The Louisa Community Animal Response Team is a non-profit all volunteer team! Join! LCART is actively seeking new members! We will train you.
Based in Louisa, VA we serve Louisa and surrounding counties to provide mobile equipment and staff to shelter pets during disaster evacuations and support animal welfare. We are based in the Louisa, Virginia area. Email: [email protected] for more information.
07/20/2025
Looks like a good tool for figuring out your flooding risk and also to look at the places that you think you're going to evacuate your animals to and what their risk is!
Found this nugget putting together Tuesday's meeting notes:
Virginia residents, type in your address to see what your flood risk is. The mapped results are pretty cool..
It's what we do - message us if you'd like to join us and be ready for our animals here in Louisa County.
Austin nonprofit pet shelter Austin Pets Alive! is leading the efforts to find animals in the wake of the deadly flooding. Here's how you can help.
07/06/2025
Around every disaster, you need citizens and nonprofits to rally for animals! Here's what's happening in Texas for the flooding if you'd like to donate to an org who is truly working to help affected people and their pets.
This is what we do for Louisa County! If you'd like to volunteer to do this for the pets of Louisa County, comment here and we will get in touch. It takes a community! 
🚨 EMERGENCY HELP NEEDED with flooding in Kerr County!
The Guadalupe River is overflooded and has caused loss of life and devastation in Kerr County. We believe there will be a lot of pets hurt and displaced during this, and our support is needed.
Our teams are already in Kerrville, providing medical care onsite and beginning to transport animals. We will be working with Kerrville Pets Alive over the next several days and bringing pets from the Kerr County shelter to APA!
We need your help! Here’s how you can support:
🚙 Volunteer to drive to the hill country to pick up animals and/or bring supplies, support the intake, care and placement of onsite animals, and/or help accept and sort supplies onsite at APA! for the next few days
🐾 Sign up to emergency foster a dog or cat to make space for incoming animals
📦 Donations of supplies like pet food (dog and cat, both wet and dry), pet carriers, tarps, and towels. Supplies can be dropped off at our Cesar Chavez location until 7pm today (7/4) and then again tomorrow (7/5) from 8am-6pm
❗️ If you can support in one of the ways above, please fill out this form: https://bit.ly/44OknI4
Can’t help physically? Make a monetary donation now to support displaced pets by clicking the donate button below or visiting http://bit.ly/4llHEqU
We will share updates as we have them. Thank you for coming through for Central Texas pets!
Featured animals are those currently on-site at APA!
07/03/2025
CART was pleased to accompany the Emergency Management Alliance (EMACV) to the Richmond Flying Squirrels game to talk to Squirrels Fans about Pet Emergency Preparedness.
07/03/2025
We are hearing fireworks and will probably hear them until next week. Please secure your Animals and keep them safe! If you are setting off fireworks, please be conscious of horses and other livestock in your area. They too can be frightened and hurt themselves when you set off fireworks.
06/26/2025
With all this heat, people are breaking out the fans for their animals and barns. Here's another critical reminder with some great pictures of exactly what a proper fan with a closed motor should look like. Remember, don't use extension cords with fans and ensure that your plug is a three prong grounded plug. The extra cost isn't worth losing your animals and facilities!
This counts for when you travel and go to shows also as you are responsible for everybody else's animals there.
Have a safe summer!
06/24/2025
The Louisa Masonic Lodges (Lodge 58, Murray Lodge 175 and Mineral Lodge 175) held a Bowling Pin Shoot fundraiser on Saturday, June 7th, 2025. The event was hosted by Todd and Tammy Freeman and raised $2,800 which was donated to Louisa CART. Several of our team attended to assist as well as participate in the event. As an all-volunteer nonprofit organization we depend primarily on donations to operate and will always be thankful for the generosity of the people and organizations that support us! Thank You!!
06/20/2025
The July 4 time period is when the most pets are lost and end up in shelters. Fireworks go off not just on July 4, but the weeks surrounding it. Please make sure all of your pets are kept inside or secured and are microchipped and have identification collars on them at all times. Please keep them safe! 
05/30/2025
Great idea, but we would add vaccination status and use a straight font. And add photos of all of the members of the pets' family for proof of ownership.
Pet Info Sheets are an important part of preparedness planning! Ensure you and your animals are prepared in case of emergency or disaster by creating a care sheet. Each beloved pet should have their own which includes - emergency contact information, veterinary information and care instructions and more.
Laminate the care sheet and store it near your pet food. On red flag days, you can hang the care sheets on the wall near your pet food area, or tape them to your evacuation crate.
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On August 23, 2011, the Governor of Virginia declared a State of Emergency for the Commonwealth when a 5.8 magnitude earthquake shook the region, its epicenter originating in Louisa County. The Louisa Community Animal Response Team (LCART) was formed in response to this disaster to provide immediate volunteer response for companion animal emergency sheltering, either stand-alone or co-located with human sheltering. Today, LCART maintains certification as an volunteer community animal emergency response team (CART) through the Virginia State Animal Response Team, is supported by the County of Louisa as a statewide mutual aid response resource, and maintains qualifications and a Mission Ready Package as a FEMA Type 2 Small Animal Sheltering Team for statewide and nationwide deployment. We have deployed to provide companion animal sheltering in local emergencies in Louisa County and Greene County, Virginia, and in 2018 were deployed to provide co-located animal sheltering for a State-level human shelter in a hurricane emergency.
We currently maintain two fully-equipped mobile response trailers that contain all of the equipment needed to house up to a hundred dogs, cats and fowl in cages. We also have two large “DRASH” military-style portable shelters that can house approximately 50 animals each in cages. We also have a variety of equipment suitable for other animals such as horses, livestock, rabbits, etc.
Our Team Veterinarian, Dr. Melinda McCall, is a critical and valuable member of our team and provides ongoing training, advice, and on-scene services as needed.
Because of our volunteer commitment, training, experience, and ready equipment, we are also regularly called upon to assist law enforcement, animal control, and fire and emergency service organizations with animal neglect, abuse, hoarding and illegal fighting cases throughout Virginia. For example, in 2017, LCART assisted the Virginia Animal Fighting Task Force and local law enforcement agencies in ex*****on of two search and seizure warrants in a criminal cockfighting case. LCART constructed an emergency shelter and assisted incident vets and law enforcement personnel in gathering, documenting and caring for over 450 fighting roosters, hens and chicks.
In 2017, LCART assisted the Louisa County Sheriff’s Office and Animal Control with a hoarding situation. LCART deployed a large team to the incident location to assist in triage and rescue of over 571 animals spanning 19 different species. The team constructed a large, complex emergency animal shelter at the Louisa Fairgrounds to document and care for the animals. For a total of 22 days, LCART volunteers provided 24/7 medical and daily care for the largest animal hoarding case in the history of the Commonwealth of Virginia. As a result of this deployment, LCART and its Team Veterinarian received awards from the Virginia Veterinary Medical Association.
As an organizational Response Partner, our highly-trained deployment personnel have deployed with the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty of Animals (ASPCA) in Wisconsin, Ohio, Tennessee as well as South Carolina and Florida to assist with disaster relief efforts.
We believe prevention is the best disaster response! We regularly attend area public events to build support and awareness of our mission, and to educate animal owners on animal care and emergency preparedness. We provide training and public information to citizens of all ages in pet first aid and CPR, emergency companion pet sheltering, and emergency and disaster preparedness for animals of all types.
JOIN NOW! Our volunteers are provided with all the above training and a wide variety of other training in order to be qualified and ready resources in any emergency, disaster, or animal abuse or neglect situation. We are actively seeking committed volunteers to join our group! We are a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and all donations and member expenses are fully tax deductible. HELP NOW! We love our citizen and business partners and appreciate all of your amazing support over the years! If you are interested in supporting us in any way, please contact us at [email protected].
