Posted Tue 24 Sep 2013, 1:38pm AEST

Calls for animals to be counted in emergency plans

A group pushing for animals to be included in emergency planning says hundreds of millions of dollars could be saved by preventing livestock deaths in natural disasters.

The World Society for the Protection of Animals commissioned research which found 1.6 million farm animals died in 10 major natural disasters, resulting in a direct economic loss of $217 million.

The Society’s Australian CEO Carmel Molloy says the figures highlight the need for a national approach to consider animals in disaster planning.

“We know that communities will not recover as well if they’ve lost their livestock, lost their companion animals.

“The social and financial aspects of disasters cannot be measured in terms of the impact it has on communities…”

Full Story: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-09-24/nrn-disaster-animals/4977918