Representatives Titus (NV-1) and King (NY-2) recently introduced an important Bill called the PREPARED Act (H. R. 1042). If signed into law, this bill would require research institutions to “develop, document, and follow” a contingency plan to care for animals that may be subjected to natural disasters or other emergencies because they’re held captive in facilities that could suffer in a natural disaster.

NEAVS has been working with our partners at Lewis & Clark Law School for over a year to protect research animals from natural disasters by:

• Identifying best practices in disaster preparedness;
• Discovering how many animals died as a result of disasters at key research facilities; and
• Exposing violations of protocols related to animal welfare resulting from disasters.

Here’s why this legislation is needed:

• In 2001, approximately 35,000 animals (including 78 monkeys, 35 dogs, and 300 rabbits) caged in facilities operated by died as a result of flooding caused by Tropical Storm Allison. These animals were housed at the Texas Medical Center and Baylor College of Medicine.
• In 2012, a lack of adequate disaster planning and flooding from Hurricane Sandy led to the drowning of thousands of animals at New York University’s Smilow Research Building in Manhattan.

Stay tuned to learn more about this increasingly relevant animal welfare threat, understand the horrific cruelty experienced by animals abandoned in their cages, and take action.

You can help us support this effort RIGHT NOW by asking your representative to co-sponsor this bipartisan Bill. Please take two minutes to protect animals!