PetSmart Charities® has renewed its support of the American Red Cross Annual Disaster Giving Program with a three-year, $2.8 million grant to help more people and their pets when disasters strike.
Access to pet-inclusive disaster resources can be the deciding factor in whether families seek shelter that can keep every family member safe — including pets. In fact, 90% of pet parents say they wouldn’t leave their homes during a disaster if they couldn’t bring their pets. The new grant funding will help the Red Cross better support people with pets before, during, and after disasters, both big and small. This builds on an initial commitment that helped integrate pets into emergency response efforts, including adding a pet-friendly shelter designation to the Red Cross Emergency App.
June is National Pet Preparedness Month, and pet parents are encouraged to plan for emergencies using the PetSmart Charities pet preparedness checklist and by downloading the Red Cross Emergency App to receive real-time emergency alerts and identify pet-friendly shelters hosted by the Red Cross. Pet parents can download the app by texting “GETEMERGENCY” to 90999.
“For millions of families, leaving their pets behind isn’t an option,” said Aimee Gilbreath, president of PetSmart Charities. “No one should ever have to choose between their own safety and their beloved pets during a disaster. Over the last three years, we’ve seen what can happen when we work together to keep families together and safe, including more than 14,000 overnight pet stays in shelters hosted by the Red Cross. Additionally, we helped Red Cross train 14 pet liaisons across the country who are ready to deploy and support shelters during disasters to help pets and people reunite, rehabilitate, and recover.”
Renewed Partnership Focus Areas
The partnership and grant funding will support five key areas designed to make disaster response more pet-inclusive nationwide to ensure more families stay together when needed most:
- Disaster sheltering and pet supplies: Funding will help provide pet supplies to Red Cross-run shelters as quickly as possible following a disaster to support accommodating pets, and provide pet comfort kits to allow for quick access to pet supplies like a slip lead, food, and water bowls, and an enrichment/de-stress toy or activity in the wake of an evacuation or disaster.
- Disaster financial services: Through the Red Cross RC Care case management system, funding may help families with pet-related expenses while in shelters, hotels, temporary housing, or when transitioning to more permanent housing.
- Pet preparedness education: The partnership will help educate the public on preparing for disasters with pets and locating pet-friendly shelters through the Red Cross Emergency App.
- Staffing, disaster training, and readiness: Funding will help embed pet-inclusive planning across Red Cross disaster operations, including training, disaster content development, and collaboration across sheltering, resident transition, external relations, and other disaster response functions.
- Updating disaster platforms: The grant will support improvements to Red Cross disaster data systems, including adding pet shelter designations to the Red Cross website, enhancing pet-related data collection and analytics, and improving system integrations across Red Cross disaster platforms.
“The American Red Cross responds to a disaster every 10 minutes on average, and families — including those with pets — are relying on us now more than ever,” said Brad Kiserman, vice president of disaster operations and logistics for the American Red Cross. “With PetSmart Charities’ support, we’re helping families prepare for emergencies and find relief when it’s needed most so they can stay connected and comforted as they begin their road to recovery.”
For more information on keeping pets safe during a crisis and to download a pet preparedness checklist, visit PetSmart Charities here.
