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Respect, Gratitude, and Dignity

By Avery Bowe,  

Visual Storyteller/ Communications Coordinator, The Resilience Institute 

When we talk about building climate resilience, we might describe methods like planting drought-tolerant cultivars, constructing dams and levees, or reviving urban green spaces. We might also think about improving access to air-conditioned spaces or working towards transformative change in food and water security and sovereignty for vulnerable communities.  

Discourse on climate resilience most often relates to human communities. But farm and companion animals, whose lives are intricately connected with ours, are vulnerable as well. Horses, cows, and chickens are impacted by the same, or similar, climate-charged disasters that flood homes and trigger evacuations. We can only imagine that dogs, cats, and other companion animals feel just as scared when their worlds turn upside-down in a disaster. Evacuation plans have often been inadequate for these animals—or excluded them altogether.   

The welfare of farm animals is often hidden beneath the more visible harm of lost yield and productivity. Like us, cattle are affected by heat; at its most extreme, extreme heat can result in heat stress and death for these animals. (The worst of the heat waves in 2021 killed 650 000 farm animals in western Canada.) We have also witnessed an unthinkable mortality of farm animals during disasters—such as during the devastating 2021 floods in British Columbia, Canada. 

Companion animals are vulnerable too. During the 2016 Fort McMurray, Alberta, wildfire, sudden evacuation orders meant that many residents couldn’t bring their pets with them. One resident describes feeling upset and worried about having to leave her dog and cat behind. Other evacuees were able to retrieve their pets, though they had to violate the evacuation orders in the process.

But, there is good news to share! Humane Canada is building a comprehensive national emergency response plan and network to ensure companion animals are part of disaster planning from the very beginning—not as an afterthought.  

The Government of British Columbia has also prepared a pet emergency plan to assist pet-owners in keeping their animals safe during a climate or weather emergency.  

If we were to take these steps further, what might climate adaptation planning and implementation look like if we considered our non-human relatives—from horses and cattle to cats and dogs—as part of the vulnerable?   

Farm animals are considered essential by many. Cats and dogs are beloved companions. What we can do in return is to treat them with respect, gratitude, and dignity.

Laura Stewart

Board Member

Laura Stewart is the Community Wildfire Resilience Coordinator with Forsite Fire, supporting communities across Canada with wildfire risk assessments, mitigation planning, and program delivery. She has more than a decade of experience advancing wildfire resilience at Indigenous, municipal, provincial/territorial, and national levels. Previously, Laura served nearly eleven years as Alberta’s Provincial FireSmart Specialist, leading community, WUI, neighbourhood, and Home Ignition Zone programs, coordinating funding, and partnering with communities and fire services across the province. She has also served as Board Chair with both the Partners in Protection Association (FireSmart Canada) and the Community Wildfire Resilience Association of Alberta.

 

Sara Walsh, PhD

Board Member

Sara Walsh, PhD, is a disaster risk reduction and climate resilience specialist with more than 15 years of experience spanning Canada, Nepal, the Middle East, and North Africa. Until November 2025, she served as Thematic Lead for Climate and Resilience with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), where she supported Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies to strengthen their climate and risk reduction work across the region. Sara currently works as a freelance consultant with the United Nations, governments, and humanitarian organizations on recovery, risk governance, and community-based resilience. She teaches at a Canadian university and holds a PhD in Disaster Risk Reduction. Her work emphasizes anticipatory action, equity, and bridging research with practice to shape more resilient and sustainable futures.

Alison Criscitiello

Board Member

Alison Criscitiello, PhD, is an ice core scientist and high-altitude mountaineer who explores the history of climate and sea ice in polar and high-alpine regions using ice core chemistry. Alison’s work also focuses on environmental contaminant histories in ice cores from the Canadian high Arctic and the water towers of the Canadian Rockies. In 2010, she led the first all-women’s ascent of Lingsarmo, a 22,818-foot peak in the Indian Himalaya. Alison has earned three American Alpine Club (AAC) climbing awards, the John Lauchlan and Mugs Stump alpine climbing awards, as well as the first Ph.D. in Glaciology ever conferred by MIT. She is an Assistant Professor and the Director of the Canadian Ice Core Lab at the University of Alberta. She is the co-founder of Girls on Ice Canada.