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Pets & Animals: Emergency management should include pets, group says

Canadian emergency management systems fail to make saving family pets a priority, Humane Canada says, and that needs to change
Sudbury.com Staff
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From Pexels by Pranidchakan Boonrom

With wildfires raging in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, Humane Canada is calling on the federal government to accommodate family pets in emergency planning and response.

People consider their pets part of the family and more than 60 per cent of households include a pet, Humane Canada said in a news release, yet emergency response systems don’t take that into account.

“Despite repeated tragedies, and clear public concern, the needs of pets and their families are still being left out of Canada’s emergency response systems,” said Humane Canada CEO Barbara Cartwright.

In emergency situations, people require assistance with pets and accessing shelters that will accommodate animals, as well as accessing food, supplies and veterinary care. The lack of these support services forces people to delay or avoid seeking safety to stay with their pets, putting themselves in danger.

“Furthermore, misinformation, limited training and the lack of inclusion of animal response often adds to confusion and panic in an evacuation, jeopardizing the safety and well-being of first responders and creating a lose/lose environment,” Humane Canada said.

To this end, the group is petitioning the federal government to make changes to emergency response. Humane Canada is also asking the public to write to their MP “to demand animals be included in Canada’s emergency planning.”

“We need to ensure that a co-ordinated animal response is included from the start, not as an afterthought,” said Cartwright.

Humane Canada is calling on the Government of Canada to:

  1. Recognize the critical role that professional animal welfare providers play in emergencies and ensure that coordinated animal response is integrated into all emergency preparedness response and recovery efforts at the federal/provincial/territorial level;
  2. Ensure that people evacuating with pets are considered in decision-making, increasing access to pet-inclusive support services;
  3. Provide co-sheltering options for evacuees with pets across all temporary housing;
  4. Establish a responsive and adequate resource structure that supports animal response.