Animal Welfare and Disaster Response: Emergency Planning

Natural disasters including floods, wildfires, and hurricanes create animal welfare emergencies affecting millions of pets, livestock, and wildlife. Integrated disaster response planning improves outcomes for all animals.

Key Facts

Hurricane Katrina (2005) resulted in the abandonment of an estimated 600,000 pets; the PETS Act (2006) requires state emergency plans to address animal needs.
Livestock losses during major disasters can number in the millions; California wildfires regularly kill tens of thousands of farm animals.
Wildlife displaced by disasters face starvation, predation, and injury in unfamiliar habitats.
Evacuation compliance increases significantly when pet owners can bring their animals — abandonment frequently occurs when shelters prohibit pets.
Animal-inclusive emergency planning reduces both animal and human mortality by encouraging earlier evacuation.

Welfare Considerations

Disasters create acute welfare emergencies for animals across all categories. Pets abandoned during evacuations face starvation, dehydration, and trauma. Livestock unable to be moved face burning, drowning, or starvation. Wildlife displaced from their territories face both immediate dangers and longer-term habitat loss. Integrating animal welfare into disaster planning — through co-sheltering for pets, livestock evacuation coordination, and wildlife rescue protocols — substantially reduces animal suffering during and after disasters.

What You Can Do

Include your pets in household emergency plans with food, water, and carrier provisions.
Register large animals with your local emergency management agency for evacuation support.
Support organizations like the Humane Society Disaster Response Team.
Advocate for animal-inclusive disaster planning in your local emergency management framework.
Train as an animal rescue volunteer through CART (Community Animal Response Team) programs.