National Animal Welfare Emergency Management Group activities

Stranded dogs
These dogs were left stranded by
Hurricane Katrina. Through the work of
NAWEM, there will be plans in place
to take care of the welfare of animals
like these, should a disaster of this
kind strike New Zealand.

The National Animal Welfare Emergency Management Group (NAWEM) advises, through individual and multi-agency action, on co-coordinating responses to animal welfare issues during emergencies.

'Emergencies' are those large-scale events caused either by adverse weather or the outbreak of an exotic disease. Recent overseas emergencies, such as Hurricane Katrina in the United States, or the bird flu pandemic in Southeast Asia, have highlighted some of the animal welfare issues that can occur if there is not appropriate preparedness prior to such events.

NAWEM is a relatively new group, having only met for the first time in April 2006. Its members are representatives from:

  • Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF)
  • Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management (MCDEM)
  • Federated Farmers of New Zealand Inc (FFNZ)
  • Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) Inc
  • World Society of the Protection of Animals (WSPA)
  • New Zealand Veterinary Association (NZVA).

NAWEM has been meeting bimonthly since April last year to examine how to develop a national network of people who could provide strategic and coordinated animal welfare advice in the event of an emergency. NAWEM has taken several initiatives, namely:

  • Collaborating with MCDEM to appoint animal welfare representatives on each of their 16 regional Welfare Advisory Groups (WAGs). These representatives would assist the WAGs in the coordination of animal welfare activities during a regional or national emergency. The representatives will comprise volunteers from NZVA, FFNZ and the SPCA.
  • NAWEM has applied to the Sustainable Farming Fund for a grant to host a series of stakeholder workshops. If the bid is successful, NAWEM's plan is to host an annual workshop, for three years, which will provide training on how to provide coordinated and strategic animal welfare activities during various types of emergencies.

NAWEM is also considering how it could create and distribute species-specific "animal welfare requirements in an emergency" guidelines to those who own, or have responsibility for the care of, livestock or companion animals.

The overall goal of NAWEM is to put 'New Zealand Inc' in the best position possible to ensure that appropriate animal welfare standards will be met in the event of a national emergency. If you would like to find out more about NAWEM, or would like to discuss how your organisation could become involved, please contact Roger Poland at the address below. There will be further updates in Biosecurity on NAWEM as new developments occur.

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Page last updated: 30 April 2008