Published works

The issue of animals in disasters and animal emergency management

Consideration of animals (pets, commercial animals, livestock and other animals, including wildlife) can impact on people’s decision making and behaviour during disasters and emergencies. In addition the management of animals in disasters is complex; involving many stakeholders and requiring clear roles and responsibilities for all concerned and a high degree of co-ordination. In Australia, despite increasing levels of interest and activity in this area there is a general lack of integration of animal emergency management in the emergency management system and no nationally-agreed approach.

Its significance

A lack of preparedness by some animal owners combined with the severity of the emergency situation and strong attachment to animals can lead to issues of public and responder safety. Animal owners may risk their lives to save animals, may fail/refuse to evacuate, may abandon or release animals, may have unrealistic expectations if they evacuate with their animals, and may try to return before it is safe to rescue or tend to their animals.

The interface between animal owners/wildlife-concerned general public and response agencies is important in preparedness and response. Engagement materials for some owner groups, specifically households with pets, is widely available; although their effectiveness in terms of improved preparedness and planning are not clear. However, in emergency response, responders can be faced with difficult dilemmas and highly emotionally-charged situations. In addition, if there is a lack of co-ordination in response there can be confusion for animal owners and responders and further potential for risky or impulsive decision-making and poor animal welfare outcomes.

Communities frequently perceive gaps in animal emergency management response and this leads to emergent informal volunteering to rescue or move animals. Sometimes this occurs in risky conditions and by well-intended, but chaotic means, and can add to the workload of, and cause distraction to, official response agencies at critical times.

Our approach

Given the breadth of the problem and the lack of a body of Australian research in this area we are following a phased approach in the MAiD project. Initially we have scoped the area; identifying the challenges and needs of responders and stakeholders, reviewing plans, policies, and initiatives and identifying priority areas with our project end-users and other stakeholders.

We have now transitioned to the field work stage in the research program to focus on the experiences and issues around the integration of emergent informal volunteers into animal emergency management, using the Sampson Flat fire as a case study. In addition we are developing a multi-stakeholder research project in Tasmania to focus on peri-urban animal owners. We are developing a method to collect data, and hopefully map, animal ownership distribution and owners’ intentions in bushfires to support planning for Tasmania Fire Service, the Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment (DPIPWE) and local government. Following this ‘proof of concept’ study we plan to test this approach in another jurisdiction and another hazard, e.g. flood or cyclone, to assess whether this can be flexibly applied across different contexts.

In addition to our two main field studies we have a PhD student in South Australia investigating the animal owner-responder interface in the Port Lincoln area; which has been experienced numerous fire events in the last decade. We also have a number of smaller studies underway in South Australia with horse owners and with livestock producers, being undertaken by team members and students.

As outlined above, the MAiD project has, and continues, to produce a valuable evidence-base for animal emergency management in Australia. We will work with our end users to produce usable techniques/methods and materials to support the integration of different stakeholders in this area. In addition, through our focus on animal emergency management, we will advocate for greater acknowledgement of animal emergency management as a ‘people’ issue and look to assist in the national dialogue and production of training materials to support better integration of animal emergency management into the Australian emergency management system.