Companion animals are frequently abandoned, lost, or harmed during natural disasters because emergency plans fail to account for them. Evidence-based preparedness significantly improves outcomes for animals and their owners.
Companion animal welfare in disasters is a human-animal bond issue as much as an animal welfare issue. Animals abandoned during evacuations experience acute fear and physical suffering — lost, without food or water, exposed to environmental hazards including fire, flood, and debris. The psychological suffering of fear and disorientation adds to physical harms. Animals that survive initial events may still die in the days following from dehydration or injury. The human dimension is equally important: people who cannot take pets with them face impossible choices that cause lasting psychological harm and reduce evacuation compliance. Evidence consistently shows that animal-inclusive emergency planning improves both human and animal outcomes — people evacuate sooner when they can bring their animals, and post-disaster animal recovery is faster when systems exist to shelter and reunite them.