Animals are part of life, part of the whānau, for many of us.
Sheep, cows or horses for some and dogs, cats or even lizards for others.
But when Cyclone Gabrielle tore through the North Island, many animals were left behind.
Animal Evac is working to reunite whānau with their furry loved ones.
Speaking with Tova O'Brien on Tuesday morning, Chairman Tony Sutorius said it's still a "desperate situation" for many.
"I urge New Zealand, don't start getting that feeling that it's all over… We're hearing dreadful stories," Sutorius said.
"We've had a farmer speaking to our team saying that he's thinking of shooting his dogs because he just doesn't have a way to feed them.
"Our team spoke to a farming couple yesterday who were stranded on their roof in Esk Valley as the flooding came through and they were sitting there watching their cows die… drown in front of them.
"There are thousands of animals that have been killed, and I think there's probably a similar number that are in pretty dire states right now."
Sutorius said Animal Evac is doing their best to help communities in need, but also called out the housing agency to be more compassionate with animal owners during this time.
"Most public housing in New Zealand doesn't really allow animals - so they have an animal, suddenly they lose their home and they're holding on by their fingernails," Sutorius told O'Brien.
"We think it's very important the public housing agencies think about that, and that we also give some thought to the medium-term sheltering options because we think that when the state of emergency ends it's likely that some of the special exceptions that have been made to allow animals to stay in public shelters and so on will come to an end as well.
"Suddenly people will be left with this impossible choice about further damaging their family."
Listen to the full interview between Tony Sutorius and Tova above.
You can also download the full interview on the Tova podcast, and listen on the go.
