Emergency planning for animals

Australians love their pets – and this influences how people behave during an emergency, with emergency services incorporating findings from research to influence their plans and policies during disasters.

Led by Dr Mel Taylor from Macquarie University, the Managing animals in disasters project identified best practice approaches to animal emergency management. This has given emergency management agencies the data they needed to make better informed decisions on planning and targeting of resources. 

This project had a strong utilisation focus, with the team actively engaged with emergency service agencies, government departments and local community groups. 

Dr Taylor is a regular attendee of community events to promote research outcomes, including the Sydney Dog Lovers show, Horse Owner Emergency Preparedness Open Day supporting NSW State Emergency Service and ‘Giddy-up Get Ready Huon!’ hosted by Tasmania Fire Service.

Working with the Blue Mountains Animal Ready Community, a range of emergency planning resources have been developed to highlight the importance of planning for animals during emergencies. The resources have been used by New South Wales Rural Fire Service brigades across the Blue Mountains, as well as by the Springwood Neighbourhood Centre and the Mountains Community Resource Network. 

The resources have also been used to inform the NSW State Emergency Service's Get Ready Animals website, which launched in August 2020. The website features several targeted resources for different regions, including Blue Mountains and Hawkesbury-Nepean valley, and was awarded the 2020 New South Wales Resilient Australia Award. It is a major outcome from the NSW State Emergency Service’s Ohana Project, funded by Resilience NSW. 

NSW SES Commissioner Carlene York applauded the win at the Awards, encouraging animal owners to use the resources available on the Get Ready Animals website to ensure their readiness should a disaster hit.

“We need to make sure our communities are not only prepared themselves, but are preparing for their animals as well,” she said.

“There are many resources available through the website including How to Build an Animal Ready Community, which is a great guide to help communities and animal groups become more prepared and self-reliant.”

Prior to this was the first Blue Mountains Animal Ready Community’s community seminar, held in October 2018. The project team was integral to the involvement of the seminar, which saw over 60 people attend to learn more about how to manage their small and large pets, livestock and wildlife during an emergency, as well as how to best be prepared beforehand. Resources developed by the project that identify local animal owners’ planning and preparedness needs were distributed, and the day was MC’d by Dr Taylor.

Also in the Blue Mountains, the team partnered with the Winmalee Public School, with a student art competition developed into a book to reinforce why animals matter and why they need to be included in emergency plans.

In Tasmania, animal populations have been mapped in partnership with the Tasmania Fire Service and the Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment. This has informed evacuation planning, traffic management plans and capacity planning.

RSPCA Queensland has used the research to inform its polices, while in Victoria, the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning has used the findings to inform its risk assessment processes.

HorseSA has also used the research to support its emergency planning and gain funding for appropriate equipment, explains the organisation’s Executive Officer Julie Fielder.

“This research has provided evidence which we have used to advocate government around planning, and has helped us shape our messages to horse owners during emergencies,” she says.

Nationally, the Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience has drawn on the research to develop a section on animal management in their updated evacuation planning handbook.

State animal emergency management plans at three primary industry departments – the Victorian Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources, Western Australia Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development and South Australian Department of Primary Industries and Regions – have also been revised in consultation with the team.

In 2021, Skills Impact, a not-for-profit, industry-owned organisation that works across Australia to benchmark learning and skills standards for industry, used the findings from this research as evidence for change when developing a new training in Small Companion Animal Incident Management (12 units of competence and 3 skills sets) that would form part of Cert III and Cert IV qualifications in the Animal Care and Management Industry Sector. Skills Impact noted that the research found that during emergencies peoples’ decision-making and behaviour is significantly affected by whether they own animals, and that this must be taken into account. 

The research has also received several awards in recognition of its success, taking out the inaugural Emergency Media and Public Affairs conference research award as leading research making a difference in public safety in 2018, and as an integral part of Blue ARC’s highly commended award in the NSW community category at the 2018 Resilient Australia Awards, as well as being recognised for their contribution to NSW SES's Get Ready Animals website at the 2020 Resilient Australia Awards, as mentioned above.