Pets and livestock during bushfires

Prepare your pets for bushfires

All pet owners have a responsibility to take care of their animals and should include them in your household bushfire survival plan. Personal safety should be considered as a priority on all occasions.

• Prepare and practice your animal emergency plan as part of your own personal bushfire survival plan.
• Know in advance where to take your pet if it is unsafe for them to remain at your property. If there is a fire, you may not be able to return to your home for some time.
• If you wish to relocate individual animals to low fire risk areas:
  • plan where you will go
  • understand your triggers for leaving
  • plan your route and alternative routes.
• Discuss this plan with your neighbours, friends, family and if applicable any staff that work on your property. Keep in regular contact with your neighbours during the high fire danger periods to let them know your plans.
• Animal owners should not expect others to risk their lives by entering a dangerous area to manage or relocate animals.
• Ensure animals are microchipped and have a name tag in case you are separated.
• If you’re staying at home, secure your animals so they do not run away. Remember animal behaviour may change if they sense a threat or are frightened.

Livestock and horses

Managing livestock and horses during a bushfire can be challenging, especially when large areas of property are burning. There are steps you can take to make your livestock as safe as you can during bushfires, including developing a bushfire management plan and mitigating bushfire risks within your property.

For more information on bushfire management plans, go to the Northern Territory Government website.

Plan ahead

• Ensure your hazard reduction is complete on and around the property and your low risk area or ‘safer paddock’ is ready to go.
• Identify which animals you intend to evacuate and which you will leave behind.
• Identify evacuation routes, vehicles and destinations.
• Ensure your property has a property identification code (PIC) and information is up-to-date.
• Ensure your National Livestock Identification System (NLIS) tags and microchip details are all current.
• Pack an animal emergency plan and disaster kit. This may include items such as food, water, halters, leads, rugs, first aid supplies, medications and relevant documentation.

Safer paddock

Livestock may not be able to be evacuated safely. If possible, make a safer paddock for your animals. A safer paddock is a large, open area where there is limited vegetation or fuel for a fire to burn and is big enough for your animal to move freely to escape flames as they pass.

Make sure your paddock has an adequate supply of water that is not reliant on electric pumps.

Livestock can be adept at avoiding fires if they have room to move, so by opening internal gates within your property and providing them with room to move as the fire passes, they may be able to avoid harm.

It is not safe to open external gates and let livestock or horses roam free, as they may be difficult to see through smoke. This causes a potential risk to residents and emergency service vehicles travelling through the area.

During a bushfire

• Activate your bushfire survival plan.
• Don't leave synthetic (nylon or plastic) equipment, including rugs, fly veils and synthetic tack on animals.
• Act quickly to move your livestock to your designated safe paddock or another safe place well before the fire reaches your property.
• Open internal paddock gates to enable livestock to move away from the fire. Do not turn stock out on to a road or shut horses and livestock in stables or small yards. Experience has shown that horses will gallop through flames, or around their edges, and stand on the blackened, previously burnt area and remain there until the fire has passed.
• If your horse is unbranded or difficult to catch, consider leaving a leather halter on with identification tags. Paint your name and phone number on your horse using livestock grease crayons, or clip similar details on its hair coat, or paint its hooves.
• Moving stock after a fire has started is dangerous. You will find yourself driving through thick smoke, encountering hazards and emergency response efforts causing the threat of collisions or being trapped by bushfire.

Checklist

• Are your pets, horses and livestock included in your emergency planning?
• Are all your animals identified, and microchip, NLIS, PIC details are current?
• Have you determined which animals will be evacuated in an emergency, and which will be left behind?
• Have you prepared your animal emergency plan and disaster kit and placed it in a prominent place? The kit may include food, water, halters, leads, rugs, first aid supplies, medications and relevant documentation.
• Have you determined which evacuation routes are available and safe in an emergency?
• Have you identified the site where you will evacuate your animals to?
• Are the animals that you plan to evacuate accustomed to travel, and are your transport vehicles well maintained?
• Have you prepared and maintained a low risk area or safe paddock on your property for the animals you plan to leave behind on your property?
• Have you removed equipment that may burn animals during a bushfire, such as horse rugs and synthetic halters?
• If your animals have to be left behind during an emergency, do they have access to food and water?
• Have you determined how you will manage containment or fencing, food, water and shelter for animals after a fire?
• Do you have equipment easily accessible to provide emergency first aid to animals after the fire?