NORWAY – Regardless of how stressful the day may have been, when Ken Ward comes home from his security job he is greeted by Izzy’s friendly wagging tail and the gentle purr of his cat, Misty.

For many people, pets are parts of the family, and as such, need the same preparation and care when a natural or man-made emergency strikes.

That’s why Ward, Shirley Boyce of Norway, and a dozen other volunteers formed Oxford County Animal Rescue Team – OXCART for short – to find ways to make shelters set up for people also suitable for their four-legged, furry friends. Or their feathered or scaled friends, as well.

OXCART is an all-volunteer organization that has already set up shelters for people and animals at Buckfield High School and Fryeburg Academy. That’s just the beginning. Eventually, they want to have a trained team and people/pet shelters in the north, central and southern sections of the county. And by the end of 2009, an animal shelter is expected to be set up at Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School, Ward said.

A shelter for domesticated animals is important, he said.

“We’re designed to think for ourselves and wild animals have instincts. Pets don’t have that survival instinct,” he said.

He and others approached the county about trying to do something for pets who may be abandoned if their owners are forced to evacuate their homes.

“Pets are special,” said Boyce. “Watching what happened with Katrina was heartbreaking. I volunteer at Responsible Pet Care so it made sense that I should help out on this.”

But efforts started even before that, during the ice storm in 1998 when about 150 pets from throughout the central and southern part of Oxford County were brought to a temporary animal shelter in what is now the Save-A-Lot grocery store in Paris.

“They did the best they could and pulled together,” said Scott Parker, emergency management director for Oxford County. A now out-of-business pet store provided a huge amount of help during the ice storm.

Volunteers helped make it possible for the pets of people who had to go to a shelter to leave their cats and dogs and other furry or feathered friends there.

Parker supports emergency shelters for people’s pets.

“I’m very animal oriented. If I have volunteers out there, I wanted them to have training,” he said.

He said Oxford County is the first county in the state to have an animal rescue team trained by the county.

All volunteers for OXCART must complete a community emergency response team course. That requires attending a free nine-week course that meets for two and a half hours each week. A new one begins on Feb. 4 at Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School. Those interested may contact Allyson Hill, Oxford County Emergency Management office manager, at 743-6336.

She has been crucial to organizing OXCART, said Ward, by organizing training and other tasks important to the group.

The team recently received word that it received an $8,000 homeland security grant that will be used to buy a 16-foot trailer to transport the cages and other materials needed at a shelter site.

“We’ll have enough equipment to supply the two sites at once in the trailer,” Ward said.

Boyce said the state has provided about 20 cages, and there are other materials in Augusta if they are needed.

The Oxford County group has worked with similar organizations.

In the summer of 2007, several OXCART members helped clean and evacuate a puppy mill operation in Buxton.

Training takes place periodically, such as at the local high school and at Buckfield High School.