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Michigan Volunteer Turns Personal Experience Into Statewide Effort to Protect Pets, Livestock & the Families Who Depend on Them
Quindecim Pet & Livestock Disaster Response Team℠ partners with DART Command Central to rebuild Michigan's animal disaster response network
August 15, 2026 — Michigan — A power outage. A wildfire. A livestock emergency.
For Cathy Ruprecht, each experience revealed the same problem: when disaster strikes, Michigan families may be told to evacuate—but they may have nowhere safe to take their animals.
Ruprecht, President of the newly forming Quindecim Pet & Livestock Disaster Response Team℠, is working to change that.
On August 14, 2026, Quindecim signed a Memorandum of Understanding with DART Command Central (DARTCC), connecting the new statewide Michigan organization with a growing national network dedicated to strengthening disaster preparedness and response for animals and the communities that care for them.
The partnership will help Quindecim build the volunteer, training, organizational and technology infrastructure needed to develop a statewide pet and livestock disaster response capability.
“Where do we go with our pets?”
Ruprecht's motivation comes from experiences that have stayed with her.
While volunteering at a Red Cross shelter during a power outage, she was helping operate a shelter for people when she began seeing Facebook posts from residents sitting in homes where temperatures had dropped to around 40 degrees.
“They were asking if there was a warm place where they could go with their pets,” Ruprecht recalled.
The question was simple. The solution was not. Later, she spoke with evacuees from a wildfire only a few miles from her home. The fire came with little to no warning, leaving families scrambling to find somewhere for their animals while they evacuated. Then came another realization.
While watching a wildfire notification on the Watchduty app, Ruprecht realized the fire had started only two miles from her home. Within one mile of her were approximately 90 livestock animals—and no established place for them to go and no transportation plan to get them there. For Ruprecht, these weren't abstract emergency-management scenarios. They were examples of what could happen in her own community. And they led to a simple goal.
“I want Michigan families to be instructed by their county emergency manager to evacuate—and to know they must bring their animals with them because safe pet and livestock shelters are available,” Ruprecht said.
Saving animals can save people
The connection between animal safety and human safety became even more personal when Ruprecht spoke with an evacuee following a recent flood.
The man told her that if emergency responders had not agreed to take his pet, he would not have left his home.
“Saving pets does save people,” Ruprecht said.
That lesson has been reinforced by disasters across the country, including Hurricane Katrina, which brought national attention to the consequences of leaving animals out of emergency evacuation and sheltering plans. The federal PETS Act subsequently strengthened the requirement for state and local emergency planning to address the needs of household pets and service animals during disasters.
Michigan already recognizes the importance of animal preparedness through its Michigan State Police Animal Care Support Plan, which provides guidance for incorporating animal needs into emergency planning.
The challenge is having the trained people, local relationships, transportation, sheltering resources and systems in place to make those plans work when disaster strikes.
That is the gap Quindecim is working to address.
Building the response before the disaster
DARTCC developed the Emergency Animal Shelter App (EASApp®) to help emergency animal shelter teams prepare for and manage animal sheltering during disasters. Through the partnership, Quindecim will be able to use EASApp to support the development and deployment of its statewide response capability.
“Cathy's story illustrates exactly why community preparedness matters,” said Deb Shelby, Founder and Executive Director of DART Command Central. “She isn't waiting for the next disaster to figure out what Michigan families and their animals will need. She's looking at what she has seen in her own community and building the network before the next emergency happens.”
The partnership also reflects a larger effort by DARTCC to help rebuild animal disaster response capacity across the country. Many community response networks were disrupted or diminished during the COVID-19 pandemic. As communities work to rebuild their emergency preparedness infrastructure, DARTCC believes animal response must be part of that effort—not an afterthought once an evacuation has already begun.
“People shouldn't have to choose between their safety and the animals they love,” Shelby said. “And emergency responders shouldn't have to improvise a solution in the middle of a disaster. The goal is to have the relationships, resources, trained volunteers and technology already in place.”
For Quindecim, that means building a statewide team capable of supporting both companion animals and livestock, while helping communities establish the local networks needed to respond effectively.
For Michigan families, the ultimate goal is simple: when their county emergency manager says evacuate, they should know where to go—and know that they can bring their animals with them.
About Quindecim Pet & Livestock Disaster Response Team℠
Quindecim Pet & Livestock Disaster Response Team℠ is an Upper Peninsula based Michigan organization being developed to strengthen disaster preparedness and response for pets, livestock and the families who depend on them. The organization is focused on building the volunteers, partnerships, training, resources and response capabilities needed to help Michigan communities prepare for emergencies and keep people and animals safe.
About DART Command Central
DART Command Central (DARTCC) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization working to strengthen community disaster preparedness by connecting people, organizations, technology and resources before emergencies happen. DARTCC developed the Emergency Animal Shelter App (EASApp®), a national technology platform designed to help emergency animal shelter teams prepare for and manage animal sheltering during disasters.
DARTCC's growing network includes state and regional animal disaster response organizations across the United States. Its broader vision is to build stronger communities through preparedness, education, technology and collaboration—helping people and animals be ready before disaster strikes.
Media Contact:
DART Command Central