Don't forget them
Disasters kill and injure millions of animals each year. We’ve been deploying to disaster zones to assist animals for 55 years – and we now want governments to take responsibility for them too
When disasters hit, animals experience the same terrible effects as people: injury, starvation, thirst, displacement, illness and stress.
We move fast to protect animals affected by earthquakes, floods, typhoons and other disasters.
We provide food, water, medical care, and other emergency assistance to animals in need. We evacuate animals from danger, and reunite animals and owners that have been separated.
Staff from our global response network can reach disaster scenes within days.
Helping animals helps people
When animals die during disasters, it has a devastating impact on the people who rely on them for companionship and economic status.
More than 1 billion of the world’s poorest people depend on animals for food, transport and livelihoods.
Disaster risk reduction
As well as responding to disasters, we work year-round to help countries prepare and reduce the impact on animals and their owners.
Through our work, we encourage governments, international bodies, and local and national partners to include animals in their plans, policies and practice. We:
- lobby and publicly campaign for animal-inclusive disaster risk reduction strategies at the international and national level
- conduct training activities with local government officials
- train partner organisations on animal rescue and disaster management through workshops and PrepVet, an online course we developed
- help animal owners in disaster prone areas learn how to care for their animals
Governments: Don't forget them
Governments must take urgent steps to protect both people and animals by including animals in their disaster plans.
Governments and the global disaster response community know that protecting animals helps people rebuild their lives following a disaster.
Yet animals are rarely included in national disaster plans and investments, and their needs are rarely factored into relief operations.
Bringing the animals to the UN
In May 2019, the world’s governments, investors, UN agencies and NGOs are getting together at the UN Global Platform on Disaster Risk Reduction in Geneva to discuss how to reduce the risk of disasters.
Animals need to be part of the conversation on disasters. But since we can’t bring real animals to the meeting, we’re taking inflatable animal ambassadors from across the globe instead.
These ambassadors, from six different countries (India, Brazil, Thailand, USA, Kenya and Costa Rica), represent the millions of animals in need of protection against disasters.
They’ll return to their home countries after the event to continue spreading their important message and continue urging governments to include animals in their disaster plans.