Animals in Disasters and Emergencies

ICPEM alongside our partners the British Animal Rescue and Trauma Care Association (BARTA), the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC), the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) and The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA), recognises that animals; pets, livestock, working animals and wildlife, are a significant and recurring factor in emergencies and disasters.

 

Their presence influences evacuation behaviour, responder safety, welfare outcomes, recovery costs and public confidence, making their consideration an essential part of effective and resilient emergency management.

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Our joint work in this area focuses on improving how animal impacts are anticipated, planned for and integrated across the resilience system, rather than addressed reactively during incidents. Our aim is to support a more consistent, proportionate and system-wide approach to animals in emergencies.

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Why this matters

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Across floods, wildfires, severe weather, industrial incidents and evacuation scenarios, animal impacts are routinely observed:

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• People may delay, refuse or return to evacuation areas because of animals

• Transport, rest centres and temporary accommodation may lack appropriate provision

• Livestock impacts can intensify economic damage and prolong recovery

• Responders may face avoidable risk when animal rescue or management is improvised

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Where these impacts are treated as exceptional or specialist, preparedness becomes uneven and preventable harm can occur.

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Strengthening consistency across the resilience system

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A key strand of ICPEM’s ongoing work involves improving how animal impacts are understood and treated across hazards and at different levels of planning. Working with partners  BARTA, the NFCC, the RCVS and the RSPCA,  ICPEM is supporting efforts to ensure that impacts on animals are recognised as a cross‑cutting consequence within national and local risk frameworks.

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This includes engagement with the National Risk Register and its role in shaping Community Risk Registers, planning assumptions, training and exercising at Local Resilience Forum level. The focus is on making visible and consistent what is already encountered in real incidents.

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Aligning practice with existing duties

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UK legislation already provides a basis for considering animals in emergencies, including through the Civil Contingencies Act and the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004. ICPEM’s work seeks to help translate this existing legislative intent into routine and reliable operational practice, reducing reliance on ad hoc local interpretation or last‑minute decision‑making.

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The outcome ICPEM is working towards

A resilience system where animals are routinely considered as part of emergency consequences, planning assumptions are clearer, and responders and communities are better prepared. By embedding this approach across policy, planning and practice, ICPEM aims to reduce avoidable risk, improve welfare outcomes and strengthen confidence in emergency management arrangements.

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More detail on this work can be found below in the letter submitted to the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster at the Cabinet Office.