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31803 Establishing Large Animal
Evacuation Shelters in Texas
B.D. Scott* and W.T. Bissett, Texas A&M University,
College Station, TX, USA
INTRODUCTION
The Gulf Coast Region of Texas has encountered three ma-
jor hurricanes in the last four years. These hurricanes have
inflicted an enormous amount of damage to the State with
regard to loss of life and property damage, as well as the
death and loss of livestock. Hurricane Katrina (2005) alone
was estimated to have caused in excess of 81 billion in dam-
age along the Gulf Coast Region, making it the costliest
tropical cyclone/hurricane in United States history. Hurri-
cane Ike (2008) was the third most destructive hurricane
and was estimated to have caused an estimated 22 billion
in damage. Over 11 billion in damages was caused by Hur-
ricane Rita (2005) and was the forth-most intense Atlantic
Hurricane. One of the major concerns that Texans face dur-
ing natural disasters involves not only their own evacuation,
but the evacuation and sheltering of animals. As a result of
Hurricane Rita, the Pets Evacuation and Transportation
Standards Act of 2006 was enacted. The Pets Act amends
the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assis-
tance Act to require the Director of the Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA) to ensure that state and local
emergency preparedness operational plans address the
needs of individuals with household pets and service animals
prior to, during, and following a major disaster or emer-
gency. Additionally, in 2007, the Texas legislature adopted
Simba’s Law (TX HB 88) which requires the state to estab-
lish and operate training programs and programs of public
information or assist political subdivisions and emergency
management agencies to establish and operate programs
plans for the humane evacuation, transport, and temporary
sheltering of service animals and household pets in a disaster.
The Governor of Texas, Rick Perry, in his recent Executive
Order (RP-75) stated, ‘‘Governor’s Division of Emergency
Management (GDEM) should develop and implement a
plan to address the evacuation and sheltering needs of
individuals with companion animals.’’ The Texas Animal
Health Commission (TAHC) was asked to assist with the
evacuation and sheltering of companion animals and found
it necessary for each jurisdiction to create an Animal Issues
Committee (AIC) to prepare plans for managing all types
of animal issues in their communities. Several counties
in Texas formed AIC’s in conjunction with their local Emer-
gency Management offices.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
In the fall of 2007, the AIC was established in Brazos
County (Bryan/College Station, TX). This AIC was under
Abstracts  Vol 29, No 5 (2009)
the direction and guidance of the Brazos County Emer-
gency Office. This committee was comprised of personnel
from the local emergency management office, law enforce-
ment, Texas AgriLIFE Extension Service, Texas A&M
University Large and Small Animal Veterinary Hospital,
local veterinarians, animal control officers and the local an-
imal shelters. The committee was divided into two groups,
Large and Small Animal. Both groups identified an inci-
dent commander for their groups and began developing
an Animal Issues Plans for their two groups, respectively.
All administrative members of the AIC were required to
complete three levels of the Incident Command System
(ICS). Both groups utilized the Louisiana State University
Emergency Animal Shelter Disaster Response Manual as a
template in developing the county model plan. As in many
situations that involve county facilities, many discussions
were held with regard to recovery of financial costs associ-
ated with the sheltering activities.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The process of establishing a large animal evacuation shelter
involves a tremendous amount of coordination between
numerous groups. Coordination with local, state and re-
gional emergency management groups is vital. Sheltering
information and availability was publicized on statewide
2-1-1, as well as on various websites. Additionally, Bryan/
College Station, TX is located on a major evacuation high-
way and a multitude of individuals are moving into and
through these towns. A Gateway Center was established
to handle traffic traveling north on this major highway. At
the Gateway, clients with large or small animals were given
directions to the respective shelters and the shelters received
radio calls informing them of their impending clients. When
the clients arrived at the large animal shelter, their horses
were triaged by attending veterinarians, identified by paint
branding and assigned to one of three locations in the facil-
ity. The three areas were low-risk, high-risk and hospital sta-
tus. In emergency situations, the TAHC waives the negative
Coggins test requirement; therefore, if a horse arrives at the
shelter without proof of a negative Coggins test, that animal
was placed in the high-risk area. All owners were responsible
for daily feeding and care of their large animals and owners
were required to check in with the office staff upon arrival
and departure from the facility. Staff, veterinarians and local
law enforcement were present at the facility 24 h/d.
During hurricane Ike (September 2008), the Brazos
County Large Animal Evacuation Shelter housed 173
horses, 4 pigs and 2 longhorn cattle. At the time of the
hurricane, the maximum number of horses that could be
sheltered was 175. The owners were asked to pay a minimal
amount for their stay at the facility. Additionally, feed and
hay was available for purchase at the facility. Owners were
allowed to hand walk their animals; however, no riding
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was allowed. Recreational vehicle spots were available for
purchase. A total of 52 owners from 25 different counties
utilized the shelter. A survey document was administered
to the owners prior to their departure and resulted in an
81% response. When asked to rank their overall experience
at the shelter, 93% of the respondents indicated they had
an excellent experience and would return to the facility in
the future. Additionally, 93% of the respondents had
confidence in the shelter staff, were happy with animal
accessibility and felt security was adequate. One-hundred
percent of the respondents indicated that the proce-
dures and paperwork were thoroughly explained upon
check-in.
Keywords: Disaster; Shelter; Horses; Evacuation
REFERENCES
1. ‘‘LSU Emergency Animal Shelter Disaster Response Manual.’’ 2006.
31600 Development of an Equine
Best Management Practice
Demonstration Working Horse Farm
C.A. Williams,* M. Westendorf, C. Obropta, S. Ralston,
W. Bamka, and K. Malinowski, Rutgers, the State
University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ, USA
INTRODUCTION
The goal of this project was to create a research and educa-
tional venue at the equine research facility of the Rutgers
New Jersey Agriculture Experiment Station, under the aus-
pices of the Equine Science Center (ESC). The overall goal
was to showcase best management practices (BMPs) for
equine and other animal facilities. This goal was met by ac-
complishing the following objectives: 1) implementation
of stormwater BMPs that will minimize water quality im-
pacts and evaluating the efficacy of these practices, 2) estab-
lishment of pasture management strategies that are
protective of the environment while maximizing forage
quality and availability, 3) creating an effective manure
management system to minimize the environmental im-
pacts of animal waste, and 4) conducting educational dem-
onstrations and workshops showcasing the BMPs for
stakeholders.
The project was funded by the New Jersey Agricultural
Experiment Station0 s State Equine Initiative, New Jersey
Department of Agriculture, Natural Resource Conserva-
tion Service (NRCS), New Jersey Department of Environ-
mental Protection and the Environmental Protection
Agency for a total of $425,000, strong evidence that this
project addressed environmental issues important to our
stakeholders in New Jersey.
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MATERIALS AND METHODS
Pasture Management
The five fields of the 30-acre farm were soil tested and will
continue to be tested on a three year basis. A fertilization
and liming plan was developed based on the soil test
recommendations. Weeds in all the fields were identified
and a mowing and herbicide-spraying plan was imple-
mented and is updated on a yearly basis. Three of the five
fields have been completely renovated or over-seeded.
One of those fields includes plots of eleven varieties of grass
species to use as a teaching demonstration area and possible
research site. A new fence layout for a rotational grazing
system with sacrifice lots has been implanted with a new
perimeter fence that uses Diamond-mesh wire and a top
rail with an electric wire. Future plans are to utilize a variety
of temporary types of fencing as demonstrations in the
rotational system.
Water Quality
Storm water designs for the three types of BMPs have been
selected for implementation at the ESC: 1) a bioswale to
treat agricultural/pasture/road water runoff, 2) a dry
well/infiltration trench to treat roof runoff from the
barn, and 3) a bioretention basin to treat agricultural and
pasture runoff. Additionally, riparian buffers were designed
for controlling and treating stormwater runoff from the ag-
ricultural fields and manure storage pads that are associated
with the site.
Manure Management
We have completed a Comprehensive Nutrient Manage-
ment Plan for the entire Rutgers University farm, including
equine, dairy, pig, sheep and goat manure production. This
has been approved by the NRCS and is being strictly
followed. The satellite manure storage pads have been de-
signed with the help of NRCS and have been constructed.
They include a vegetative buffer to decrease the amount
of nutrient runoff from these pads. Plans for a windrow
composting site are underway and in the process of being
finalized.
Educational Programs
An educational program has been centered on the newly
constructed BMPs that are of particular interest to small
farm owners. The on-farm demonstrations allow inter-
ested stakeholders to see a wide range of developed
BMPs first hand and to talk with the people who de-
signed, constructed and maintained these BMPs. This is
an invaluable resource especially for the large number of
novice farm owners so common in our state. Horse
owners and other farmers were and will continue to be in-
vited to the facility for twilight and workshops/seminars
to learn how to identify areas of concern at their facilities