Local Emergency Planning Issues for Animal Control

Trainer
Dr. Jacob Casper, DVM, Maryland Department of Agriculture, Coordinator of Disaster Services

Description
Until recently, animal issues occurring during disasters or terrorism events did not receive adequate planning. Some of the concerns involve what to do with animals when people must leave a disaster area; how to handle the remains of a large number of dead animals; how to protect the community and farm from animal diseases that could spread to people or cripple the economy; how to use animals as indicators of disease trends in the community; and, finally, what specifically can individuals, professionals and governments do to resolve and plan for these issues?

Local Emergency Planning Issues for Animal Control will discuss animal evacuation and sheltering, dead-animal disposal procedures, disease bio-security and animal bio-surveillance. It will end with specific recommendations you can use to plan for animal concerns before the occurrence of a disaster.

Trainer
Jacob Casper, DVM, is a graduate of the Michigan State University College of Veterinary Medicine. He recently retired from the Maryland Department of Agriculture after 36 years. During the last 15 years of his career there, he was the director of the department’s Frederick Veterinary Animal Health Laboratory and its lead representative to the Maryland Emergency Management Agency.

Dr. Casper was reappointed after his retirement to the position of coordinator of disaster services for the Maryland Department of Agriculture. He is also co-chairman of the Maryland Animal Disaster Planning Advisory Committee (ADPAC). He has published articles on issues during disasters and terrorism events in numerous national publications and has lectured extensively on the subjects at meetings throughout the United States.