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The Ulster County Animal Response Team (UCART) is a collaboration between The Ulster County Office of Emergency Management, the UCSPCA, the American Red Cross of Northeastern NY, and UlsterCorps. Recent extreme weather events in Ulster County, like Hurricanes Irene and Sandy, have underscored the need for a coordinated approach to caring for companion animals as well as people in the event of a disaster or emergency. County Animal Response Teams serve as a specialized resource to assist local emergency management officials, as needed, in all phases of an emergency (mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery) or disaster that impacts animals to ensure the humane care and treatment of animals in case of a disaster, or other situations that cause animal suffering by rescuing, relocating, fostering, etc.; and to assist in protecting public health concerns where humans and animals interact.

County Animal Response Teams are public and private partnerships for the unified, interagency preparation and response to animal emergencies; they integrate governmental agencies, non-profit organizations, veterinarians, and private volunteers for a cohesive and effective approach in response to animal related disasters, and are based on the principles of the Incident Command System. They increase the capability to respond to animal emergencies on the local, county, state and federal level, have a mission to provide prevention, response and recovery for animal emergencies, and require their members to receive specific training, and sign and abide by a code of conduct.

Volunteers are essential to make these plans viable and assist with prevention, response & recovery for animal emergencies. The Ulster County Animal Response Team (UCART) is an all-volunteer team with members across Ulster County. The UCART is to be deployed at the request of Ulster County Emergency Management. Pre-trained volunteers will assist local emergency management officials, as needed, in all phases of an emergency or disaster that impacts animals. Qualified volunteers** are covered for worker’s comp and liability under Article 26-A of Agriculture and Markets Law.

To learn how you can be a part of this critical community effort, please contact Nadia or Liz at ucart@ulstercorps.org 

Learn more:
https://alert.ny.gov/become-county-animal-response-volunteer

>> Volunteer Sign-up Form

** There are 4 courses (available online) required to be a certified CART member:

Required FEMA courses:
IS-100 Intro to ICS (Incident Command System) (2 hours)
IS-700 National Incident Management System: An Introduction (3 hours)
IS-5.A: An Introduction to Hazardous Materials (3 hours)

FEMA Student ID
If you have taken a FEMA course before, you will already have a student ID number (SID). If this is your first time taking a FEMA course, register with FEMA using the link below to get your SID. https://cdp.dhs.gov/femasid/register

Once you have your FEMA ID, you are ready to log in and start your 3 required FEMA courses.

• We recommend you take ICS 100 (approx 2 hours) before you take ICS 700 (approx 3 hours).
• You’ll take an online test at the end of each of the 3 FEMA courses.

Required ESART online courses:
ESART Orientation
ESART Orientation Self-Exam and Certificate
ESART Code of Conduct
(download this form, sign and send to ucart@ulstercorps.org)

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