Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Emergency Management: Pets

  • Living reference work entry
  • Latest version View entry history
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Security and Emergency Management

  • 195 Accesses

Definition

The issue of emergency management and pets includes policies and research on how ownership of companion animals influences decisions in the context of disasters, including sheltering, evacuation, and re-entry considerations.

Introduction

Pet ownership affects the ways people react to and respond to disasters. These reactions include refusals to evacuate, early re-entry into closed areas to check on or retrieve pets, and psychological factors such as stress or trauma from the loss of a pet. Approximately 68% of Americans are pet owners (American Pet Products Association 2018), and therefore, the ways that pet ownership impacts evacuation and sheltering decisions during disasters remains a growing concern for emergency managers. Factors that influence the response of pet owners to disasters include attachment and commitment levels to pets, lack of proper evacuation plans, lack of available resources for transport and housing, and risk perception (Heath et al. 2001; Heath and...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • American Pet Products Manufacturers Association. (2018). 2017–2018 National pets owners survey. Greenwich: American Pet Products Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arluke, A., & Sanders, C. R. (1996). Regarding animals. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bankoff, G. (2014). Learning about disasters from animals. In H. Egner, M. Schorch, & M. Voss (Eds.), Learning and calamities: Practices, interpretations, patterns (pp. 42–55). New York/London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Day, A. M. (2017). Companion animals and natural disasters: A systematic review of literature. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 24, 81–90.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DeYoung, S. E. & Farmer, A. K. (2018). Pets, Privilege, and Getting the Whole Story: Lessons Learned through Research on Companion Animal Evacuations for 2017 Disasters. Paper presented at Natural Hazards Workshop Researcher’s Meeting, Broomfield, CO.

    Google Scholar 

  • Farmer, A. K., DeYoung, S. E., & Wachtendorf, T. (2017). Pets and evacuation: An ongoing challenge in disasters. Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, 13(4), 1–13.

    Google Scholar 

  • Federal Emergency Management Agency. (2017). Rumor control for 2017. https://www.fema.gov/hurricane-irma-rumor-control

  • Heath, S. E., Kass, P. H., Beck, A. M., & Glickman, L. T. (2001). Human and pet-related risk factors for household evacuation failure during a natural disaster. American Journal of Epidemiology, 153(7), 659–665.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heath, S. E., & Linnabary, R. D. (2015). Challenges of managing animals in disasters in the US. Animals, 5(2), 173–192.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hesterberg, U. W., Huertas, G., & Appleby, M. C. (2012). Perceptions of pet owners in urban Latin America on protection of their animals during disasters. Disaster Prevention and Management: An International Journal, 21, 37–50.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Irvine, L. (2009). Filling the ark: Animal welfare in disasters. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leonard, H. A., & Scammon, D. L. (2007). No pet left behind: Accommodating pets in emergency planning. Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 26, 49–53.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lowe, S. R., Rhodes, J. E., Zwiebach, L., & Chan, C. S. (2009). The impact of pet loss on the perceived social support and psychological distress of hurricane survivors. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 22, 244–247.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Petrolia, D. R., & Bhattacharjee, S. (2010). Why don’t coastal residents choose to evacuate for hurricanes? Coastal Management, 38, 97–112.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pets Evacuation and Transportation Standards (PETS) Act. (2006). Pub. L. No. 109-308, H.R. 3858, 109th Congress.

    Google Scholar 

  • Whitehead, J. C., Edwards, B., Van Willigen, M., Maiolo, J. R., Wilson, K., & Smith, K. T. (2000). Heading for higher ground: Factors affecting real and hypothetical hurricane evacuation behavior. Environmental Hazards, 2, 133–142.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Further Readings

  • Edmonds, A. S., & Cutter, S. L. (2008). Planning for pet evacuations during disasters. Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, 5(1), 1–18.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Potts, A., & Gadenne, D. (2014). Animals in emergencies: Learning from the Christchurch earthquakes. Christchurch: University of Canterbury.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Illinois State University, Normal, IL, USA

    Ashley K. Farmer

  2. University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA

    Sarah E. DeYoung

Authors
  1. Ashley K. Farmer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Sarah E. DeYoung
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ashley K. Farmer .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept of Security, Fire & Emergency Mgmt, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, New York, USA

    Lauren R. Shapiro

  2. Dept. of Security, Fire & Emergency Mgmt, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, New York, NY, USA

    Marie-Helen Maras

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Farmer, A.K., DeYoung, S.E. (2019). Emergency Management: Pets. In: Shapiro, L., Maras, MH. (eds) Encyclopedia of Security and Emergency Management. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69891-5_108-2

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69891-5_108-2

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-69891-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-69891-5

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Law and CriminologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Chapter history

  1. Latest

    Emergency Management: Pets
    Published:
    12 November 2018

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69891-5_108-2

  2. Original

    Emergency Management: Pets
    Published:
    24 August 2018

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69891-5_108-1

Search

Navigation