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Five years after Katrina animals and their owners are still on their own when a disaster happens. The Red Cross will not shelter pets with their owners. Disaster responders are not trained to handle animals. Officials are not enforcing the PETS Act. It is time to do something about it: join DART!

Lamorinda DART (Disaster Animal Response Team)

Lamorinda DART is a group of experienced animal disaster responders. DART specializes in Animal Care and Sheltering during disasters. Our operational area includes the City of Lafayette, the Town of Moraga and the City of Orinda. Our emergency animal shelters are located near a shelter for people. Other partners are the Contra Costa County Animal Response Team (Contra Costa Animal Services), Noah's Wish, other DARTs in Contra Costa and the American Red Cross. Together, we rescue the whole family.

Join Our Mailing List!

If you are interested in receiving information about DART (training dates and locaations, deployments, new DARTs, etc.) you should sign up for our newsletter. It only takes two steps: 1. register on our main web site: http://usDART.org , and 2. select any of our mailing lists. It is that easy!

DART Members Only

Volunteer Requirements PDF Print E-mail
Written by Frans Hoffman   

As first responders during disasters, DART Volunteers must meet a number of criteria.

In addition to having Pet First Aid & CPR, having certain FEMA Certifications (see below), we require that every volunteer signs the DART Volunteer Waiver and Consent Form, carries their own health and vehicle insurance, and has the ability to pass background checks and home visits. At various stages, we may ask for references who may be checked as needed.

Noah's Wish

We recommend that all DART graduates join Noah's Wish - a national organization that specializes in rescuing and sheltering animals during disasters. DART works closely with Noah's Wish and will often deploy alongside Noah's Wish during disasters in Northern California.

FEMA Certifications:

In order to be eligible for deployment in a disaster FEMA requires that you have the following certifications:

  • IS-100
  • IS-200
  • IS-700

These certifications can be obtained by taking a free online training offered at http://training.fema.gov, look under Independent Study.

In addition any agency that DART has a Mutual Aid Agreement with may impose additional requirements.

 
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Dog First Aid Training

Dog First Aid & CPR Training

Cat First Aid Training

DART Cat First Aid & CPR

Start Your Own DART!

Interested in starting your own disaster animal response team? If you are representing a CERT group, watch this exciting slide show and learn how Lamorinda DART can help you deliver advanced CERT training to your graduates.

First, watch the online presentation! Then check our Frequently Asked Questions about Starting a DART. If you have any questions, please contact us at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

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