As we head into May in Napa County, we are thankful for the incredible natural beauty spring rains bring.
2026 marks the ten year anniversary of Napa CART, and we continue to benefit from the support of our community and our dedicated group of talented volunteers.
Napa CART uses springtime to train our team and refresh skills they may need during fire season. Below we share some spring highlights.
January 24th – Napa CART team members attended an Animal Technical Rescue (ATR) technician course at the Atwood Ranch in Sonoma, California, hosted by the HALTER project.
Attendees spent two full days working in teams with fire fighters and animal control officers to extricate large animals from entrapments.
These real world scenarios included a horse stuck in a pool, an overturned trailer, a downed horse in a confined space.
These are high risk, low frequency situations which require advanced equipment, knowledge, and skill to resolve safely.
Napa CART’s ATR team meets monthly to practice, and is available to Napa County first responders for incidents involving animals.
February 14th – Napa CART Team Leads gathered to inspect equipment and update inventory in preparation for 2026 training and response.
Thanks to the generosity of our community, Napa CART maintains several animal transport trailers, equipment trailers, and supply caches around the valley which ensure that the CART is able to mount a rapid response.
March 17th – Napa CART attended the 6th annual Cal CARTs Leadership and Training Summit.
Dr. Sonder is a founding member and the current Vice President of Cal CARTs. 22 CARTs came together to share best practices, lessons learned, and participate in a state-wide shelter intake exercise which was an excellent opportunity to standardize training for mutual aid.
Napa CART’s very own Lisa Towell provided guidance and support for the training exercise, while Katherine Theus presented information about Grants and Fundraising, and Angie Martin gave a talk about using AI as a Thought Partner.
State agencies, first responders, CART volunteers and national animal non-profits all strengthened their networks while learning from each other.
March 27th – Napa CART hosted its tenth annual volunteer training. Numerous new and returning volunteers engaged with our team leaders and had opportunities to handle large and small animals in our shelter intake exercises.
We are grateful to Napa Valley Horsemen’s Association and Ag 4 Youth for allowing us to host our equine and livestock training on site.
We also had the opportunity to learn from the amazing Napa County Animal Shelter Team and the UC Davis CVET team intaking companion animals to the Napa Valley College shelter site. Our March weekend provided all involved with excellent hands-on practice, including the animals! (See photos below).
April 17th – Napa CART Outreach volunteers participated in the Napa County Earth Day festival and shared valuable preparedness tips and resources with community members.
Community Outreach is our greatest tool to protect the human-animal bond and encourage pet owners to practice their plan with their families. Simply having and practicing a Red Flag Day Routine can make all the difference.
April 25th – Napa CART field teams gathered at Connolly Ranch in Napa to practice Shelter in Place and Evacuation of the amazing array of animals. The Connolly Ranch Team displayed their leadership and excellent preparation by testing their disaster plan. This gave their animals, their staff and the Napa CART volunteers an opportunity to learn in a low stress, supportive environment. Giving animals the chance to practice care and loading by someone other than their human, increases their chances of a positive outcome in a real disaster. We look forward to working with other local animal facilities who wish to practice a plan.
Check out the great social media post on Instagram that the Connolly Ranch team put together about our collaboration! (See screenshot below).
Click or tap to learn more about becoming a volunteer.
Our volunteers enhance their own preparedness and animal handling and assessment skills. If you are a pet owner or animal lover, consider joining our team and making a difference locally.
Thank you for your continued support of Napa CART, and for the steps you are taking to keep your animals safe when disaster strikes. We could not do the work we do without your generous donations.
With Gratitude,
Claudia Sonder
Napa CART President
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