News from HALTER Project 
Do you board and ride at a training facility? Keep your horse at a private barn or ranch? Attend horse shows or rodeos where your horse is stabled overnight? Own or manage a stable or rescue sanctuary?

Every property and facility where equines and livestock are confined to barns, pens and paddocks needs multiple disaster plans. Most professional facilities are required to have regular fire safety inspections and staff trained in first aid. But how prepared is your horse's home? And, do you know what plans are in place?
No one plan fits all

Everyone and every facility needs not just Plan A, but Plans B and C. There's no "one size fits all", and no plan will be perfect. However, you can improve the odds for safety, survival, and health for you and your riders, staff, and animals, by having multiple plans in place that are realistic and can be implemented, regardless of the event.
Remember: in any major disaster, responders may not be able to reach you for 3 or more days. Self-reliance, planning and training will help you pull through.
Get Ready for Whatever!
Individual Preparedness is Key

If you're not able to care for yourself, you can't help others, including your animals. Having group plans, facility plans, AND individual plans, is critical. 
 
If you have a plan, review and update it. New staff? Schedule a training day. Worried boarders? Have a meeting and review the plans. You'll be a community role model and hero!
 
If you don't have a plan, use someone else's plan as a template and tweak it to fit your needs. There are many good plans available online. We've included links to a number of them below.

  HALTER Project - Make A Plan
Here's a basic step-by-step outline,
and some helpful resources.
STEP 1: Register location with local Animal Services Agency

Planning should start with help from your local Office of Emergency Services and fire service managers, which needs to be involved in evacuation route planning, traffic management, and shelter-in-place planning.

Give address, number of animals and people, access details, site plan, contacts, infrastructure resources, potential hazards.
STEP 2: KNOW THE STAGES OF EVACUATION

Start by making sure everyone understands the "Stages of Evacuation", and the need for planning for each:
  • Pre-Mandatory Evac - Know your local warning alerts, weather advisories, radio stations, social media groups
  • Mandatory Evac Orders - Once you leave you cannot re-enter!
  • Shelter-in-Place - Animal responders will be the resources providing care, working with emergency managers and Incident Command.
  • Re-Entry - How and when orders are issued and carried out, what dangers may exist, and what infrastructure impacts you may be faced with - and what risks and needs are associated with each.
STEP 3: BE SELF-RELIANT

Have emergency supplies safely stored where easily accessible and make sure people know where they're located.

Schedule Disaster Safety Awareness Trainings for staff, trainers, and adult riders. Be sure all staff and trainers have basic disaster safety awareness, CPR and first-aid training.
STEP 4: MAKE A PROPERTY DIRECTORY  

Include CONTACTS & CRITICAL INFORMATION:
  • Property Owners, Managers, Workers, Equine Owners, Trainers, Veterinarians, Farriers 
  • EMERGENCY RESOURCES: Fire Department, County Animal Services, County Agriculture Commissioner, transportation services, water and feed resources.
In the case of an equestrian facility, you'll need a lot of info from owners before you can fully develop or implement a realistic plan.

STEP 5: DO A RISK ASSESSMENT FOR ALL TYPES OF DISASTERS

What could happen at this location? Imagine every incident, big or small, and make a plan for it: Earthquake, fire, flood/debris flow, extended power outage, down trees and/or power lines...
This starts with regular site inspections with local fire department, Insurance Representative, tree service, and transportation resources 
Everyone needs to be on board and understand what the plan will - and will not- do. (For example: if there are horses that do not load easily, have trailer "preferences". Know which horses won't load, and/or, cannot be management responsibility...
STEP 6: ASSESS NEEDS  

What can happen/What will you need?
Tools, equipment, transportation, safe shelter for humans, adequate and secure water supply, power for essentials, food for humans and animals, communications. 

If the facility has no safe shelter-in-place space, and/or no backup water or power sources, then there must be transparency about potential impacts on animals on site.
STEP 7: DEVELOP WRITTEN AGREEMENT OR MEMO OF UNDERSTANDING, (MoU)

In times of extreme stress, having clear directives and knowing who is responsible is crucial. Have a concise document explaining expectations for animal care in every situation. These include: directives for veterinary care, euthanasia, and explicit instructions for acceptable expenses. Make sure that owner permission to allow decisions to be made by others is included.
Ensure that animal owners understand that, by law, animal services personnel and/or veterinarians in the field may make decisions based upon human treatment standards without obtaining owner permission. 
FINAL STEP: WORK WITH EMERGENCY MANAGERS  

Finish the cycle where you started - by submitting your detailed plans, resources, and needs to your local emergency services for review and feedback.
Collaboration is key, for properties of any size and type. Make it as easy and as SAFE as possible for responders to help you by engaging them long before you might need them. Their priority is to save lives and property, and providing information, and maximizing safety, will enable them to help you.
USEFUL RESOURCES

HALTER  | (707) 318-7526 | rescue@HALTERfund.org 
12099 Sonoma Hwy, Glen Ellen, CA 95442     HALTERproject.org