Household Pets and Service Animals Planning

Johnson County has been awarded a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) / Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Technical Assistance Grant for planning for Household Pets and Service Animals. DHS/FEMA has hired an outside consulting firm with expertise in animal planning, IEM, to provide recommendations and planning guidance to Johnson County on how to address household pets and service animal issues in disaster planning.

While household pet and service animal issues are currently addressed in various disaster planning/preparedness initiatives, many of us have acknowledged that additional work is needed to formalize a more comprehensive approach.

In the next few weeks, there will be community partners, county representatives, and other stakeholders joining in workgroup sessions to define the concepts, policies, and procedures to meet the 2010 CEOP planning needs.