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Photo of 2007 AEWG Symposium - Click to enlarge
For Immediate Release: January 11, 2011
Contact: Lynne Richmond            
(609) 633-2954

(TRENTON) – The New Jersey Animal Emergency Working Group (AEWG) will hold its 14th Annual Symposium on Friday, March 25, 2011 at Rutgers University in New Brunswick to prepare state and county animal response teams to aid animals during emergencies.

The daylong seminar will seek to ensure all counties have animal emergency response plans in place and know the resources available to them.  There will be reports from the American Red Cross, Department of Environmental Protection, State Police Office of Emergency Management, Department of Health and Senior Services, Research Facilities and the Department of Agriculture.

Hands-on training and demonstrations will involve equine, bovine, swine, goats, sheep, dogs, cats and wildlife.  In addition, there will be a beneficial knots demonstration.

Disasters, such as the earthquakes and floods, which kill, injure and render homeless animals, as well as humans, highlight the need for trained personnel who can address the needs of animals in emergency situations. New Jersey has more than 1.7 million farm animals, mostly chickens, horses, cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs. In addition, there are millions of dogs and cats owned throughout the state.

The New Jersey Department of Agriculture, under the auspices of AEWG, develops and coordinates plans to protect animals during emergency situations.  It oversees state and county animal response teams that work in the field during disasters and emergencies.  The AEWG operates under the New Jersey Department of Agriculture’s Division of Animal Health and the New Jersey State Police, Office of Emergency Management.

Animal control officers, police and firefighters, county emergency planners, animal response volunteers, veterinary-related personnel and others with an interest in assisting animals during emergency situations will be in attendance at the symposium, which will be held 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Round House, Cook Campus, Rutgers University, New Brunswick (adjacent to the NJ Museum of Agriculture, 103 College Farm Rd.).

For more information or the registration form, visit: www.nj.gov/agriculture/news/events/2011AEWGRegistrationform.doc.

For more information about AEWG and county and state animal response teams, visit: www.nj.gov/agriculture/divisions/ah/prog/emergency_preparedness.html.