Rural communities, businesses and individuals need to adapt and build resilience to emergencies. Your animals are your responsibility. You need to include them in your emergency planning and preparation. Failing to plan for them puts lives at risk.
Preparing animals for emergencies
If an emergency happened today, do you have a plan in place to save yourself, your family, and your animals? Learn how to prepare to ensure the welfare of your animals during a disaster, such as an earthquake or flood.
Include animals in your emergency plans
Your animals are your responsibility. You need to include them in your emergency planning and preparation. Prepare an emergency plan that covers the major disasters that could affect animals in your family, farm, or workplace.
Discuss your plan, record it, and practice it with your family and co-workers. Keep your plan somewhere it can be easily seen. In your household, this could be on the fridge or by the front door. In a farm or animal facility, this could be kept in a dairy shed, stable, or shearing shed.
The Ministry for Primary Industries has an extensive library of resources you can use, from checklists to planning guides.
Make sure your animals can be identified
During an emergency, you could become separated from your pets and farm animals. Make sure your animals can be easily identified so you can be reunited.
Pet identification tips
* Add an ID tag to your pet’s collar. Put as much information on the tag that will fit – your pet's name, along with your name, phone number, and address
* Make sure your pets are microchipped and registered
* Dogs should be wearing their current registration tag
* Keep the information about you and the animal up to date on relevant microchip databases, including next of kin or someone outside your household.
NZ Companion Animal Register
Livestock and horse identification tips
* For livestock, ensure your National Animal Identification and Tracing (NAIT) programme details are up-to-date
* For large animals, like horses, add a tag to their halter, lead, or cover
* Make sure horses are microchipped and registered.
Extra animal identification tips
* Store a current photograph of your pets and horses in a waterproof container. Include notes on any distinguishing features, name, sex, age, colour, and breed. Also include a photograph of you and your animals together to help prove ownership if you get separated
* Save information online like microchip details, photographs, medical, veterinary, and contacts. For example, you could store it on Dropbox, a mobile phone, or an email account
Plan for every type of emergency
* Fire: Plan how you will get your animals away from the fire zone and where you will go.
* Earthquake: Arrange who will check on your animals after an earthquake.
* Extreme weather: Know what to do if there's a storm coming or plan for dry conditions or droughts.
* Volcanic eruption: Consider how far away you need to get and where you will go.
* Floods and tsunamis: Decide how you and your animals will get to higher ground.
Prepare emergency kits for you and your animals
Check the kits regularly and keep them within easy reach. You might need these kits if help is not readily available, or before you can get to a veterinary clinic.
Have copies and backups of necessary documents and records.
You need three kits
1. Home emergency kit with enough supplies for five days.
2. Getaway emergency kit with supplies for moving yourself and your animals.
3. Animal first aid kit – put first aid supplies for your animals with your own kit.
First Aid Kit for Animals Checklist
Groups who can help
Federated Farmers may be able to provide advice if you need assistance with evacuating your livestock and finding a safe shelter place to contain them.
The Rural Support Trust are also a great source of information.
Prepare a plan for your farm or lifestyle block
Rural communities, businesses and individuals need to adapt and build resilience to emergencies. Your animals are your responsibility, so include them in your emergency planning. Failing to plan for them could put lives at risk.
Here’s a link with some advice from mpi.govt.nz
