| Title: | Prepared pet owners mean safer families | |
| Day and time: | (28) Miercoles - Wednesday - Mercredi - 8 - 16:00 - 16:20 | |
| Presenter: | Eugenia Morales | |
| Organization: | World Animal Protection | |
| Eje Temático: Thematic Area: |
Niños/as y jóvenes: Nueva generación de oportunidades Children and youth: New generation of opportunity |
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| Description: | World Animal Protection has designed and implemented communications campaigns to improve urban pet owners’ levels of disaster preparedness and promote a culture of resilience. These initiatives conveyed simple and practical tips through a variety of mediums to help people develop emergency plans for the whole family, including pets. These strategies were part of wider programmes World Animal Protection implemented with the Governments of Costa Rica and Mexico. Pets provide comfort and physiological support to their owners, and are often seen as ‘part of the family’. We have seen that people refuse to evacuate without their pets, putting themselves and others at greater risk. Research conducted by World Animal Protection in Costa Rica, Mexico and Colombia determined that between 75% and 95% of urban pet owners would not leave their pets behind during an evacuation, even if they only had five minutes, which reflects the importance of considering pets during an emergency. In Latin America and other regions, urban areas are especially vulnerable to disasters, in particular earthquakes and flooding, due to a variety of factors, including social and economic variables. Robust and comprehensive efforts in risk reduction are required to mitigate these vulnerabilities. In addition, an increasing number of people in urban areas have animals. Our campaigns were designed based on the premise that ensuring local capacity to manage in emergencies, required changing individual’s behaviours and supporting them to take responsibility for themselves and their animals. The cities where these campaigns were implemented showed an improved level of preparedness among pet owners. We are confident that “better prepared pet owners mean safer families” and by that reaching out to people through their pets is an innovative way to share the key messages of disaster prevention. |
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