Late last year, MLD began a project for the California Veterin
ary Medical Foundation (CVMF).
Grant Miller, a veterinarian at the CVMF chose MLD to manage the warehousing and fulfillment functions of the program. The CVMF’s goal was to place a 20’ storage container each filled with non-perishable emergency animal sheltering supplies into every county in California. After placement, each container would be available to the county in a time of disaster to help animal control agencies shelter lost or displaced animals during disaster responses.
At the MLD Warehouse, we received, separated and loaded each container with 1900 disposable bowls, 154 clip boards, 58 horse neck bands, 1,000 dog and cat ID bands, 24 large, 72 medium and 52 small fold-able animal cages, 75 pounds of kitty litter, 384 leashes, 2,000 disposable plates and 1,000 zip ties.
Overall, the program successfully distributed 64 of these containers, one for each of the 58 counties and an additional 6 were distributed to larger counties, such as San Bernardino, or to isolated, heavily wooded counties, where a fire could deny access to a single container so an additional container was placed in a different part of the county as a back-up.
The good news is the project was completed nine months ahead of schedule. Now that California is in the middle of its fire season, with dozens of fires raging throughout the State, these animal supply containers are in place and currently providing supplies and staging areas for displaced and injured animals. A network of volunteers at each container site is tasked with providing care and services for affected animals during time of crisis.
These containers will be in place for years to come. Although it would be ideal if they are never used, it’s good to know that the supplies are there for our beloved pets in time of need. 
MLD has worked with the CVMF in the past on a similar smaller scale project, and the CVMF was pleased that we could help again to broaden the state’s ability to help animals in disasters.