If you were suddenly unable to return home, who would feed, comfort, and care for your animal companions? Planning for the future means protecting every loved one who depends on you.

Dogs, cats, rabbits, horses, and other animal companions depend on us every day for food, comfort, companionship, and care. Without a plan, an emergency such as unexpected illness, incapacity, or death can leave them facing sudden changes and an uncertain future. PETA’s free Animal Companion Planning Packet can help you prepare.

The packet helps you prepare for an immediate emergency as well as make a long-term plan. It explains how to maintain emergency contacts, choose backup caregivers, document your wishes, and include care instructions for your animal companions in your estate-planning documents.

During times of significant change, familiar routines and clear instructions can make all the difference for an animal’s well-being. Caregivers need more than a name and phone number. Providing veterinary and medical information, daily routines, favorite foods, and details about each animal’s individual needs can help them maintain consistency and minimize stress.

The packet brings this information together through practical forms for emergency contacts, caregiver information, detailed care instructions, and long-term provisions.

Planning ahead can help protect animal companions from entering shelters or facing uncertainty during an already stressful time. By recording your wishes and choosing trusted caregivers, you can provide clear guidance that helps each animal continue receiving familiar care, needed medical attention, stability, and love.

Whether you’re updating your will or preparing for an emergency, this is an important opportunity to include animal companions in your plans.  Request PETA’s free Animal Companion Planning Packet and take a meaningful step toward protecting every member of your family who depends on you.

Thoughtful planning can help protect the animals who share your life while extending your compassion to animals for years to come. After providing for your loved ones, including your animal companions, you may also choose to include a gift to PETA in your will, trust, retirement plan, or another financial account. Together, these meaningful choices can care for the animals closest to you while sustaining PETA’s vital work for all animals.