In the event of a wildfire, having a complete evacuation plan is critical to the safety of your animals and pets. In case of an emergency, it is important to know whether you can bring your animals along or have to leave them behind.
When wildfire strikes, it can already be too late to come up with an effective evacuation plan for your livestock and pets. While it is important for humans to be prepared for wildfire season, it is also important that your animals be prepared for a wildfire disaster.
Preparing for a Livestock Evacuation
The best way to handle an emergency is to prepare for an evacuation beforehand, especially if you live in wildfire-prone areas. Here are some tips to help you create an evacuation plan for your animals.
- Create a comprehensive evacuation plan and practice evacuating your animals at least once in preparation for a wildfire.
- Keep your vehicle’s gas tank full and properly maintained to be ready for an evacuation.
- Write down driving directions by your phone to make it easy to explain to emergency responders how to reach your home.
- Create a defensible space around structures (barns, coops, corrals, pastures) that house your animals.
- All pets and livestock should be wearing personal identification and contact information. Common forms of identification include neck chains, ear notches, ear tags, and livestock marking crayons. Equine identification includes microchips, tattoos, neck collars, halter tags, and mane clips.
- Prepare a fire kit with all of the essentials for evacuating your pets and livestock, including a first aid kit, a two-week supply of food, portable bowls, proof of ownership, pet carriers, a leash, halter or harness (cages for birds, reptiles, and rodents), animal medications, and your vet’s contact information.
- Keep pictures of your animals to identify them in case they become lost.
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Evacuation Process
Moving large animals like livestock and equines out of harm’s way requires careful preparation. When it comes to livestock transportation, you will require a large truck and a stock trailer.
If you live near wildfire-prone areas and there is a fire weather warning, be prepared to evacuate at any moment. That means hitching the trailer to your truck and pointing the truck towards the road to save time in case of an emergency.
If you do not have a large truck or trailer to transport your animals, do not panic. All is not lost. Look into coordinating with your local animal response team, neighbors, and on social media for trailers and other essential supplies for a disaster.
In the heat of the moment, it can be difficult to evacuate your animals in an orderly and speedy fashion. That is why it is important to practice evacuating your home so that you and your animals are better prepared if disaster strikes.
We recommend investing in a couple of leashes for dogs and pet carriers for cats. In a high-stress environment, simply tucking your pet under your arm and moving away from danger can increase the risk of losing a pet.
In these high-stress environments, pets can become anxious, putting them in a vulnerable and, sometimes, scared and aggressive state. Practice loading your pets into a carrier similar to the way you would practice loading livestock into a trailer to get them used to the process.
Practicing loading into carriers can help them not become scared and start clawing you and running off in an emergency. This may mean practicing once a month by loading them in the vehicle, driving around town for a short while and coming home.
Make sure to have at least a couple of evacuation routes ready in case one is unsafe to go in. Before an emergency, tow your trailer along the routes to ensure the road width and grade is compatible with your trailer. Getting stuck on the road can block escape routes for others.
When Livestock Evacuation Is Not an Option
In certain cases, it is not feasible to evacuate your animals. However, there are many ways to keep them safe, even if you cannot bring them along with you.
Here are a few tips if you have to leave your animals:
- Remove any unnecessary equipment from your livestock and horses including fly masks, blankets, halters, and collars.
- Do not squeeze your livestock into a cramped space. Make sure to give them enough space to move around while also removing any access to roads.
- Fill all your water troughs or bowls to keep your animals well hydrated.
- Leave your sprinklers on to provide your animals with a way to remain cool and comfortable.
- If available, allow your animals to have access to a watered vineyard, orchard, or lawn.
- If you leave your pets, keep them indoors. Do not tie them up outside.
- Leave your pet fresh water and dry food in non-spill containers.
Animals are intelligent and resourceful and can seek safety if they are able to. If you provide them with a relatively safe environment, they may have better protection from a fire.
Evacuation Sites
In the event of a wildfire, you must have an evacuation site beforehand. A site can provide temporary housing for your animals. In many cases, certain organizations and locations can help out with animal evacuations. Make sure you check that the site is open to housing livestock before you transfer them there.
Contact nearby fairgrounds, horse show facilities, stockyards, or neighbors and friends to ask if they can care for large animals. For smaller animals, your local animal services and community animal response team may be able to assist you with emergency services in sheltering, evacuation, and caring for your animals during a disaster.
Lost Pets and Livestock
If you find a lost animal, we recommend keeping the animal in the county to give them the best chance of finding their home. If you find a pet, report it to your local county’s animal services. You can also reach out to community and shelter pages on Facebook to try and reunite the pet with its owner.
Moving Your Animals to Safety
Moving a large group of animals on any given day is hard enough, but transporting them with the looming threat of a raging wildfire can be extremely challenging without prior preparation. Follow these wildfire preparedness tips to give your animals the best chance of staying safe.
