Prehospital and Disaster MedicineApproximately 1400 sheep on the range suffered variable degrees of burns. A coordinated effort of triage and individual treatment or humane euthanasia was performed by the UC Davis Veterinary Emergency Response Team. Methods: Animals: Two sheep ranches with 1100 (ranch A) and 300 (ranch b) adult sheep of different breeds, ranging in age from 1-6 years of age. Initial owner evaluation: Both ranchers considered humane destruction of all sheep showing evidence of burned discoloration, estimated to be over 95% of 1400 sheep. Ranch B attempted shooting comprised sheep but stopped and requested aid from UC Davis as did ranch A. Veterinary initial evaluation and communications: Several burned sheep were visible from the roadway. Many sheep were standing with limited movement and some were recumbent. Triage was performed by bringing food and water sources to the sheep and those not eating and drinking were evaluated first. Gunshot euthanasia following AVMA guidelines based on veterinary determination of hopeless prognosis was used. Veterinary team members (N = 25) coordinated treatments, communications with public health, animal control, and press media, carcass disposal, volunteer management, and acquisition of office of emergency services resources. Treatment: Topical treatment of eyes and skin burns with silver sulfadiazine ointment, administration of systemic antibiotics (LA 200), pain relief (flunixine meglumine), wound debridement, and cesarean section of late term terminal sheep were performed. Results: Over 500 sheep were euthanized by gunshot and the remainder (approximately 900) recovered lasting from 1-42 days. Progression of burn injury to skin, udder, face, and hoofs persisted for 42 days. Conclusion: A coordinated veterinary response provided humane care and triage of this mass casualty animal emergency.

Responding to emergencies requires many different individuals and organisations to work well together under extraordinary circumstances. Unfortunately, the management of animal welfare in emergencies remains largely disconnected from emergency management overall. This is due predominately to professional silos and a failure to understand the importance of human–animal-environment (h-a-e) interdependencies. One Welfare (OW) is a concept with these interrelationships at its core. This paper argues that by adopting an OW framework it will be possible to achieve a transdisciplinary approach to emergency management in which all stakeholders acknowledge the importance of the h-a-e interdependencies and work to implement a framework to support this. Acknowledging that such a transformational change will not be easy, this paper proposes several strategies to overcome the challenges and optimise the outcomes for animal welfare emergency management (AWEM). These include legislation and policy changes including h-a-e interface interactions as business as usual, improving knowledge through interprofessional education and training, incorporating One Welfare champions, and recognising the role of animals as vital conduits into communities.