Renee, I would like more resources in these areas also - protocol and liability insurance. As to insurance, I believe how your organization operates will impact your need for insurance (and the ability to get it). I consulted an attorney about the risk in our organization; I expect to revisit the situation over time as our situation changes. Our volunteer drivers all sign an agreement that waives liability and they must have current automobile insurance when they drive their own vehicle. When we use the van of a Coalition member or check-out a van from our local Best Friends Hub (Network Partners can sign out their vans - a great benefit to small volunteer transport groups!), the drivers must be authorized by the organization that provides the van (to be covered by the fleet insurance).
Does your organization send or receive animals on transport (or both)?
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June Thomas
President
Central Arkansas Rescue Transport
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Original Message:
Sent: 05-14-2023 04:24 AM
From: Renee Milner
Subject: What should our next Resource Drive be? What kind of resources do you need in Maddie's Pet Forum?
Along the lines of transport volunteers, I would love to get more information on protocols, insurance, etc. We all know things can happen during transport, are there insurance companies out there that provide some kind of liability insurance for the transport volunteers? What if an animal bites the volunteer, or escapes, or has diarrhea/puke that shoots out the crate and all over their vehicle, or any of the other myriad of issues that can happen when animals are involved? I think it's asking a lot to just have the transport volunteers "waive" all liability. So, right now, we are not able to transport "to" others if we have to drive them ourselves.
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Renee Milner
Nonprofit Board Member
Animal shelter alliance of Rhea
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Original Message:
Sent: 05-13-2023 06:55 AM
From: June Thomas
Subject: What should our next Resource Drive be? What kind of resources do you need in Maddie's Pet Forum?
Hi Gigi. I agree! Our volunteer organization does 'just' transport - no animal intake. Central Arkansas Rescue Transport (CART) acts as organizer and liaison - finding and developing transport relationships with destination partners; we have a rescue group Coalition in the state to pull animals for these trips.
I would love more resources that address the challenges of recruiting volunteers for rescue transport activities. The lack of volunteers – not just for driving transport – is hampering our growth. My dilemma: focus on the back-office support tasks vs. acting upon transport prospects.
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June Thomas
President
Central Arkansas Rescue Transport
Original Message:
Sent: 05-12-2023 05:30 PM
From: Gigi Zoltek
Subject: What should our next Resource Drive be? What kind of resources do you need in Maddie's Pet Forum?
I would love to see more resources for networking with tranporters across the country. We still have huge areas - especially in the West/Southwest - where transport volunteer numbers are very low. I'm sure the transport groups are out there - volunteer drivers, pilots, truck drivers, etc. - we just need an easier, more centralized way to find them.
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Gigi Zoltek