggressive accountability
program.
And I am just going to--in answering that question, and
actually going back to something that Ranking Member Meadows
asked about, was how do we make that reimbursement process
better. Chief Kidd, our chief of the Texas Division of
Emergency Management, one of the things that he has challenged
our team with is making sure that we help local communities get
to the point where they can--they have good accountability,
good recordkeeping, so that those animal-based responses are
indeed reimbursed. Because I can tell you in Texas, the opinion
is that a lot of those expenses go uncaptured. And for a
community that is reeling from the economic outflow that a
disaster costs, that is all important.
Ms. Titus. Thank you, Doctor.
Ms. Norton.
Ms. Norton. I have looked at your testimonies, Dr. Meckes
and Dr. Bissett, where you discuss the integration of your
organizations into emergency management disaster efforts, and
that is very important to note that. But I am interested in the
planning and preparation before the disaster occurs.
So let me ask you what role, if any, does climate change
play in your preparations? We are already seeing indications of
that across the country.
Dr. Bissett. Well, I can speak to Texas, and I know that--I
mean, there is no denying that our weather cycles have become
more severe. We are seeing flooding in places that we have
never seen it before because of the weather patterns, because
of land use. There are a number of issues coming together.
And so it does take a more aggressive planning approach, as
our climate does change, and our land use changes. You are
going to have areas that now flood that used to not flood,
either because of the rainfall or changes in drainage. In our
2016 Brazos River flooding I talked with a rancher that was
distraught. He had moved his cattle from the Brazos River
bottom to the hurricane pasture. It was the one that had never
flooded before, historically. He lost 200 head. They floated
down the river.
And so, as weather conditions get more severe, planning
gets to be more aggressive. But whenever it comes to animals,
most local governments don't think about the animal
professionals that most local jurisdictions have: animal
control officers, livestock officers. Many don't even have a
veterinarian on staff. They have extension agents, which are
amazing in our State, but it takes planning assistance. We have
to have better plans as the problems become more severe. So it
plays a huge role.
Ms. Norton. I was surprised, Dr. Bissett, that your model
is the only program of its type in the country. Are you working
with other universities or other States in any way to replicate
that model?
Dr. Bissett. Yes. So we have. And I want to acknowledge
some other programs that are very strong, as well. I know North
Carolina State has a different model, where they teach
emergency management that is successful. Florida, and their
program, is successful, much smaller scale.
But rotations like ours, where all of our students go
through a program, we are the only type in the country. And I
am proud that our university will have educated between 1,400
and 1,500 senior vet students in this discipline by the end of
this academic year.
That is the answer, is getting more people prepared to go
out around the State, around the country, and to help
communities get where they need to get.
Ms. Norton. Mr. Patch, do you think there need to be
Federal requirements to track reunification of families and
pets, that that would be helpful to the ASPCA's disaster relief
efforts?
If not, what would help in your efforts to reunite families
with pets that get separated during a disaster?
Mr. Patch. Sure. Thank you, Congresswoman. Much of the work
of the ASPCA is done in advance of these storms. We take the
animals out of the shelters that are in disaster areas so that
those services are available for disaster victims, lost pets,
pets that have become--that are not with their owners any
longer have a place to go and to be safe.
We are, obviously, for documentation. Animals that come
into shelters should be properly documented, those that leave.
And the better organized any shelter is, the more prepared they
will be to be helpful in a time of crisis.
Ms. Norton. So are there any systems to track where--so
that a family would know where their pet was?
Mr. Patch. It depends----
Ms. Norton. By going online or by coming to some central
location?
Mr. Patch. No. I mean, disaster planning is at the very
local level. And shelters operate in communities. And every
community, every county, every State has different laws and
regulations. Bigger counties have better--not always, but often
have better organized systems and can address the needs that
you have outlined.
Ms. Norton. Madam Chair, I do think that there needs to be
some kind of model for the States to know how to proceed with
respect to pets that then could be disseminated, so you see how
somebody did it, how Texas did it, or somebody did it, and you
would know how to proceed. Because I am not sure this is on the
minds of the average family, or a public official when they
think about disasters.
So this is an important--it is an important hearing, Madam
Chair.
Ms. Titus. Thank you very much. And we want to look at
that. I think Virginia is--supposedly has a gold standard for
an online reporting at the animal custody record online
reporting system. I don't know if any other States have
established that, or if we need to look at that program.
Yes, Doctor?
Dr. Bissett. So I know in Texas--and just to kind of give
an example of how challenging the problem is, in many of the
communities that we worked with in Hurricane Harvey, reunion
rates were 75, 80 percent. One of the counties we worked with,
their plan was actually to move their animals 90 miles away to
a major city. That 90 miles was unbearable, and reunion rates
were about 30 to 35 percent. So it is significant.
So it starts at the local level. Good planning, good
documentation. Fostering the ability to develop good plans at
the local level is key.
We have also--actually, I was in meetings right before I
flew here. We have a similar program written into our plan,
where counties that are impacted can provide information on the
animals that were found. It goes into a database, up into a
website, and it is going to become that centralized place for
people that are missing animals to look.
Now it is challenging. And I know, from the Camp wildfire--
and I am sure ASPCA has had the same experiences--you wind up
having a lot of visits and it wasn't their animal, which is
heartbreaking. But it is such a worthwhile task, because when
you see that person and that animal reunited, it is such a
remarkable thing.
Ms. Titus. I can only imagine. Well, as we look at the
PREPARED Act, and requiring local and State governments to be
prepared, maybe part of that preparation is establishing a
record where you can check--an online reporting system should
be part of that plan.
I wanted to ask you, Mr. Patch. You said your organization
has a memorandum of understanding with various governments
around the country. Is there anything that prohibits you from
entering into those, or are there any problems, anything we can
help to alleviate to make it simpler so that more communities
or all communities have that kind of agreement with you?
Mr. Patch. I don't know that we can handle all the
communities.
[Laughter.]
Mr. Patch. I will check, Congresswoman. I know we have
dozens, hundreds, perhaps, MOUs with cities, counties, States
around the country.
And in addition to--one of the questions you asked earlier,
the ASPCA is one of the--is the number two grantmaking body in
the United States. We have provided tens of millions, $150
million or more in the last 10 years, not all for disasters,
but at least in part, and spent a lot of money in helping to
prepare in disasters.
And that work is so important, and the work that all the
people on the panel in preparing for disasters is so important.
And this hearing, and putting the word out about your bill,
which would do as much for animals as anything the Congress can
do right now is so important. So thank you.
Ms. Titus. Thank you. Well, thank all of you very much. I
feel strongly about this, and I think we need to do something.
But hearing what you all are doing is reassuring that there are
things happening, we just don't know about it, and we need to
coordinate it better, and use your example in other places.
So I can assure you we are going to continue to push these
issues. And any recommendations that you have for us, in terms
of planning, or putting together a reporting system, or dealing
with FEMA, we hope you will get them to the committee so we can
move some kind of legislation.
You know, it is not a disaster, but something that also
speaks to the value of pets to families is we also have
statistics that show that a person will not leave a domestic
violence situation or a home where there is abuse if they can't
take their pet with them. So it is not just in an emergency.
That pet is a critical part of a family's life.
So we very much appreciate what you are doing, and we will
certainly stay in touch as we move this forward. Thank you.
Any further questions?
I guess we are it. So, seeing none, I would like to thank
all of you again for your testimony. It has been very
informative, very helpful.
And I ask unanimous consent that the record of today's
hearing remain open until such time as our witnesses have
provided any answers or recommendations that may be submitted
to us in writing.
I ask unanimous consent that the record remain open for 15
days for any additional comments and information submitted by
the Members or witnesses to be included in the record if you
have anything additionally you would like for us to include.
Without objection, so ordered.
If nobody else has anything to add, we will stand
adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 11:07 a.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.]
Submissions for the Record
----------
Prepared Statement of Hon. Peter A. DeFazio, a Representative in
Congress from the State of Oregon, and Chairman, Committee on
Transportation and Infrastructure
Thank you Chair Titus, and thank you to our witnesses for being
here today.
I'm very interested in this issue because animals are often
overlooked when we think about emergency management and preparedness.
I have a dog, Mandy, at home in Oregon and anyone who visits my
personal office or the Committee knows that we have pet-friendly
offices.
Americans consider their pets to be part of their family. So, it's
no wonder that such a large percentage of individuals who failed to
evacuate during past disasters did so because they didn't want to leave
their pets behind. During disasters, the well-being of Americans and
their animals are inextricably linked.
However, this hearing is not just about pets. Service animals and
livestock have entirely different evacuation, sheltering, and feeding
needs when a disaster occurs.
Failure to properly account for farm animals during an emergency
can have severe consequences, including economic losses and food
insecurity for entire communities.
Service animals generally have broad protections for sheltering and
transportation in emergency situations. However, search and rescue
canines are not guaranteed the same protections under Federal law.
In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, this committee held several
hearings to consider legislative proposals that would address the
shortcomings in our national emergency preparedness framework. One of
the pieces of legislation that came out of those hearings was the Pets
Evacuation and Transportation Standards (PETS) Act.
This bipartisan legislation was among the first to consider the
well-being of animals during a disaster by requiring FEMA to ensure
that State and local emergency preparedness plans address the needs of
individuals with household pets and service animals following a major
disaster or emergency.
It's time we take another look at the gaps in emergency
preparedness with respect to animals. For example, there is currently
no federal requirement that facilities regulated by the Animal Welfare
Act (AWA) have a plan to protect animals in their care during emergency
situations.
The PREPARED Act, introduced by Chair Titus, would require that AWA
licensed facilities create, implement, and file contingency plans with
the Department of Agriculture. Although the bill was not referred to
this Committee, it highlights issues that are squarely within our
jurisdiction.
I support the Chair's legislation and hope we can use what we learn
today as the basis for more protections for animals in the future.
Thank you. I look forward to hearing testimony from our witnesses.
I yield back.
Prepared Statement of Hon. Sam Graves, a Representative in Congress
from the State of Missouri, and Ranking Member, Committee on
Transportation and Infrastructure
Thank you, Chair Titus, and thank you to our witnesses for being
here today.
As already noted, we're focusing today on challenges that
communities face during disasters; in particular as it relates to
animals.
Many of you know that my district experienced historic flooding
last year.
This flooding impacted tens of thousands of acres of farmland and
caused significant damage to homes, communities, and infrastructure.
With so many constituents in my district reliant on farming, and
growing up on a farm myself where I continue to have family who raise
cattle, it is important that the well-being of livestock be a serious
part of disaster relief and mitigation efforts. I look forward to
learning more about state and federal plans to protect this vital part
of the rural economy.
Thank you, I yield back.
Statement of the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities Emergency
Management Task Force, Submitted for the Record by Hon. Dina Titus
The Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD) Emergency
Management Task Force submits the following statement for the record
for the February 12, 2020, Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public
Buildings and Emergency Preparedness hearing on the Welfare of Animals
in Disasters. CCD is a coalition of more than 100 national disability
rights, advocacy, consumer, provider and self-advocacy organizations
representing this nation's 57 million people with disabilities. The
Emergency Management Task Force concerns itself with disaster planning,
preparedness, response and recovery issues affecting people with
disabilities throughout the United States, its territories and Puerto
Rico.
The subcommittee heard from a panel of witnesses focusing on
adverse impacts on people and communities that derive from failure to
plan for the welfare of animals as well as recommendations for
improving the response of emergency management systems to the
protection and survival of animals in disasters. Of particular concern
to the members of this task force are the effects that poor planning
and implementation of disaster response can have on people with
disabilities who rely on service animals or who may be adversely
affected by well-intentioned policies for sheltering companion animals.
Unfortunately, disaster response systems repeatedly fail to
consider the needs of people with disabilities and their service
animals in disasters despite laws like the Americans with Disabilities
Act. Under the ADA, a service animal is defined as a dog that has been
individually trained to do work or perform tasks for an individual with
a disability. The task(s) performed by the dog must be directly related
to the person's disability. As you know, that law requires all
emergency shelters to accommodate people with disabilities in the most
integrated setting, along with any service animal that accompanies
them. Poorly trained emergency response personnel have refused to
evacuate service animals, leading some people with disabilities to
refuse to leave a dangerous living situation in the face of an oncoming
storm. When they arrive at an emergency shelter, people with
disabilities have been separated from the service animals that enable
them to navigate independently. We trust that any legislative efforts
to strengthen the training of emergency response personnel in managing
animals in a disaster will include existing obligations to abide by the
ADA.
To be sure, there have also been occasions where states have
stepped up to ensure that people who depend on service animals are able
to keep the animals with them in emergency sheltering. In its report on
the 2017 hurricanes aftermath in that state, The Storm After the Storm,
Disability Rights of North Carolina described the value of shelters
that accommodated survivors' service animals.
One of the survivors there reported that having his dog with him
and knowing he was well-cared for `meant the world' to him. In another
shelter, a veteran with chronic PTSD said having his dog nearby (in a
trailer behind his shelter) where he could visit with him daily helped
him to manage his symptoms. In yet another shelter, a survivor was
provided a separate room so they could be with and care for their dying
dog.'' \1\
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\1\ Storm After the Storm, Disability Rights of North Carolina,
https://disabilityrightsnc.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/DRNC-
Report_The-Storm-after-the-Storm-2.5.19.pdf
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Reference was made during the hearing to the PETS Act which
requires that states and localities include in their disaster plans the
needs of people with household pets and service animals. This law has
obviously been of considerable comfort to many people faced with having
to leave their homes in a natural disaster. However, unless managed
properly, unintended consequences can result that violate the rights of
people with disabilities in a disaster. That same report by Disability
Rights of North Carolina highlighted the story of a mother of a 26-
year-old non-verbal young man with severe autism who was deeply afraid
of dogs. Her son became aggressive and agitated when shelter staff
``would not allow him, his mother and 27-year-old sister to stay in an
area of the shelter away from service animals.'' In a previous shelter,
staff had permitted the family to stay in a room separate from other
survivors because of the son's sensory concerns. ``At the new shelter,
the family was told they had to be grouped in a room with other people
with disabilities, which she said was called `the disability room' ''
that included two service animals.
We ask the committee to ensure that the rights of people with
disabilities are not inadvertently discounted in any legislation
seeking to accommodate people with service and/or companion animals.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the task force.
Erin Prangley, Co-Chair,
Director, Policy,
National Association of
Councils on
Developmental
Disabilities.
Susan Prokop, Co-Chair,
National Advocacy Director,
Paralyzed Veterans of
America.