Natural disasters and armed conflicts create acute welfare crises for billions of animals that are often overlooked in humanitarian response planning.
Animals in disaster and conflict zones experience some of the worst welfare situations documented — acute starvation, dehydration, injury, and abandonment at massive scale. Companion animals left behind when owners evacuate experience prolonged suffering before rescue, death, or feral adaptation. Livestock in conflict zones starve when owners are displaced and farming infrastructure is destroyed. Wildlife displaced by wildfire or flood face habitat loss, exhaustion, predation, and starvation. Emergency response frameworks that treat animal welfare as part of humanitarian planning rather than an afterthought improve outcomes for both animals and humans: the human-animal bond means human wellbeing is directly affected by the fate of companion animals, and livestock survival is critical for post-disaster food security and livelihoods.