World War One (animals)
Where can I find information about the animals used in World War One?
(Years 5-8)
Image: The goat mascot of the New Zealand Engineers, France by Henry Armytage Sanders. Collection: Alexander Turnbull Library, Ref: 1/2-013133-G. Image cropped.
Entry last updated: 11/07/25
Introduction
Millions of animals such as horses, dogs, donkeys, pigeons, cats, elephants, and even slugs served alongside soldiers during World War One. They were used to carry the wounded, as a means of transport, to act as guards or just as company for soldiers.
General websites
These websites are good places to begin your search for animals that helped soldiers at the battlefront during World War One.
NZ History is a great website for information about Aotearoa New Zealand. If we go all the way down the page we can see that the website belongs to the Ministry for Culture & Heritage, so the information is well-researched and reliable.
Enter keywords 'animals world war 1' into the search box.
Read the articles War animals and the purple poppy, and Military mascots.
Further down the page is New Zealand's First World War horses. Read about horses that served alongside soldiers from Aotearoa New Zealand.
Tips: Search words, or keywords, are the most important words in our question. Usually it’s better to leave out small words like ‘the’, ‘a’ and ‘of’ and just choose the main ones, eg animals world war 1. We can always change our keywords or add more if we need to.
The Anzac Portal is from the Australian Government Department of Veterans' Affairs.
Enter keywords 'animals world war 1' into the search box.
Select the article Animals in the military during World War I.
This article is about how animals were used during World War One by Australian and New Zealand soldiers.
Tips: A website’s address (URL) can give you a hint about how reliable it is. Look for addresses in the results that include .gov, govt. or .edu in the URL. These are quality sites from overseas government or educational organisations.
This is the official website of the Animals In War Memorial in London, United Kingdom.
The History section is about why the memorial was created.
Go to The Monument section to see photos of the memorial.
Use the tab called Stories to read about animals that received the Dickin Medal, a medal for their work during the war.
Tips: Websites that have .org or .net in the address can have good information, but you need to assess how reliable it is. Check the About us link on the website, if you can find one. That can tell you what the organisation’s mission and values are.
The Imperial War Museums collects objects that tell the stories of people involved in war from World War One to the present day.
Use the drop-down menu under Objects and History to choose Stories and Videos.
Enter your keywords 'animals world war 1' into the search box.
Look through the results to find interesting articles, such as 15 animals that went to war. This brief article has some amazing photographs.
We recommend you explore the other articles to learn more about this topic.
Tips: You may see a message about cookies on this website. Cookies are a kind of data collector that is used by some websites to collect information about their users.
The Smithsonian is the world's largest museum and the national museum of the United States. Home to museums, galleries and the National Zoo, it has collections that help people to find information on the history of America.
Enter keywords 'animals world war 1' into the search box.
Look down the results to How did animals (even slugs) serve in World War I? and America's Kaiser: How a pigeon served in two World Wars.
Videos
These videos have some interesting information on the many roles of dogs, horses, donkeys, and more in World War One, including some that have received medals.
National Army Museum | Te Mata Toa
This museum showcases the military history of Aotearoa New Zealand. You can visit the museum and its exhibitions at Waiouru.
Go to the tab called Learn, then select Education programmes.
Look for the programme called Pakanga me ngā Kararehe – Animals at War.
Watch the videos called Bess, the War Horse or A Gallipoli Donkey named Murphy.
Britannica School is one of the EPIC resources, which is a collection of reliable databases covering lots of different topics. It’s put together especially for New Zealand school students and helps to answer questions like this.
Search using the keywords 'animals and war'.
From the results page, select the type Videos.
Change the Reading level to 3.
The use of animals especially among the ANZAC soldiers during World War I is a short video about animals that served alongside the ANZAC troops.
Tips: To get to the EPIC resources you will need a password from your school librarian first. Or you can chat with one of our AnyQuestions librarians between 1 and 6 pm Monday to Friday and they will help you online. Some EPIC databases may also be available through your public library.
Books
Check with your school or public library for books about animals in World War One. Here are some titles to help you begin your search:
Stubby the war dog: the true story of World War I’s bravest dog by Ann Bausum.
Rags: Hero dog of WWI: a true story by Margot Theis Raven.
Cher Ami: WWI homing pigeon by Joeming W. Dunn.
Animals in the First World War by Peter Street.
Animal Bravery in Wartime by Peter Hicks.
SCIS no: 1915713
Topics covered
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