Animals and Evacuation - Difficult Decisions
While you can prepare material items in a ready bag in case of evacuation, transporting and ensuring the safety of livestock is a much more challenging task.
During a wildfire, livestock are threatened by not only fire, but also its byproducts such as smoke, heat, and stress.
While you can prepare material items in a ready bag in case of evacuation, transporting and ensuring the safety of livestock is a much more challenging task.
During a wildfire, livestock are threatened by not only fire, but also its byproducts such as smoke, heat, and stress.
Smoke
The smoke produced by a wildfire can kill cattle before a wildfire even reaches a farm. Smoke exposure causes inflammation of the respiratory tract, dry airways and bacterial infections, lung damage, and impairs oxygen delivery to essential organs. In severe cases, prolonged exposure to wildfire smoke can heighten oxygen deprivation and respiratory issues, leading to death in animals.
The smoke produced by a wildfire can kill cattle before a wildfire even reaches a farm. Smoke exposure causes inflammation of the respiratory tract, dry airways and bacterial infections, lung damage, and impairs oxygen delivery to essential organs. In severe cases, prolonged exposure to wildfire smoke can heighten oxygen deprivation and respiratory issues, leading to death in animals.
Heat
Wildfires produce extreme heat, which is dangerous for livestock. When evacuating animals, it is vital to monitor animal hydration levels, as dehydration and exhaustion are greater risks during a wildfire. Furthermore, heat can exacerbate respiratory problems, and induce stress.
Wildfires produce extreme heat, which is dangerous for livestock. When evacuating animals, it is vital to monitor animal hydration levels, as dehydration and exhaustion are greater risks during a wildfire. Furthermore, heat can exacerbate respiratory problems, and induce stress.
Stress
Panic and stress during a wildfire are unavoidable, but important to mitigate when moving livestock. Trying to move animals too quickly into transport vehicles can cause them to panic, plant their feet, and refuse to move. Panicked animals can behave unpredictably and refuse to respond to normal handling approaches, making it challenging to move them to safety. This irrational behavior can cause them to trap themselves and their handlers in dangerous positions. It is always best to remain calm around animals and as hard as it might be, prioritize human safety in the event of a wildfire.
Panic and stress during a wildfire are unavoidable, but important to mitigate when moving livestock. Trying to move animals too quickly into transport vehicles can cause them to panic, plant their feet, and refuse to move. Panicked animals can behave unpredictably and refuse to respond to normal handling approaches, making it challenging to move them to safety. This irrational behavior can cause them to trap themselves and their handlers in dangerous positions. It is always best to remain calm around animals and as hard as it might be, prioritize human safety in the event of a wildfire.
My family friends own a farm with several animals in Merritt, BC. During the 2021 Merritt wildfire, they were forced to evacuate their family and their animals. Due to those three factors, they faced some difficult decisions. Farmers often have hundreds of livestock on their farms, but a truckload can only fit around 40-50 animals. So, quickly transporting them all to safety during an emergency becomes a significant challenge. There were simply not enough resources at my family friends’ disposal to transport all of their animals to safety in a timely manner, so unfortunately, they had to leave some of their livestock behind. On a large ranch like theirs, it is even more difficult to round up all the animals in a short time and in a calm manner.
Loss of livestock is one of the most challenging aspects for farmers to recover from, after a wildfire. Many Canadian farmers have been breeding animals for generations in order to best adapt them to their farm’s environment. This is a very time consuming and therefore challenging process to recover from.
Loss of livestock is one of the most challenging aspects for farmers to recover from, after a wildfire. Many Canadian farmers have been breeding animals for generations in order to best adapt them to their farm’s environment. This is a very time consuming and therefore challenging process to recover from.
40-50 animals per truckload
100s of animals
