It has been an amazing year! We have come a LONG way and are now ready to respond to a disaster!
Here are some of the highlights of 2007:
The team leaders completed A LOT of training- both on-line and in person (combined total of 47 core courses.) Plus lots of extra curricular but related training by leaders and our volunteers.
501c3 status is complete- we are an official non-profit organization as of November 2007!
Our region in Ohio has expanded recently to include all of Homeland Security Region 6. We are recognized by several key agencies including homeland security in Ohio as THE team to call in the event of a disaster in this area.
Counties include:
Ohio
Adams County
Butler County (Team Captain: Evelyn Black)
Brown County (Team Captain: Mary Carrelli)
Clermont County (Team Captain: Bonnie Morrison)
Clinton County
Hamilton County (Team Captain: Evelyn Black, acting)
Highland County
Warren County (Team Captain: Mike Merker)
Indiana
Dearborn County (Team Captain: Chris Puls)
Franklin County 
Jefferson County
Ohio County
Ripley County
Switzerland County
Kentucky
Boone County
Campbell County
Carroll County
Gallatin County
Grant County
Kenton County
Pendleton county
(Jennifer Drake is in training to be the contact for the KY counties.)
The website is growing and improving- visit often. It is used as a guide for others that are starting CARTs. We had over 4,000 hits on the photos page. The website counter was not working on the home page, but many thousands of visitors during the year are estimated. The counter is now fixed.
We have offered LOTS of training to our volunteers at our monthly meetings. 136 volunteers attended training offered by us this year!
We covered topics such as:
Volunteer orientation,
Hazardous materials and situations awareness,
How wildlife is handled in a disaster,
How to safely handle horses,
Hands-on help with the FEMA courses,
How to set up a shelter,
Health and safety considerations for responders,
Preparing volunteers for disaster response,
First aid for animals
Our course topics for 2008 have already been selected as well and we hope you will all be able to attend! Meetings will be on the second Tuesday of every other month starting in February:
Feb.- disaster overview and the jobs to be filled on scene
Apr.- Volunteer safety (hazardous materials and working with animals)
Jun.- Farm animal handling- horses, cows, sheep, etc. (at a farm location)
Aug.- Mock shelter drill (applying what you learned)
Oct.- Volunteer preparation (what to do to be ready)
Dec.- volunteer party
We also hosted an extensive 2 day training by American Humane and will do so again in 2008 on May 24-25th.
Bonnie, our secretary, has been hard at work getting publicity in as many places as possible. This has generated a few new members. Promote CART when you can!
As of mid-December we have 63 paid members! With nearly 70 more on the "interested in CART" email list.
Coordination/Education Activities:
Bonnie is a council member of the Homeland Security Dept of Agricultural Technical Animal Council (TAC) which has resulted in Tri State CART expanding to cover all of Region 6 in Ohio and recognition by many key agencies related to disaster response in the state.
A board member of Tri State CART sits on the Clermont County Citizen Corps Council monthly meetings as well.
We participated in the National Disaster Preparedness Month activities in Butler and Clermont Counties with those Emergency Management Agencies in September 
Tri State CART has made presentations about animals in disasters with rescue groups, EMA offices, Ohio Dog Wardens Conference, American Association for the Blind Annual Conference, the State of Ohio 911 Memorial in Columbus, Ohio Council for People with Disabilities Conference, and at community events, festivals, fairs and dog events.
We arranged a safe zone and process within Clermont County for animals belonging to women that are victims of domestic abuse to help them leave that situation and get to a safe location knowing their animals will get good care until they can take them back.
We held 7 fundraisers throughout the year and distributed animal disaster information. More info on funds is below.
Alliances- we've made so many this year! We get MOU’s (Memorandum's of Understanding) and get our name out there as often as possible. We've made or strengthen alliances with the following people and agencies:
Emergency Managers of the counties we cover (even some we don't cover!)
Ohio Police Chiefs (Bonnie spoke at their annual meeting)
Red Cross (we have gotten a lot of support from them!)
Shelters and SPCA’s
Animal control, 4H, Fairgrounds committees, dog training clubs
Veterinarians- Veterinary Wellness Center in Harrison (Dr. Gaston),
and Dr. Meaken at All Creatures,
UCAN the new spay/neuter clinic in Cincinnati has offered space in a disaster
Second Chance Wildlife will handle all wildlife
Arrowhead Reptile Rescue will help with any reptiles
Anderson Family Pet Center has given supplies and offered kennel space
Wholesale Stone has generators they will loan us
Sheltering has been offered by- individuals, farms & pet boarding kennels
CERT groups- we have taught classes to some CERT groups and have great
support from teams in Ohio
Free storage facility on the East side for all our stuff! We hope to get another
on the west side in 2008
Bonnie is the Ohio state representative for EARS, a national response group
for animals in disasters.
All our disaster forms and signs are ready to go- they are the same forms used by all the national response groups and we have our own nationally recognized ID number on each form.
Phone system to notify volunteers- Our "all call" phone system allows us to call a single number and reach all our registered volunteers! This call is followed by an email with additional information.
Money!-
Grants- Clermont County Citizen Corps Council - $3000 1/1/07
We are getting $1500 from them 1/1/08. The 2007 grant enabled the purchase of
most of our expensive equipment needs and Clermont County Citizen's Corps
Council has been a huge help to us!
Bass Pro Shops lobby 12/17/06 $380.00
Bass Pro Shops lobby 12/20/06 $386.70
Bass Pro Shops lobby 2/10/07 $305.00
Other donated income $132.27 in 2006, $150.00 in 2007
Memberships in 2007 $695.00
Coney Island Spring Flower Show worked food station 4/29/07 $231.00
Dog Fest at Voice of America West Chester 6/16 & 6/17/07
Dog Fest 2007 - $11donation
Paddlefest Days at Museum - $100 donation
Charter Membership Drive for 2007 - $50
Thanksgiving for the Animals Dance Fundraiser 11/23/07 - $1293 ($130.29 expenses)
Raffle celebrate One Year Anniversary 12/9/07 - $350
Staples Rewards Programs 2007 - $57.10
Good Search Rewards Programs - $24.91
Total in bank as of Dec. 16th, 2007: $1663
Allowed the purchase of a used van for transport of response gear and…
EQUIPMENT/Training Aids Total: $1607 -
Received $3000 grant to pay for this and tuition for AHA AERS training 5/19 & 20/07
Catchpoles 5 ft & 7-12 ft
Pole Tongs
Traps
Feral Cat trap- - 1
Dog Trap - 1
Extra large dog trap - 1
No-bite gloves “Warden” gloves: 3 pairs
Pole Net “Hammock Net”
Toss Net 6’
Halters – Economy Mountain Rope Halter
Cotton lead ropes with snaps
Animal First Aid kit 4 purchased from Red Cross
Dog Stretcher - donated by All Creatures Animal Hospital
CERT Disaster Preparedness kit - received from attending course
Tyvek Suits 18 (3 people for 6 days) various sizes available
ID Bands – 3 colors available
Dog Muzzles – 10 sizes and rack available
Cat Muzzles – 3 sizes available
Leashes – 100 slip leads available
Various medical supplies donated by All Creatures Animal Hospital
2007 Other Accomplishments
Clermont 4H Jr CART Program started 10/27/07 – working on details for accreditation with Kate Gross
We are looking forward to another busy year in 2008! I hope you'll join us!
