How can CVET be requested?
As a state resource, CVET must only be requested when the local veterinary capacity has been exhausted or overwhelmed, and state assistance is needed. The animal response personnel needing veterinary support must work with their local Office/Department of Emergency Management to submit a formal state resource request for CVET/veterinary care. CVET cannot deploy directly to a county without state request and approval.
What services does CVET offer?
We strongly believe that veterinary support should be involved in all animal disaster response operations. In many cases, this will involve providing veterinary support to animals that are housed at an emergency shelter. In addition to shelter care, CVET is also able to provide veterinary support for field operations, consultation for animal operations and veterinary care, support of animal service and animal response team operations, assistance in transfer of patients to tertiary hospitals, assistance in coordination and management of animal operations, and other veterinary requests as needed.
What types of animals will CVET treat?
By legislative mandate, CVET is responsible for providing care to household and domestic animals and livestock.
How can I become a member of CVET?
Outside of the few full-time UC Davis staff members, all of our responders are 100% volunteer. We rely heavily on the strength and support of our volunteer members for our team to operate. As part of a medical response team, all of our volunteers have some degree of veterinary knowledge. If you have veterinary experience and would like to inquire about being a volunteer with CVET, please email us.
What are the training requirements for being a member of CVET?
All CVET members are required to completed basic Incident Command System (ICS) training through completion of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Independent Study (IS) courses 100, 200, 700, and 800. And although not required, we also recommend CVET members complete IS courses 10 and 11. These courses are free, self-paced, and can be found online. After completing these courses, you will receive a certificate that you will need to save and provide to CVET for proof of completion. In addition to the required ICS courses, CVET members are also required to complete CVET Basics, an orientation class to how CVET operates and your role during response operations.
I’ve never responded to a disaster before. Can I still volunteer?
Yes! CVET will provide you with the trainings and information you need in order to be ready for a response.
Additional questions?
If you have any additional questions about CVET, please email us and we will respond to you as soon as we are able. Thank you for your interest!