Animal management support
Key organisations support PIRSA during an emergency, assisting with animal care, management, and temporary shelter. These include:
- South Australian Veterinary Emergency Management (SAVEM)
- RSPCA SA
- Animal Welfare League
- Primary Producers SA.
Relief centres
In the early stages or immediately after a major emergency, government agencies may establish relief centres. These provide affected people with short-term shelter, information, and personal support services.
In most cases, assistance animals can accompany their owners into a relief centre. That is not possible for other animals, which you will be responsible for outside the relief centre.
Relief centre staff can assist with animal care referrals or registering for temporary accommodation if your animals need shelter. PIRSA may coordinate support, and the relevant agency will contact you to discuss options, which may involve fees.
Find out about what to do about lost, injured or deceased animals.
Rehabilitating land for livestock
After an emergency you might need to replace destroyed livestock infrastructure, such as troughs, fences, and feeding equipment, along with restoring pastures and natural areas.
You can support the rehabilitation process on your property by:
- removing contaminated waste
- stabilizing and replenishing soils
- managing stock grazing to enable vegetation or pasture recovery
- controlling pest plants and animals
- revegetating if needed.
Learn more about recovering after a bushfire, or after a flood.
Volunteering and donations
Animals may be highly stressed, injured, and at risk from disease as a result of an emergency event. We recommend that only volunteers assist with animal welfare during the response period who:
- have prior emergency training
- are members of official response organisations.
Find out how to volunteer or donate money to support animals after emergency events.
Livestock may require emergency fodder after fires and floods. Fodder donations are often coordinated and distributed by Primary Producers SA, through Livestock SA.
