This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: As large-scale disasters—including earthquakes, torrential rains, typhoons and wildfires—become increasingly frequent, ensuring that pets as well as their owners can evacuate safely and receive appropriate care has become an important part of disaster preparedness. At Okayama University of Science (OUS), the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine is taking a proactive approach to this challenge.
In addition to providing a designated evacuation site where people can take refuge with their pets, the faculty's students are actively working to raise public awareness of evacuation with companion animals. OUS is also exploring solutions that draw on the university's distinctive strengths. Through its interdisciplinary "Quality of All Lives Project," faculty members from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and the Faculty of Information Science and Engineering are combining their expertise to develop new approaches to protecting the health and well-being of animals during disasters.
For many people, pets are more than just animals—they are part of the family. In a disaster, ensuring human safety is paramount, but protecting the lives and health of companion animals is also an important concern. Putting that principle into practice, however, presents a wide range of challenges.
These include whether and how evacuation shelters can accommodate pets, how suitable environments for their care can be maintained, how owners can prepare in advance for emergencies and how local governments can coordinate effectively with veterinary professionals and other relevant organizations. In December 2018, the same year that OUS established its Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in Imabari, Ehime Prefecture—the first new veterinary faculty to open in Japan in 52 years—the university, the City of Imabari and the Ehime Veterinary Medical Association signed a three-party agreement to cooperate in animal relief and rescue efforts during disasters. Under the agreement, the university's Imabari Campus was designated as an evacuation site where people could seek shelter with their pets in the event of a disaster.
It was the first time in Japan that a university facility itself had been designated to accommodate people evacuating with their pets. Following the signing of the agreement, "Establishing a Disaster Evacuation System for People and Their Pets" was introduced as a cocurricular program. Students in the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine also launched Psfull, a group dedicated to raising public awareness of evacuating with pets during disasters.
The name "Psfull" comes from the many "P"s found in words that capture the spirit of the group—Pets, Peace, Happy, People, Positive, Power and more—according to Dr. Kaori Saeki, an associate professor of veterinary associated science, who established and manages the program. The group is actively engaged in a wide range of activities.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
