Animal safety

Plan and prepare for animals

Being prepared so that you and your animals are ready for an emergency will ensure you can act quickly if you need to. Some things you should consider in your planning are:

• Do you live near a floodplain, creek or low-lying area?
• Is your area subject to flash flooding?
• Do you know at what flood heights your property is impacted?
• You may also be at risk from severe storms, heat waves, or other severe weather events.
• Find out about your local risk from neighbours, long-time locals, your Local Council and Local Flood Insights.

What if I am not at home?

Not being at home when an emergency occurs can happen. Getting home may also be impossible due to road or bridge closures. Your plan should cover this risk. Don’t wait for an emergency to give instructions as phone lines could be down or jammed.

• Make sure everyone who lives, works or agists on your property knows your plan.
• Make sure your neighbours, family and friends know your plan.
• On high-risk days, for example when intense rain is likely, locate your animals close to the safest or easily accessible places on your property before you leave for the day.
• Talk to family, friends and neighbours to discuss and make arrangements for your animals to be moved to safety if you are not at home.
  • You may need to leave them with a key to access your house or yard.
  • Make sure spare keys to padlocked gates are available for others to use if necessary.
  • Tell them where to find your Emergency Kit.

Lost and found animals during an emergency

If you are separated from your animals during an emergency, some helpful services are:

Emergency planning for animal holding facilities

Animal holding facilities such as boarding, training, day care and breeding facilities can be particularly vulnerable during emergencies. They often have a large number of animals in their care and are in rural or bush settings.

Having a plan, and practicing it regularly, is critical to ensure the animals in the care of these facilities are safe in a range of emergency situations. 

The Planning for Emergencies - A Guide for Animal Holding Establishments by the NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) is a comprehensive guide that can assist with planning.

Some factors to consider when making your plan:

• Do I understand the threats to my facility, and have I weighed up the risks of staying to protect it versus evacuating?
• Is my facility suitably designed and resourced to be successfully protected/defended?
• Have I trained my staff effectively and provided them with any necessary equipment and protective clothing?
• What will be the triggers for action, and what is the process for notifications to staff, animal owners, emergency services etc?
• Do I have the capacity to contain and transport all animals off site? How many trips will I need to make?
• Have I determined where I will go and has this been pre-arranged? Will they accept all the animals?
• What will I take for the animals?
• Do I know my safe evacuation routes and options if they are cut?
• Have I practised this plan to see if it will work when I need it to?

Planning resources