Lifesaving Survival Tips for National Wildfire Awareness Month Include Animal Family Members

For Immediate Release:
April 27, 2026

Contact:
Alex Payne 202-483-7382

With National Wildfire Awareness Month (May) approaching and experts warning that a potentially severe wildfire season is looming, PETA is sharing simple steps to ensure that dogs, cats, and other animals—the entire family—are protected when disaster strikes.

• Pack an emergency kit for yourself and one for your animal companions, and keep everything where it’s easy to grab in a hurry. Include bowls, towels, a favorite toy for comfort, litter and a litter box (for cats), and at least a week’s worth of food, bottled water, and medications.
• No animal left behind to perish: Plan now how to evacuate fish, hamsters, snakes, horses: when you go, they go too! Never leave animals in crates, on chains, in barns, or behind fences, where they have no chance of escape. If it’s impossible to relocate large animals, they should be freed so that they can attempt to survive.
• Have animals microchipped and make sure they’re wearing legible ID tags or other identification with your current contact information—and consider investing in a collar with a GPS tracker, like those made by Fi and Tractive, for added security. Have a recent photo of your family’s animals handy on your phone for identification purposes, just as you would for a child.
• Use a map to plan escape routes. Try to identify at least three evacuation options if you can, as you never know what roads may be closed in an emergency. Ensure that your planned destinations will accommodate companion animals.
• Place emergency window stickersnear your front and back doors and on side windows in case a fire strikes when you are not home. These stickers will alert rescuers to animals who need help in your absence.

During wildfires, residents in areas affected by smoke and falling ash should keep animals indoors whenever possible and avoid all outdoor activities. If evacuation is ordered, small animals such as cats, rabbits, birds, guinea pigs, and gerbils should be placed securely in carriers (bird transport containers should be covered), and dogs should be on a secure harness and leash. 

Anyone who sees animals in danger or distress should assist if possible, but if they’re unable to help, they should note their exact location and alert authorities immediately. Animals must never be left behind. Anyone who evacuates and intentionally abandons animals to fend for themselves may be prosecuted.

“Wildfires can spark and spread with terrifying speed, and animals left behind face agonizing injuries or death, so the time to include them in worst-case scenario plans is right now,” says PETA Director Rachel Bellis. “PETA urges everyone to help keep all members of the family safe by preparing long before smoke is in the air.”

According to the National Interagency Fire Center, human activity is responsible for approximately 85 percent of wildfires in the U.S. each year. PETA notes that the best way to prevent the devastation and loss of life caused by wildfires is to prevent them from ever starting in the first place—including by ensuring campfires are fully extinguished, storing fuel correctly, and reporting any fires to local authorities before they enlarge.

Residents can also help prevent wildfires by encouraging local officials to ban fireworks displays. In addition to being deeply distressing for wildlife, companion animals, military veterans, and survivors of mass shootings, fireworks are notorious for starting wildfires.In 2023 alone, fireworks started an estimated 32,302 fires in the U.S.,killing more than a dozen humans and an untold number of wild animals, many of whom were forced out of their habitats and burned alive.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—points out that when it comes to the ability to feel pain, hunger, and thirst, a rat is a pig is a dog is a boy. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.