Great news for Midwestern pets! The ASPCA announced the first grant recipients of our newly-launched Midwest Disaster Resiliency Program to provide much-needed funding, training and expertise to local communities to better serve and assist animals and pet parents during and after disasters.

Animals are often overlooked when it comes to disaster planning, and communities—especially those in areas like the Midwest, which experience higher rates of natural disasters—must be prepared to rescue, shelter, and provide emergency care for pets in the event of a crisis.

While the ASPCA Field and Investigations and Response (FIR) team frequently responds to natural disasters around the country, the Midwest Disaster Resiliency Program allows the ASPCA to work with communities, animal welfare organizations and government agencies in Midwestern states to better enhance their ability to respond to animals and pet guardians affected by emergencies.

Through the program, the ASPCA is providing more than $50,000 to the below groups for emergency response training, equipment and disaster preparedness:

• Animal Rescue League Of Iowa (Des Moines, IA)
• Beadle County Humane Society (Huron, SD)
• Benton Animal Control and Adoption Center (Benton, AR)
• Butler County Kansas Animal Response Team (Augusta, KS)
• City of Sherwood Department of Humane Animal Services (Sherwood, AR)
• City of St. Cloud, MN
• Enid SPCA (Enid, OK)
• Faulkner County Animal Response Team (Conway, AR)
• Johnson County Animal Response Team (Lenexa, KS)
• Kingman Pratt Area Animal Response Team (Cheney, KS)
• Kansas SART, Inc. (Wichita, KS)
• Minnesota Veterinary Medical Association and Veterinary Medical Reserve Corps (St. Paul, MN)
• Nebraska Humane Society (Omaha, NE)
• Springfield-Greene County Community Emergency Response Team (Springfield, MO)

Emergencies come in many forms and the best thing communities can do for their citizens and pets is to be prepared.  The ASPCA is also working with PetSmart Charities, Inc. to provide animal welfare organizations across the country with the equipment and supplies necessary to respond to and care for an increased number of animals in large-scale emergencies.

We are so excited to help local communities keep more families and pets together during disasters.

Want to learn more or apply for grant funding? Please visit our ASPCA Grants page for more information.