It’s May, and that might mean stunning vistas of wildflowers and grasslands, and lots of baby animals and birds. Or, you may be coping with days or weeks of extreme weather and rapid temperature shifts. Something for everyone, and much to be ready for!

Saturday, May 2

Wildfire Action Day

kicks off

National Wildfire Awareness Month

Join HALTER Project, Firewise USA, your local fire agencies, FireSAFE Council or Firewise community, to take action now to make our neighborhoods safer for animals and their people.

Safer homes for people are safer homes for animals!

Wildfire and wild weather can happen year-round, and you can stay prepared by chipping away at prep and planning throughout the year.

Are you and your pets, equines, and backyard livestock ready?

It can seem daunting, but by tackling your to-do list one piece at a time, you’ll be amazed at how much you can accomplish. And, you don't have to do it alone! Make animal prep a group project: enlist your family, your neighbors, your barn-mates, and any others who include animals in their lives.

Whether you need to start from scratch or refresh and update your current Animal Emergency Plan, we have all the tools you need to dive in. Thinking about starting a Neighborhood “Pet Emergency Network"? We’ve got resources to help you connect and inspire others.

Our motto is “All Species, All Hazards, All Safe”

Our goal is to help empower animal owners and guardians to help themselves, and others, and keep cherished furry, feathery, scaly and finny companions safer, and ready for whatever -- wherever you are!!

In this edition of HALTER NewsNotes we are starting with Pet Safety Tips and Tools, followed by an Equine & Livestock Safety Bulletin to help you get ready for the seasons ahead.

Here are some of our most helpful tools for neighborhood leaders.

You can download other Animal Preparedness workbooks that suit your needs here.

Pet Emergency & Disaster Preparedness

Download

Pet Disaster Prep for Seniors and Caregivers

Download

Plan de Emergencias para Mascotas

Download

Pet Evac Prep Checklist Poster

Download 11x17" Poster

Safe drinking water is critical for people and animals.

It's the single most important thing we need to have plenty of to get us through a local emergency or large scale disaster. While we can all do OK for a few days on limited healthy food rations, we all need sufficient water to keep us healthy.

Here are resources to help you make sure you have what you need to keep yourself, your family, and all your animals well hydrated.

Download

Download

Download

Download

Whether you have a small backyard with a chicken coop or several acres with a barn or pasture, you can take steps to make your animals’ home safer during and after a fire, flood, storm or quake.

• Make plans for early and safe evacuation.
• Share and PRACTICE plans with others and your animals.
• Harden your home, barns, and pastures to reduce, wind, and flood risks and help firefighters.
• Stay aware of weather forecasts and conditions.
• Include plans for the barn cats and other animals.
• Know when to prep and when to go.

Fire Weather Barn Routine Poster

(11'x17")

Hang this FireWeather Routine poster in your barn, where everyone will see it. (Tip: have your local copy store print and laminate it).

Wildfire-Ready Barn Checklist

Print the FireWeather-Ready learn Checklist and do lunchtime walk-around with barn-Nate’s or neighbors.

Use the Barn & Ranch Safety Workbook to make or update your emergency & disaster plans—and practice!

Settle down with a cup of tea and your favorite critter and watch these fun and lifesaving videos from some of our favorite partners.

Home Defense Starts at Zone 0

CAL FIRE

Fire Chief Debunks Defensible Space Myth

How to Quickly & Safely Evacuate from Fires American Red Cross

What Does Barn Fire Prevention Really Look Like? Practical Examples in Equine Facilities

Looking for a presentation for your next Firewise meeting or therapy community gathering? Here’s a terrific workshop featuring our own Julie Atwood talking Prep for All your Animals-Big or PLUS a presentation by a retired  Sonoma County Fire Marshal and FireSAFE Council CEO. A perfect presentation that will inspire your audience!

Watch on HALTER Project Youtube

The first 3 months of 2026 were jammed full of great events. We met so many fabulous folks from all over the the world (and our own Northern California region).

From small neighborhood prepared groups and Firewise Community meetings and regional Leadership Summits to statewide and international conferences, we connected with a tremendous array of folks.

Highlights included our 3rd engagement acre International Association of Fire Chiefs WUI Conference, where we always meet amazing people from all over who are dedicated to making their unique communities stronger and ready for wildfire. This year, we were honored to co-sponsor a cool reception for Fire-Adapted Communities. Never expected to have a signature cocktail and napkins named for us!

A week earlier, we were in the foothills of Centeral California for the CalCARTs Leadership Summmit and Training, which brings together animal response resources from many California counties, along with nationally-recognized experts. Always a tremendous learning experience.

In between, we were honored to again be included in FireSAFE Sonoma’s annual Community Leaders Summit, which feels more and more like a reunion. 

We’ve also participated in a very impressive Evacuation Workshop hosted by the City of Saratoga (in the heart of Silicon Valley), some fun outdoor prep fairs in several counties, deliver a CERT training, a couple of webinars for FireSAFE and Firewise organizations, and helped lead our county’s increasingly large and empowering 2-day CERT-Multi-Agency Earthquake Simulation Exercise and Fire & Earthquake Expo (where Julie was a featured speaker).

HALTER Project also embarked on a partnership with American Red Cross to include Pet Prep education in the ARC “Sound the Alarm” events, combining home safety and evacuation prep info with smoke alarm installations in hundreds of homes.

And those are just hi-lights!! Connecting with community organizations, agencies, leaders, educators, and individual animal parents and guardians is the lifeblood of HALTER Project. But we need helpers—YOU—to share the knowledge with your own community partners, family and friends.

Get in touch, join us on our YouTube channel, and download workbooks and posters to help keep animals and people safer, stronger and together, no matter what may happen.

Happy May—hope to meet more of you in the coming months!

Sonoma County Earthquake Mass Casualty Simulation Exercise participants

Signing off with this great shot of the entire group of Firefighters, Sheriff Air Rescue, Medical Reserve Coros Volunteers, Anateye Radio operators, CERT and Animal Response Team volunteers drilling to gain experience responding together.

Building community through Preparedness!