
DARN Emergency Response Team
Response and Disaster Relief is one of our greatest passions. While our hearts are always with the animals, we have learned that to make the biggest impact, you must help the people who love them as well. During times of crisis, when people might have limited or no resources, some families make the devastating decision to surrender their animals, just to ensure they are cared for. The more we can all work together to help a family, the easier it is for them to navigate in times of strife. DARN has actively assisted in numerous disaster efforts, including wildfires, tropical storms, hurricanes, flash flooding and unexpected severe weather events. In addition to disaster relief, DARN has provided support and resources for hoarding and animal cruelty cases, food insecurity, and actively supports multiple efforts around our current pandemic. Our largest push over the last year has been around acquiring necessary equipment to assist with these efforts.


September 1, 2021 - We were grateful to our supporters and donated lots of animal food and supplies for folks affected this hurricane season. We made it to Louisiana today and dropped off a lot of supplies to a displaced rescue from Matairie. They were very happy when we added 7 of their pups to our transport manifest. Next stop Chicago, Illinois! We are always happy to partner with our friends at

March 20, 2021 - We were happy to take part in the National Weather Services Flood and Flash Flood Training this AM. It was hosted by Bastrop Office of Emergency Management and was specific to the Austin/San Antonio area and very informative.

March 2, 2021 - We were excited to add a new chain saw to the DARN family. Our friends at B&B Auto Supply and Small Engine Equipment always keep our equipment serviced and gave us a deal we couldn't refuse after our Central Texas winter storms wore our last one out.

Bastrop Winter Storms - Feb 20 & 21, 2021
DARN delivered over 250 lbs of dry dog and cat food and 3 cases of wet food to community members affected by the storms. We were also able to assist our local shelter with a propane gas donation after they lost utilites.


Jan 16, 2021 - DARN was happy to be spend our day partnering with the City of Austin's Dpt of Health distributing Moderna COVID vaccines. This shift is expected to distribute the first round of vaccines to 600 senior citizens.
Hurricane Laura Disaster Relief with the Cajun Navy in and around Lake Charles, Louisiana - September 30 - October 8, 2020
We had the unique opportunity to deploy to Louisiana and partner with the Cajun Navy for 9 days. We stayed at their base camp and were there long enough to be able to participate in many of their initiatives - home and property clean up, food/catering for volunteers and citizens, receiving and organizing donations, distributing food/HBA/equipment necessities via in person visits to the base camp store & delivery and creating social media posts outlining the many efforts taking place. It was a pleasure to be able to learn from one of the leaders in the disaster relief industry.



Hurricane Laura Disaster Relief, Louisiana - September 5 - 7 2020
We were able to build relationships with 3 great organizations (Manor Disaster Relief, Hobo Hotel For Cats, C & K Rescue) that we know we will be partnering with and supporting in the future. We helped MDR gather donations and haul food and water to be shared with community members in need across devastated area in Louisiana. For dogs, we donated almost 400 lbs of dry food, 5 cases of single serving bags of dry food, 4 cases of canned wet food, 1 case of single pouched wet food, and 30 large dehydrated bones to replenish C&K Rescue's supplies. For Cats, we were able to donate needed food and supplies to our new friends at HHFC. The donation included over 350 lbs of dry food, 1 case of single pouched wet food, over 40 lbs of scoopable, 100 lbs of unscoopable litter, 20, 4 cans of milk replacement, 10 gallons of fuel for generator use, 7 cases of bottled water, 3 bottle feeding sets, and 25 moisture absorbers.





COVID Emergency Response, Central Texas - July 2020
We were thrilled to receive a grant of 3000 masks from Heart 2 Heal which enabled us to distribute them to 13 of our network partners and dozens of families in need.

COVID Pandemic Response, Austin, TX - Dec 30, 2020
We were happy to assist a fantastic food distribution effort made possible because of an amazing partnerships between the City Of Austin, the Central Food Bank and the Austin Independent School District. We arrived at 6:45 AM and already had hundreds of cars lined up and assisted over a thousand families by the end of a very long shift. We were exhausted but happy to assist pandemic efforts in a time of great need.


Hurricane Barry, Louisiana - July 12 - 14, 2019
We assisted Save An Angel by flying into New Orleans to assist with the mandatory evacuation of shelter animals in Plaquemines Parish, LA due to Hurricane Barry. The LA SPCA loaned us a large cargo van and we drove 45 cats and 2 rabbits from New Orleans, LA to Chicago, IL and then made a return trip to LA to meet up with the rest of the SAA team.


Hurricane Harvey, Texas - August 31/September 1, 2017
We partnered with our friends at Bastrop Animal Rescue and went into Victoria, Texas and Port Lavaca to assist with water rescue and to help animal control feed & water displaced animals. We came back with a trailer to bring much needed supplies to assist their local shelters.





Bastrop Complex Fires, Bastrop County Texas - September/October, 2011
When the complex fires started in Bastrop, Texas we started to see a lot of pleas online to assist with animals in harms way. We responded and assisted with moving cows, transporting horses, goats and sheep. We also assisted with food donations and preparations for a large evacuation shelter, and took shifts to assist with leaving food and water out of burned out home sites. After the fires were out, we worked to assist with clearing multiple home sites that weren't covered by insurance. The work continued for months and allowed us to met many of the groups that we continue to volunteer and support.