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County animal services launches voluntary livestock registry and urges preplanned evacuation drills
Summary
Santa Barbara County Animal Services announced a voluntary livestock registry and urged owners of large animals to prepare evacuation plans, noting that limited trailer capacity and responder resources make preplanning essential.
Santa Barbara County Animal Services Director Sarah Aguilar announced a voluntary livestock registry and urged owners of horses, cattle and other large animals to prepare evacuation plans during a wildfire preparedness meeting in Solvang.
Aguilar said the county rolled out an online livestock registry that will be available on the animal services website by the next day; the form collects contact information, animal types and counts, gate codes and details about available trailers or other resources. ‘‘The most important thing that you can do is have a plan before disaster strikes,’’ Aguilar said, describing the time pressure and logistical limits responders face during an evacuation.
The county’s animal-services team operates limited transport capacity and relies heavily on mutual aid from neighbors and volunteers during incidents, Aguilar said. She described the county’s experience during a recent fire where responders recorded requests involving horses, cattle, llamas, ostriches and other animals; animal-services staff arranged mutual‑aid offers and requests after the event and found that many community members were willing to help but needed coordination.
Aguilar said the registry will allow animal services to contact owners quickly, match needs and offers, and reduce roadway congestion by facilitating earlier, organized moves. The county will also offer a paper mailer version for residents who cannot access the online form.
The agency provided a two‑page checklist at the meeting with guidance on preparing large animals for evacuation or for sheltering in place, and staff said the Office of Emergency Management and county animal services will coordinate communication during incidents. Attendees were directed to the OEM table in the lobby and to a QR code linking to the new registry form.
County officials asked owners to practice loading animals into trailers ahead of time — including at night if that is likely under emergency conditions — and to coordinate with neighbors on who has trailer capacity and gate codes.
