On this page: 
Have a Plan
Join our Team
Simple steps to Membership
Get Training
The tri-state is a BIG area to cover and we can't help the animals without YOUR help!
Take a moment to read through the items below and see if you can find some ways that you can help the animals.
Also look over the pages listed to the left if you would like to be a CART volunteer.
Have a plan and supplies for your own animals
Many disasters and emergencies happen suddenly. If you are not prepared in advance, you will require the assistance of various agencies. It is likely that it will take a few days for these agencies to get in place and get organized, which means you are on your own until that happens.
The current advice from the federal government is to be prepared to survive on your own without assistance (or power or water supply) for at least 5 days regardless of outside temperatures. It is likely that the agencies will be over loaded with calls for help which will further delay the speed of assistance to some people. If you can care for yourself and your animals during the first several days after a disaster, this helps reduce the impact of the disaster of you, your animals and the community. All CART team members must have their own plan and supplies in place to care for their own family and animals first. If you have multiple animals in your care, please click on the "Multiple Animal Care" link on the "Website Navigation" page to learn more.
Loading up to head to Katrina
If you know that you would want to help if there is a disaster, then please let us know before the disaster strikes! We know there will be many people offering help if something happens and we appreciate that. However, if we can get as many people as possible prepared in advance, they will be much more useful to us. There will be little time for training during a disaster (and there is more to know than you can imagine!) If you can arrive on scene and know exactly what to do with minimal instruction, that will be fantastic but that will only happen if we know about you now and can teach you what needs to be done (and what supplies we need you to bring for yourself) when a disaster strikes. Please read the "Disaster Overview" page to get an idea of the amount of work and types of work/training involved. The "Explination of Duties" page will also give you some insight to how much needs to be learned in advance for the safety of the volunteers and the animals.
By letting us know of your interest to respond and do a needed task in case of a disaster in your own county or in a neighboring county, you will be helping us help the animals. We need to know that there are trained people we can rely on to respond if a disaster or emergency strikes. We will conduct training sessions and drills from time to time to educate and prepare the team members. Many of the volunteers would only be needed in the event of an emergency and for occasional training drills.
