Disasters leave millions of animals without care annually. Integrated disaster response plans that include animals improve both animal welfare outcomes and human evacuation compliance.
Animal welfare in disasters is a compound problem: companion animals die when owners refuse to evacuate without them, farm animals suffer from abandonment and acute resource deprivation, and wildlife face habitat destruction and injury from events that displace and injure thousands. The welfare solutions require advance planning rather than reactive response: evacuation protocols that include animals, emergency shelter facilities that accept pets, pre-positioned veterinary resources, and community education about disaster preparedness with animals. The emotional bond between people and their animals is a welfare resource that disaster planners should use rather than ignore: including animals in evacuation plans improves human compliance and reduces the downstream welfare costs of mass animal abandonment.