Transcript
Robert Leach: Some animals can become really quite stressed and to not behave the way they normally would when they can sense your own stress of needing to evacuate in very short space of time.
Brian Daly: Hello and welcome to RSPCA, Australia's Great and Small Talk, where we discuss the pressing welfare issues animals face in Australia. I'm Brian Daly, and today we're joined by Robert Leach from the SES to talk about the importance of preparing and caring for animals in natural emergencies. Welcome to the podcast, Rob.
Robert Leach: Thanks for having me.
Brian Daly: As Dorotea McKellar observed in her famous poem, Australia has always been a country of flood and fire and famine, and with predictions of increasing climate instability, there's little chance that will change. In fact, it could get even worse. Just this year, we seen fires in Victoria and major floods in Queensland. And when major weather events or crises happen, our animals rely on us to help keep them safe. Preparing ahead of time can make all the difference. So Rob, can you walk us through the steps to make a good pet preparedness plan? Where should pet guardians start and what are the key things to include?
Robert Leach: I would say the first and foremost priority, and probably the easiest that pet guardians should be starting at, is looking at having an emergency go bag or a disaster ready kit, and those are something you can have for yourself as the guardian. So those could include just your essentials that you need to look after your your family and kids included, if you do need to evacuate your houses. But we really want to stress that having a go bag, separately and specifically for the animals in your care, is vital to their safety, their comfort. And as you mentioned in that intro, Brian, these animals, particularly in these stressful times, are looking up to us to ensure their safety. So some simple things to consider is, if there's an uncertain amount of time that you need to be away from your home, and all the comforts and luxuries that we we have in our routines, what are some things that we can take with us to ensure that that routine is not broken? So things we would be looking at are food as the essential. So we'd be looking at non perishable food. So not something like raw meat that you would keep in your fridge, but something more like canned food that you know can be left in a go bag, in a cupboard somewhere, that you know it's there for a set amount of time without having to worry about replenishing that consistently, it just stays there until you need it. So the recommended time is roughly about five days worth of food. But a quick tip on that one, if you are packing canned food, make sure you pack a can opener. The last thing you want to consider is having all this food and no way to open it. In addition to that food is water, especially for animals in a stressful time, one of the stress responses is to start drinking more water. So that would be what, again, five days is the ideal, but that would be in addition to your own and your family's needs of water. So you don't want to be saying, I've got enough water, and then realize your animal is drinking a heck of amount of water because they're stressed, and now it's less water available over this period for yourself, your family and these animals. So you really want to separate that out. And then, I guess staying on that, that topic of water, thinking about how the animals are going to drink it. For example, in my own family, I've got cats with me, they are really particular about their water. So just thinking about, how would they drink and especially with a dog as well, not all animals can just lap up water off the floor. So do you want to carry some sort of water dispensary? Maybe a collapsible pet bowl is a really easy and simple way to carry that. There are some of the fancier idea ideas where you have those water bowls with a bowl on the top of a bottle that you can just squeeze it into, some things like that. So think about how the animal will drink that water, not just carrying the water with you. And then there's some other essentials that may not be applicable to everyone, but are just as important so your medicines and supplements. So some animals are on gastrointestinal health supplements, medications for arthritis. My cats have a heart condition, so I'd be carrying lots of medications for them, and it's vital for their livelihoods. My cat would not be doing well without his medication. So making sure you take enough with you. And then other things that would be simple to remember as well is making sure you have photographic and written documentation of your animals, so that if you do get separated for some reason, you can be reunited easily with your animals. And there's some other things for comfort as well, so taking familiar items like bedding or blankets that your animal has their scent already on, so that they can still feel comfortable while away from home. Just that familiarization is really helpful for the animals, and then some animal specific needs maybe, like for a cat, you may want to take a litter tray so that they have somewhere familiar to them that they would be toileting themselves in dogs are a bit easier in that regard. So, yeah, I think those are just some small, simple things to pack in your go bag, stick it in a cupboard that would be known to you. And then, of course, practicing that routine, because some animals can become really quite stressed and not behave the way they normally would when they can sense your own stress of needing to evacuate in very short space of time,
Brian Daly: and on that point when they do become stressed, what changes in behavior should owners look out for, and how can they help their animals navigate those emergencies?
Robert Leach: It differs between animals. It differs on the history of each animal. I know that, for example, my cats are rescue street cats, and they can get stressed out very easily when they're not in the confined space of a home, and also if there's a break in their routine. So even if my cats see a suitcase coming out, they start frantically running around the house. A very typical response for cats is to go and hide, particularly in areas that you've never searched before, which really is so difficult in an emergency, because the last thing you need to be doing is searching for your cat, which is likely under your bed or in a tiny cupboard that you didn't even know had an opening. So that's a really typical sign of the immediate stress. Other more serious issues in cats would be that open mouth breathing and that panting, and that is not really a great sign in those cats as typical nose breathers. In dogs, depending on their demeanor, you might see some really active dogs that might start to be really quite calm and almost like a depressed mood, that is a sign of stress as well. And then other times, you might see these dogs that might just have that more rapid breathing as well, even if they aren't doing too much exercise, it's just that stress response in these animals, and so that's why we really stress that you want to practice your routine, practice making sure your animals can feel comfortable in this evacuation process to really minimize that stress, having a plan in place as well, To make sure that you yourself as the guardian, can not feel as stressed as you would without having a plan, so not having to think on your feet know exactly what you need to do, so that you feel confident in enacting your plan. And then if you yourself are quite calm and confident, then that really translates into the animals to not pick up on the stress that you're feeling, and you can do things in your practicing and routines as well. For example, if your cat is terrified of the carrier, the transport carrier, every time it needs to go to the vet, it just associates the carrier with that negativity. So what you can do is start to implement feeding your cat near the carrier, so it gets used to it. It starts associating it with a positive for your dog. I mean, some dogs can be really quite food motivated, and that makes it quite easy for animals that you can just pretend that you're going for a walk, or that you're going for, who knows, just put its favorite treat in the car. And most dogs will climb through the window to get that. So it's really just knowing your animal, knowing the signs of stress in your animal, but also knowing the signs of stress in yourself, because our animals are really good at picking up when we are not okay.
Brian Daly: And what about assistance animals? Are there extra considerations owners should be aware of in emergencies?
Robert Leach: Yeah, for the most part, assistance animals should be treated like an extension of yourself and your family member, but also very much as part of the family and similar that you would with other animals. So making sure you have that go bag, making sure you have all your plans in place, making sure you're practicing it with your assistance animal. The only addition that I would suggest for assistance animals is to make sure that your records are up to date and the identification of the animal is up to date. And make sure that you have the assistance animals recognition. So whether it be the vest that they're wearing or the harness that says this is an assistance animal, make sure that is available at all times, that if you do need to evacuate in an emergency, when you do approach an evacuation center, yourself as the guardian and the assistance animal should not be separated, so you'll be treated as if the assistance animal is an extension of yourself. You should be permitted to all areas of that evacuation center as the other evacuees, so long as your animal can be identified as that assistance animal. And if there's any uncertainties in your preparations, there's some really great resources online at the Australian Red Cross for assistance animal owners or guardians to do some research into as part of their preparations,
Brian Daly: Transporting your pet safely when evacuating is also really important. So what methods do the SES recommend?
Robert Leach: So if it comes to the companion animals, it would be similar to the regulations or the legalities within New South Wales. So cats should be in their transport carriers and placed in your car for the dogs, ideally, having the safety devices in your cars as well for the for the animals. But it's it's more so about knowing where to take the animals. So not all evacuation centers will be pet friendly, so it's important to do some research on where you can. And take your animals in an emergency. But in terms of the larger animals, that's usually where the technicalities and the more complex preparations would come into place in terms of transporting and transport methods that we will discuss at the SES. So when we talk about the larger animals, for example, horses, make sure that the horses are familiar with their float, and familiar of going into their float, particularly when it comes to an emergency, you don't want to be struggling with the horse not familiar with their float. That is a really challenging scenario to be in for yourself and the animal. Make sure that float is well maintained as well. And again, just as part of I guess, for both horses and all livestock species, is to have a consideration well before an event, knowing where and how you're going to be moving these animals, if you are going to be moving them off your properties to somewhere safe. And then, of course, the identification, so that, because you are leaving these animals behind or elsewhere in someone else's care, making sure that you can identify these animals so that you can be reunited with them at the end of the event. Is also a really important part of your preparations to ensure that you have in place.
Brian Daly: You mentioned accommodation, you mentioned some rescue centers. They won't be animal friendly. What if your pet cannot stay with you?
Robert Leach: This is part of the preparations, as well as having plan B, plan C, Plan D, making sure you have so many options available to use that if one doesn't work out for whatever reason, particularly in an emergency, we can see that roads may be closed with flood waters or fire that may be too dangerous to put up plan A just in jeopardy. So having backup plans and plans and plans laid after each other is really important. Some other suggestions could be is to network with communities and friends so that you can move these animals into their houses, if they are equipped to take on the certain species that you have in care, whatever it may be, and just layer that as long and as much as possible with all of your community and networks that you can but there will be several evacuation centers set up within the region, depending on the size and the scale of the disaster event, and some multiple may be pet friendly. So maybe a first option may not be available, your closest may not be available, but you may wish to drive just that little bit further where you can be accommodated with your pet. Some other emergency suggestions could be, if you have a companion animal, it could be a veterinary clinic that have boarding facilities. They may be able to take animals for overnight or short stay in emergencies. Otherwise, just some general boarding facilities. May be able to have some space to accommodate your animals for a short stay as well. Unfortunately, those usually come with a fee. So it's just about managing that and your budget and knowing Can you tackle those easier and more free, affordable options prior to looking at those more emergency steps?
Brian Daly: Rob, you've been involved in these emergency responses quite a bit. Have you had any personal experience of what happens when people don't have a plan?
Robert Leach: Brian, I wish I could say no, but unfortunately, I have experienced when animal guardians don't have a plan in place. A few years ago, I deployed with IFAW to cyclone Gabriel in New Zealand, and working with the local animal rescue teams who set up a temporary animal shelter. And we had a lady who came in with a picture of a cat, some identification. And she said, do you have this cat I saw on Facebook, that maybe you might have my cat here? And so we took her through, and we in fact, did have a cat, and it was an amazing experience to be reuniting this lady with her animal. But she started to tell us her story a little bit more, and she said that she was just not expecting the flood waters to rise so high. She, in fact, had two cats at home, and she only had space to carry, I believe, she only had one transport carriage. She only had space to carry one of her cats with her, and at that moment, she had to make a decision between which of her two cats she had to take with her. And it's, it's a devastating story, because it's, we're here in this really beautiful moment where we're reuniting a cat with its owner, but she, at that time, had to make a decision between those two. So thankfully, the cat that she left behind did survive, and it's the one that we had reunited with her. But I would hate for anyone in the future to have to make that decision between which animal do I have to decide to take with me, and which animal do I leave behind? That's really why I want to stress have a plan. Please make a plan. Please practice the plan so that in an emergency, you don't have to be faced with the same situation that this lady was faced with.
Brian Daly: Rob, you were earlier this year up in the northern regions of New South Wales for the flood response in both your roles as a volunteer with the SES but also as the Animal Rescue Program Officer with IFAW, what was your experience with the animals that you had to rescue there?
Robert Leach: Yeah, so that was actually just a few weeks ago, following ex tropical cyclone Alfred my role was predominantly based in the Northern Rivers of New South Wales, so we didn't cross over into Queensland at this point in this role, it's very much wildlife focused, and this is a really big challenge, particularly if we're talking about the evacuation process, if we're looking at those smaller wild animals that some rehabilitators might have in their care. So for example, a possum or a small mammal like a glider could be the same size as a cat or a kitten. It could be transported in the same manner as a cat or a kitten, so just picking it up and putting it into its carrier placed in the back of your car, all of that is exactly the same. However, the frameworks currently are not in place to allow any areas for rehabilitators to take wild animals to evacuation centers. So really limits the options which it's okay on a small scale event where rehabilitators can network with their licensed wildlife groups and other members that they trust to take on those animals. But if we're talking, for example, the scale of the 2020, fires, or even some areas of this, the site one and the flooding. We're talking about multiple rehabilitators with multiple animals that need to move. So that's where it starts get complex, where it's not just as easy as relying on your neighbor or on your nearby rehabilitator to take these animals. So as part of my role with IFAW, we are looking at other frameworks to try and account for those wild animals, because they're treated very at least, the smaller ones are treated very similarly to the companion animals. But we're just not there yet, so it's still a bit of a gap, and we're looking at it, working in partnership with government agencies, to really try and accommodate for those species and the challenges I guess then, remain for the larger animals, for example, the kangaroos and wallabies that usually have that free roaming area if they are still under rehabilitation, where they can undergo a rewilding process before being released out into the wild. That becomes a whole lot more complex and that would be similarly treated to the livestock species, but again, sadly, are not afforded similar frameworks as there's a less of a value placed on these animals because it's not a commercial entity. So that's very much up to the volunteer rescue groups to figure out a plan for those animals, whether they can intervene safely and move these animals, or where they just need to leave them and hope for the best that their natural instincts can afford them the survival of that event. And if I guess, the human structures, for example, farming fences, don't get in the way of that, but on the flip side of that. So that's the preparation and evacuation as part of IFAW we lead the Northern Rivers wildlife network and their emergency response. So that's all the wildlife caring and rescue assets in the region. For example, the Byron Bay wildlife hospital, the Northern Rivers Wildlife Hospital, and Friends of the Koala and then the several rescue groups that fit in with that so there's two Wires branches, and there's some smaller rescue groups, for example, the Tweed Valley Wildlife Carers and Northern Rivers Wildlife Carers in that area. So IFAW leads all of them in a response. So I traveled up there for about nine days, and we had a bit of a discussion of what are the priority areas and species that we need to perform some search and rescue efforts for after the cyclone. And we all agreed that koala as the endangered species, would be the priority, as well as the threatened gray headed flying fox. So over nine days, we organized about 30 people to do search and rescue. It was a great effort between the whole network and the members coming together, and we managed to locate and visually assess over 200 Koalas, which is, it's just, I was very surprised at how many Koalas are in a small area, but it was great see how many of them actually had survived the high winds and the flooding. Unfortunately, we had about 12 that did have flood mud caked on them, some of them with Joeys in their pouches, which means they do need that intervention, where we trap them, bring them into care, decontaminate them from the flood waters, and then keep them overnight for some rest and recovery, and then put them back out into the wild, or fresh and clean. So that's that's what we got up to when I've just returned home recently, the last few days, and now it's looking at working with governments to incorporate those efforts into future responses, to make it a bit more of a coordinated effort.
Brian Daly: That sounds like a very successful tour under the circumstances. Is there any other important advice, owners should know.
Robert Leach: The biggest tip I would suggest is practice, practice, practice. Have a plan in place. It's when we don't have a plan in place is when our own stress really comes to the front, and that's when the animals will pick up on our own stress, and that's when things start to go downhill. So when our cats or our dogs start to pick up on our own stress, they start to behave differently, and it just makes our preparations all the more difficult. So if we can do it calmly and confidently, know exactly what we need to do, have our go bags ready so we don't have to think on the spot. What do I need to take? How many of this do I need to take? Do I have everything? If everything's just there ready to go, that's going to make it just so much more easier and efficient. And and, I guess, as well knowing, knowing when you need to go. So staying up to date with, for example, hazards near me, so that you can monitor those alerts. You can understand at what point do I need to leave, and making sure, particularly if you have assistance animals or more complex animals that don't respond well to things that happen very quickly. Leave early and make sure you enact your plan early, so that you do have the luxury of a bit more time on your side, so that you can look at your plan A, your plan B, your plan C, see what is open, and it really just helps control that level of stress within you, which then allows our animals who are relying on us in that time to feel safe.
Brian Daly: Great advice. Rob, thank you so much for your time today. Really appreciate it as we know. You know, these extreme weather events are not going anywhere, so we do need to plan and prepare, as you say, plan, plan, plan in order to keep ourselves and our animals safe. So thanks also to you and the SES for all you do to help humans and all creatures great and small in these times of natural disaster. Thanks, Rob. Thanks, bro. We've been talking today with Rob Leach, a volunteer from the New South Wales State Emergency Service Randwick unit, and thank you for listening. If you would like any more information on preparing and caring for animals in natural emergencies. Visit the plan and prepare page of the New South Wales SES website at ses.nsw.gov.au. You can also subscribe to the podcast series at the RSPCA website at rspca.org.au, or all the usual podcast suspects. I'm Brian Daly, and I look forward to your company next time on RSPCA Australia's Great and Small Talk.
