Farm Animal Welfare

Farmed Animal Emergency Planning

Disasters pose catastrophic risks to farmed animals who cannot self-evacuate, making emergency planning a critical welfare issue.

Key Facts

Floods, fires, and hurricanes kill millions of farmed animals annually in the US alone
Most emergency management plans prioritize human evacuation over livestock
Confined animals in sheds face rapid heat, smoke, or water accumulation
Pre-planned evacuation routes, trailers, and staging areas save lives
Post-disaster disease risk among surviving animals is high without rapid response

Welfare Considerations

Farmed animals are among the most vulnerable in natural disasters. Confined in large numbers with no ability to self-evacuate, they depend entirely on human preparation and response. Without emergency plans, millions of animals suffer and die in preventable circumstances each year. Integrating farmed animals — including poultry, pigs, and cattle — into emergency management frameworks is both a welfare and a public health imperative.

What You Can Do

Advocate for farmed animals to be included in local emergency management plans
Support organizations that coordinate livestock disaster response
Encourage farmers to register animal locations with local emergency services
Donate to animal emergency response nonprofits
Reduce demand for factory-farmed animal products to reduce scale of risk