Animal Evacuations

The Sheriff's Office Animal Control Unit is responsible for coordinating animal evacuations and animal sheltering during an emergency.

Call 303-271-5070 if you need information or assistance transporting your animals. Facilities only accept animals from areas that have received an emergency notification for an evacuation.

Jefferson County Animal Response Team

The Jefferson Animal Control Rescue Team (J-CART) aids in the evacuation and sheltering of animals impacted by an emergency or disaster. J-CART works in conjunction with law enforcement, fire, emergency management and the Jefferson County Incident Management Team to safely and efficiently evacuate and shelter animals. Our J-CART partners include the following organizations:

Evacuating Animals

Download the Plan for Pets (PDF) and Plan for Livestock (PDF) brochures.
Good planning includes having agreements with friends and family outside of your area where you can temporarily take your pets and livestock.

If your neighborhood receives a pre-evacuation notice, consider leaving as soon as possible since animals, especially livestock, take a considerable amount of time to load up and transport.

If you are taking your animals to either the Jefferson County Fairgrounds or the Foothills Animal Shelter for temporary sheltering, please see the Jefferson County Fairgrounds Animal Evacuation Instructions and map (PDF) that provides information on location and traffic patterns. Temporary emergency sheltering services are provided at no cost to animal owners. Due to limited space, sheltering services are only available for those households within a pre-evacuation or evacuation area.

Evacuation Instructions Map (PDF)

Animal Evacuation Instructions Map