Hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, and ice storms create acute welfare emergencies for companion animals through injury, displacement, separation, and loss of care.
Companion animals in extreme weather events are entirely dependent on human decisions — whether to evacuate, whether to prepare, whether emergency shelters accept animals. When those systems fail, animals suffer. The lesson from repeated disaster events is that companion animal welfare planning must be integrated into emergency preparedness systems from the design phase, not added as an afterthought when disaster strikes. Every jurisdiction in a disaster-prone area should have a pet-inclusive emergency shelter plan before the next event.