In October 2025, as a powerful storm devastated communities along Alaska’s western coast, Eric Thompson boarded a plane to Anchorage. 

As Executive Director of BISSELL Pet Foundation’s Animal Incident Management® (AIM) program, Eric spent the following weeks helping the state locate displaced pets, establish a hotline for worried families and deliver food and medical care to villages that supply trucks couldn’t reach. 

Alaska was far from the only emergency that needed Eric’s attention this year. 

When wildfires threatened communities in Georgia, Eric and BPF’s AIM team coordinated shelter transport to help families evacuate with their pets. In Colorado, he helped mobilize an emergency shelter team as a fast-moving fire swept through the mountains. Along the Texas border, he supported a national response to a serious livestock disease threat, helping protect farm animals and family pets. 

But some of AIM’s most important work happens long before disaster strikes. 

Over the years, Eric has helped BPF establish a nationwide network of shelters and emergency management agencies prepared to respond when animals are in danger. He’s become a trusted first call for communities across the country, whether they need BPF’s direct assistance or guidance in finding another solution. 

This year, he strengthened that network with new agreements in Alaska, Tennessee, Florida, South Carolina and Alabama, helping ensure more communities have the resources and relationships in place when a crisis hits. 

He’s also helped prepare the people who respond first, from firefighters learning to rescue dogs from icy water to emergency teams practicing flood rescues and shelter staff training to manage animals in the chaotic first hours of a disaster. 

Building this kind of readiness takes time, planning, strong partnerships and donor support. It’s work that happens throughout the year, often out of public view, and it’s an essential part of BPF’s commitment to protecting pets and the people who care for them. 

From disaster planning and training to emergency response and shelter transport, your support allows AIM’s work to continue 365 days a year. Because when the next flood, fire or storm hits, communities need trusted partners they can turn to, and pets need people ready to act.