Sonoma Valley Animal Emergency Response Team

 The Sonoma Valley Fire District has a specialized unit which provides and utilizes specialized training and equipment to assist veterinarians and public safety officials with the technical rescue of large or small animals in distress due to entrapment, illness or injury and efficiently extricate them humanely.

There is no charge for our services, but donations are encouraged and gratefully accepted!
Availability and response times may vary and unfortunately cannot be guaranteed. A Veterinarian must be present or responding.

Our equipment cache is extensive and training meets the Operations Level guidelines established in NFPA 1670 Standard on Operations and Training for Technical Search and Rescue, Chapter 9 and Annex J, Animal Technical Rescue.

While first responders will make heroic efforts to assist animals in distress in a variety of situations, they often lack the training specific to equine technical rescue and usually do not have the proper equipment required to do so safely – for both the animal and the rescuers.   In these scenarios, injury to the animals from using improvised equipment or improper techniques is quite common. Also the safety of the responders and their knowledge of animal behavior.  Our equipment and training, even if it takes a little time to get it to the scene,  can mean all the difference in keeping rescuers safe and in providing the horse (or other large animal!) with every opportunity for a successful outcome.  Because our equipment is purpose designed, it also accomplishes the job MUCH faster than other lay-methods which means animals, fragile and subject to potentially deadly medical complications from prolonged recumbency or entrapments, usually fare better during and after the their rescue.
 

FOR ANIMAL RELATED RESCUES - CALL 911.