A campaign is underway to include animals in the new Emergency Management Bill.
Animal Evac is calling for the legislation to be modernised so that animals can also be rescued in disasters, a move prompted by the Edgecumbe Flood six years ago.
Cathy White's horses are lucky to be alive.
In 2017 when Edgecumbe flooded she barged through a police cordon and ran to rescue her horses.
"I heard the words 'you will be arrested'. I didn't care. I had one thing on my mind and that was going to my four-legged fur babies," White said.
She waded through chest-deep water to reach them.
"I managed to hop on a gate and hop on one of them, and pull the other one beside me with baling twine and we swum on out of there," she said.
Then she snuck back through the cordon with a contractor to rescue her dogs, rabbits and cats.
"We did lose one of the cats, he drowned under the house which was really heartbreaking."
One in five Edgecumbe households lost a pet in the flood and a study found over 60 percent of residents tried to illegally breach the police cordon to save animals.
It's something Animal Evac wants to change.
"What we'd like to see is an emergency management act that specifically includes animals," Animal Evac NZ's Steve Glassey said.
Current legislation allows for the rescue of animals, however, it doesn't mandate it.
This means authorities can order people to leave their pets behind, unlike in the US where animals and humans are rescued together.
"That prevents family members from going back to rescue those animals left behind, so the more animals we save it helps human safety too," he added.
The group said including animals in the Emergency Management Bill would enable conversations and ideas around animal welfare during disasters.
The Bill is currently open for public submissions and according to the minister, he's keeping an open mind.
"Everyone is working together to try and get our system right, if someone puts forward a good idea that we can incorporate, we will," Emergency Management Minister Kieran McAnulty said.
Animal Evac hopes it will result in more animals being saved.
