ARTICLE SUMMARY: New Zealand’s Emergency Management Act 2026 is a major step forward for pets and other animals. Regional emergency plans will now need to include arrangements for animals, recognising that people and animals experience emergencies together. The Act also introduces new powers to assist animals in distress during emergencies, helping build safer, more resilient communities.
New Zealand’s emergency management system has a new legal framework - and, importantly, animals are now explicitly part of it.
The Emergency Management Act 2026 has replaced the Civil Defence Emergency Management Act 2002, marking a significant change to the way New Zealand prepares for, responds to and recovers from emergencies.
For Companion Animals New Zealand, one of the most important developments is the clearer recognition of animals within emergency management planning and response.
For years, we, alongside many other organisations, have advocated for companion animals to be considered as part of emergency preparedness - asking for animals not to be an afterthought, but to be considered as an important part of households, communities and emergency response.
The new Act takes some important steps in that direction.
Animals are now part of regional emergency planning
Under the new framework, Regional Emergency Management Plans are required to provide arrangements for managing animals during an emergency.
Importantly, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has provided guidance that makes clear that regional plans must include pets, working animals, livestock and wildlife. That is significant. Emergencies do not affect people and animals separately. They affect households and communities - and for many New Zealanders, their animals are an integral part of both.
NEMA itself recognises why animal-inclusive emergency planning matters. The loss of animals during an emergency can cause significant distress and trauma, while concern for animals can lead people to put themselves, and sometimes emergency responders, in harm's way.
In other words, planning for animals is part of planning for resilient communities.
What does the regional response mean?
Under the Act, many emergency management responsibilities are devolved to local government.
Civil Defence Emergency Management (CDEM) Groups have been renamed to Emergency Management Committees (EMC), with the same members – made up of elected local government representatives (and associate members, if any govern emergency management at the local level).
EMC will:
have a greater focus on their responsibilities for local hazard and risk management
raise public awareness of, and provide for community consultation on, local hazards and risks, and
emphasise the need for pre-emergency recovery planning.
For a full list of what the EMC's do, see here: https://www.civildefence.govt.nz/strategy-capability/legislative-framework/emergency-management-act/emc-roles-and-responsibilities
What does this mean for pets?
The requirement to make arrangements for managing animals during emergencies is particularly important for companion animals.
Regional emergency management planning will need to consider what happens to animals when an emergency occurs - including how they can be managed, supported and protected. The Act requires each EMC to have a Regional Emergency Management Plan, and these plans must include arrangements for managing animals during an emergency.
That planning will need to sit within the broader emergency management system, rather than relying on individual animal welfare organisations or members of the public to work things out once an emergency is already underway.
The Act also allows Regional Plans to assign specific responsibilities to people and organisations involved in emergency management. Regional Plans can clarify roles, responsibilities, coordination arrangements, and expectations for managing pets, livestock, working animals, and wildlife during emergencies, helping to ensure these needs are integrated into the wider emergency management system.
For pets, effective planning could ultimately support things such as arrangements for animal welfare, evacuation, temporary care, access to appropriate resources and improved coordination between the agencies and organisations involved.
The significance is that animal management is no longer just something that individual agencies may choose to address. The legislation provides a pathway for it to be embedded within the official regional emergency management framework, with defined roles and accountability.
New powers to protect animals during an emergency
The Act also introduces an important new power relating specifically to animal welfare.
During the circumstances covered by the Act, Controllers, Recovery Managers and constables - or people acting under their authority - can enter premises where they reasonably believe it is necessary to mitigate unreasonable or unnecessary pain or distress of an animal.
Where necessary, they may enter or break into premises other than a marae to take reasonable steps to address the animal's suffering.
Those steps can include:
examining an animal
marking or taking a sample from an animal
treating an animal
securing an animal
relocating an animal
disinfecting an animal
passing an animal to a suitable person who can meet its needs
and, where necessary, destroying an animal (the legal term for euthanasia) to mitigate unreasonable or unnecessary pain or distress.
The inclusion of destruction is important to understand in context. This is not a general power to destroy animals during an emergency. It sits within a power specifically intended to mitigate unreasonable or unnecessary pain or distress, and any action taken must be reasonable in the circumstances.
The legislation also includes safeguards around the exercise of this power. Before entering premises, reasonable efforts must be made to contact the owner or occupier where they can be contacted. Reasonable efforts must also be made to leave the premises secured and to subsequently inform the owner or occupier of the actions taken.
The ability to act in this way is an important practical change. In a major emergency, an animal may be trapped, injured or suffering inside a property that cannot safely be accessed by its owner. Emergency responders now have a clearer legal pathway to intervene where action is necessary to protect the animal from unreasonable or unnecessary suffering.
Why this matters for people as well as animals
It is sometimes suggested that animal welfare is a secondary consideration during an emergency, when the priority must be protecting human life. The new emergency management framework reflects a more realistic understanding of what happens in emergencies.
For many people, their pets are members of their household. Concern for an animal left behind can influence whether someone evacuates, where they go, and whether they return to an unsafe area.
NEMA explicitly recognises that people may put themselves - and first responders - at risk because they are concerned about their animals. If people know what will happen to their animals in an emergency, they are more likely to be able to follow evacuation instructions and make safer decisions. If emergency responders know who is responsible for animals and what arrangements are available, they can respond more effectively. Good animal planning therefore has the potential to reduce risk for everyone.
Identification and reunification still matter
While we welcome the stronger recognition of animals in the new Act, there is more work to do.
One of the key issues Companion Animals New Zealand raised in our submission on the Emergency Management Bill was the importance of identification and reunification of lost pets. During an emergency, animals can become separated from their owners through evacuation, damage to homes and properties, escaped animals, or people being unable to return home.
For families, finding a lost pet can be an essential part of recovering from an emergency. For many people, receiving confirmation that their animal has been found, taken to a shelter, or even that it has died can reduce uncertainty and distress, helping them focus on their own safety and recovery.
Microchipping, keeping registration details up to date and having systems in place to reunite animals with their owners are therefore not simply administrative matters. They are important tools for emergency preparedness and recovery. The NZ Companion Animal Register (NZCAR) and lost pet services can play an important role in supporting this work by helping animals be identified and reunited with their families.
We will continue to advocate for identification and reunification to be recognised as an important part of emergency planning and response.
The next step is implementation
Passing the Emergency Management Act is an important milestone. But legislation alone does not protect animals.
The real test will be what happens when the new requirements are translated into regional plans, operational arrangements, resources, responsibilities and practice.
Regional Emergency Management Committees will be responsible for developing and maintaining Regional Plans, and the new framework requires consultation with people and agencies who will have roles and responsibilities under those plans.
This creates an important opportunity for the companion animal sector. Animal welfare organisations, veterinary professionals, local authorities, emergency management agencies, animal control teams, rescue organisations and other relevant groups all have expertise that can contribute to effective planning.
The question now is not simply whether animals are included in emergency plans. It is how well they are included. Plans need to be practical, coordinated and capable of working under pressure. They need to reflect the realities faced by pets and their owners, including evacuation, temporary accommodation, animal welfare, identification, reunification and access to appropriate support.
This is progress – but it is also only the beginning of the next phase, not the end of the conversation.
Individual housesholds should always make their own plans and we encourage pet guardians to make use of our guide to prepare for a disaster situation with your animals: ANIMALS IN EMERGENCIES — Companion Animals New Zealand
Read the Act here: Emergency Management Act 2026 | New Zealand Legislation
Read more about animals in Civil Defense's FAQ section here: Emergency Management Act frequently asked questions » National Emergency Management Agency
Watch our recent webinar discussing pets and emergencies with experts:
