Animal Rescue Team – Design Notes

Below you’ll find:

  1. Real Life Animal Rescue Stories

  2. Game Design Diary

  3. Other Resources

Enjoy!

– Matt Leacock and Lisa Towell

Real-life Animal Rescue Stories

Lisa Towell, March 2025

People have been rescuing animals for as long as we’ve been sharing our lives with them, but it’s only in recent years that animal disaster response has become a more integrated part of overall emergency response operations. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina brought national attention to the importance of including animals in plans for disaster response. Rescuers were given no consistent directives about rescuing animals, and in many cases had to leave them behind when they pulled humans out of flooded houses. Abandoned animals were left on rooftops or huddled in ruined homes, and many thousands drowned or starved. About half of the people who didn’t evacuate out of Katrina’s path made that choice because they were unwilling to abandon their animals, and some of them lost their lives as a result.

After the waters receded, support ran high for making some changes. Congress passed the Pets Evacuation and Transportation Standards (PETS) Act to require that state disaster plans address the needs of companion and service animals. Many states passed similar laws. Now, it’s commonplace for cities and counties to have formal plans in place for responding to the needs of animals during disasters. And volunteer organizations have sprung up all over the country to assist government agencies with this work. Animal Rescue Team has its real-life roots in the work of these volunteer groups.

My introduction to the world of animal rescue was the media coverage of animals impacted by Katrina. I wanted to travel to Louisiana to help care for animals in the emergency shelters, but I soon learned that this work requires training in disaster protocols. So, I signed up with two national animal disaster response groups, got trained, and started getting deployed to assist animals in natural disasters, and also human-caused disasters like hoarding and dog fighting. It’s hard work (lots of crates to be cleaned on hands and knees!) but incredibly rewarding, knowing that we were helping these dogs and cats on their journey to better lives in loving homes. I am constantly in awe of the dedication shown by these volunteers who give their time and energy so generously to help animals in need.

In 2018, I was deployed to the Camp Fire, the most destructive wildfire in California history. I worked in a temporary shelter for small animals, caring for the animal companions of people who had lost their homes in the fire. I was so glad that we could help the human fire victims by looking after their dogs and cats while they started to put their lives back together. At the Camp Fire, I learned about the work of local animal disaster response teams, often based in a single county, that train volunteers to assist Animal Services agencies during disasters. I joined several of these organizations in California and learned how to help with the work of evacuating animals from areas threatened by wildfire, and how to feed and care for the animals who had to be left behind. It’s been an incredible experience – exhausting, overwhelming, sometimes heartbreaking, but I don’t want to stop. Helping animals in harm’s way, and the humans who love them, is one of the best things I’ve ever done in my life.

Many of the stories on the cards in Animal Rescue Team were inspired by the things I’ve seen, and by what I’ve heard from other animal disaster workers. In addition to cats, dogs, and horses, I’ve interacted with rabbits, goats, llamas, pigs, sheep, chickens, ducks, donkeys, miniature horses, emus, and many more. Sometimes a disaster brings to light unexpected animals in private menageries – the tiger in Animal Rescue Team represents the many big cats, primates, bears, and other wild animals who live, often illegally, in confinement on private property.

Animal Heroes

Sometimes the animals themselves are the heroes. Stories abound of brave dogs who saved their human companions from attacks or other hazards. Scarlett the cat got worldwide attention for risking her own life to save her family. Scarlett, a stray calico in Brooklyn, New York, was caught in a building fire with her five kittens. She courageously carried the kittens to safety one by one, severely burning her face, ears, and paws in the process. Scarlett and the four surviving kittens had a happy ending – all were adopted to good homes. To recognize the many real-life animal heroes, two of the pigs in Animal Rescue Team, Lulu and Lucky, are named after real pigs who saved the lives of their human companions.

Game Design Diary

We could either include this here or perhaps it could be on its own, dedicated page.

Resources

  • We could perhaps link to a PDF that has the tips for being a real-world animal rescuer that we included in the rulebook.

  • Organizations of interest?

  • Other stuff?