It seems to me that we have been focusing a lot on what to do about Human Zombies and I think that it may be far more likely for Rodents, Insects, and other Bacteria to contract a virus that could hurt us. There have been a lot of Science Fiction about Animals trying to hurt us due to Virus, Nature, Anger, Etc and so I just wanted people to think about maybe integrating in a Zombie Animal plan. They may not only be Mules (Carriers of the Virus) but they may also be the Instrument of it's destruction. Remember That

ZombieSurvivor16: This is how it will start, with animals, animals start bitting people, people bitting people....

Nidhogg
Most animal tend to stay away from rotting meat. Buzzards, various species of wild canine, and rats are an exception but a very crucial one. How many animals eat rats? How many animals do wild canines prey on? There is a plus side to Z animals. Damage. A dog bite can seriously mutilate someone making it difficult to move This will translate to a Z dog as well. Nerves have to be connected to the brain in order to work. Most carnivors can easily sever these so any creature infected by them might be incapacitated in some way.

Nosfera2
i think that the animals would actually be the first to contract the virus because they are exposed to things that may be carrying it (like rotting corpses of other animals) and insects as well because they are in the wild and for all we know the virus may begin with a species of insect that we havent discovered and if thats the case you know that if or when the insect is found they will want to study it if the insect is a natural carrier of the virus then transporting it to different countrys for expeirimentation would make a big chance of mass infection and mutation among the humans....just a thought though

sourpatch!
I really hope that animals can't get the virus! Expecially birds. If you think about it, there's a very likely chance that they won't be able to seeing as most animals will avoid diseased flesh and zombies aren't depicted as craving animal flesh. If they do get infected, best chances are in an underground fortress/barricade. In this z-world, long term survival would be tricky, as you'd be much more vulnerable for planting crops and/or scouting for supplies.

McSkullcracken
According to most of the zombie movies and literature I have come across, animals can get infected, but usually just die rather than become zombified. But the possibility is still a strong case to be made. Infected animals would add a couple levels of misery to Z-Day. Birds, predators, rodents, insects, man it creates millions of new problems. The Resident Evil films had some examples, including that flock of zombie crows...