Disasters and the importance of identification

The recent bushfires in Victoria tragically claimed the lives of many, including my honours supervisor from La Trobe University who I had remained good friends with and whom I will miss very much. As well as the loss of human life, many animals, both wild and domestic lost their lives also. Although many animals fled and managed to survive, the difficult task of reuniting domestic animals, especially cats and dogs, with their owners can be made even harder if the animal lacks identification.

Research which looked at the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina found that owners that were reunited with lost pets had lower rates of depression than those that were not. This demonstrates the vital companionship role our pets play. Indeed, I have read many stories over the past week telling of Victorians trying to save their pets from the bushfires. The story that stayed with me was that of the woman being winched up to a rescue helicopter who unclipped her harness and fell to the ground to save her dog, both survived. Sadly, not all of these stories had a happy ending as some people died trying to save their animals.

For those humans and animals who survived the fires it is important that they are reunited as soon as possible. Animal shelters are currently working to make this happen however their efforts are hampered when animals lack identification. Microchips and identification tags are relatively inexpensive forms of identification and can help to reunite lost pets with their owners quickly. The important thing to remember is to update your details if you move house or change your phone number. For more information on lost and/or injured pets see the RSPCA, VAAT and DPI websites.