When disasters strike, preparing for the safety of both people and animals can make all the difference.

Join Karla Hoggan, President and Co-Founder of the Oregon Livestock Council (OLC), for an informative presentation on livestock disaster preparedness and emergency planning. Learn about OLC’s mission to provide organized evacuation and emergency sheltering assistance for equine and livestock owners, particularly those with limited resources or functional and access needs.

This presentation will cover practical steps every livestock owner can take before an emergency, including developing evacuation plans, preparing emergency supply kits, maintaining ownership records, implementing animal identification, and reducing the risk of barn fires. Karla will also introduce Oregon’s first Equine & Livestock Pre-Registration program, an innovative initiative designed to connect owners with assistance during disasters while helping emergency responders better understand community needs before an emergency occurs.

Whether you own one horse, manage a farm, or simply want to be better prepared, this presentation will provide valuable information to help protect both people and animals when every minute counts.

Speaker Bio:

Karla Hoggan is the President and Co-Founder of the Oregon Livestock Council and serves as President of the Oregon Horse Council. Following the 2020 Labor Day wildfires and another evacuation in 2022, she and her husband, Ron, recognized the need for an organized, trained effort to assist livestock owners during disasters. Together, they helped establish the Oregon Livestock Council to provide evacuation assistance and temporary emergency sheltering for livestock, with a focus on supporting owners who may lack transportation or have functional and access needs.

Karla has helped organize and facilitate Technical Large Animal Emergency Rescue (TLAER) training throughout Oregon for the past eight years. She is an OEM Be Two Weeks Ready Coordinator, trained in Australian Person-Centered Emergency Planning (P-CEP), and holds certifications in TLAER Operations Level and Emergency Management Basic Applied Practices. Through the Oregon Livestock Council, she continues to promote disaster preparedness, emergency planning, and community resilience for livestock owners across the state.

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If you have questions about this event, need special accommodations to participate or are interested in being a future First Friday presenter, please contact Amy Zimmer, Communications and Outreach Specialist at amy.zimmer@marionswcd.net.