Natural disasters cause massive farm animal welfare harms, and emergency preparedness planning can significantly reduce suffering.
Farm animal welfare in disasters is a massive, underaddressed problem. Millions of chickens and pigs drowned in North Carolina's factory farms during flooding — not because evacuation was impossible, but because no plans existed and the economics made rescue unattractive. Animals in industrial buildings that flood face slow death by drowning or exposure. Fire evacuation of poultry is practically impossible given the bird numbers involved. The welfare solution requires both pre-disaster preparation — elevated structures, emergency water provisions, evacuation contracts — and post-disaster response capacity including emergency veterinary services. Including farm animals in official emergency management planning is an achievable policy goal that would dramatically reduce disaster welfare harms.