Extending climate-health protection from public health to animals: evidence from Colorado

Animal health remains largely absent from climate-health policy, despite growing evidence of climate-related health risks across species. Using Colorado as a model, we identify key climate hazards affecting animals and examine their overlap with human health risks. We synthesized national, regional, and state-specific climate and health, translating human health themes to 3 animal groups: companion animals, livestock (including horses), and wildlife. Findings were validated through interviews with subject-matter experts from state agencies, academia, and nonprofit organizations. Wildfire, air quality, extreme heat, and drought emerged as the most urgent hazards, with flooding, extreme storms, waterborne disease, and vector-borne disease also affecting animal populations across the state. Three crosscutting themes-animal welfare, food safety, and caregiver impacts-linked all hazards and highlighted the interdependence of animal and human well-being. Experts identified major gaps between human-focused resources and the limited animal-specific guidance. Transferable strategies such as air-quality advisories, heat-risk mitigation, and emergency preparedness were recognized but require adaptation across species and management settings. This work suggests 4 priority areas for climate action, emphasizing (1) animal-specific decision tools and surveillance; (2) integrated preparedness for concurrent hazards; (3) equitable access to veterinary and protective resources; and (4) cross-sector networks that harmonize animal, human, and ecosystem health. Aligning animal and public health systems offers a practical opportunity to strengthen climate resilience for animals, people, and ecosystems.