Are you ready if disaster strikes?

Find out what you need to do by watching this program...

BOSAI: Be Prepared.

Our topic this time is "Evacuation with Pets."

Hi, I'm Bobby Judo and I live in Saga Prefecture,

where recently the torrential rains in northern Kyushu forced my family and I to evacuate our home.

Luckily, we were OK, but we have two young daughters and we have recently welcomed a puppy and a kitten into our family,

so when it comes to disaster preparedness for pets, I wasn't sure what to do.

That's why today I've come here to Kumamoto to find out.

The 2016 Kumamoto Earthquake was one of the first disaster cases

in which pet evacuation facilities were set up at an evacuation site.

More than 30% of households in Japan keep pets, but discussions on pet evacuation during disasters have only just begun.

Today, we'll learn about evacuation with pets

from the person who served as the site manager of a pet evacuation facility set up at the time of the Kumamoto earthquake.

On this site, three air-conditioned container houses with cages inside were set up.

-We arranged two of them for the dogs, and the other one was for the cats.
-Okay.

At first, people flocked in to the evacuation center along with their dogs,

but in the chaos that followed the earthquake, there was a confused situation inside the center.

Both people and pets?

Yes, both together.

But about a month later, when the interior of the shelter was being converted,

it was decided to provisionally put the dogs outside for hygiene reasons.

We spoke with the manager of this facility and Mashiki Town,

and with the support of the Ministry of the Environment, a temporary pet care facility was constructed here.

The facility named "Wan-Nyan House" lasted during the remaining six months that the center was in place.

It was used by a total of 38 dogs and 19 cats from 43 households.

So we have a dog that is only 3 months old, and I brought him with me today.

So if you don't mind, could you teach me how to take care of him?

Sure, I'd love to see him.

Together with Bungee, we'll learn the important things to remember when evacuating with pets.

Do shelters set conditions for accepting pets?

Yes, training is important.

They shouldn't bark for no reason.

If they keep barking all the time, you can't take them to an evacuation center.

Another thing is to keep them clean, like Bungee here.

If they don't look clean, other people will naturally not like it,

so it's important to carry out proper shampooing and trimming, and so on.

And getting rid of fleas and ticks.

There are medications available for that, and the minimum rule is to exterminate fleas and ticks.

Okay. So those are the rules.

Also, vaccine. They must be vaccinated to avoid other dogs' diseases being transmitted.

At "Wan-Nyan House," for example, pets which had not been vaccinated

were taken to a nearby veterinary clinic to be vaccinated before they could come here.

I see.

Regarding the pets that used "Wan-Nyan House," most of them were basically well-trained,

but there were still some owners who didn't have so much knowledge.

So, we invited a dog trainer to give a class on manners,

and also a veterinarian to give a class on pet health care management, and so on.

Another important thing was that the owners had to take good care of their dogs by themselves.

Tasks including taking them for a morning walk and cleaning their cages.

These were duties that the owners had to deal with themselves.

For example, this photo shows our monthly big cleanup.

They're washing the fences and the cages...

That's right.

The owners had to take all the cages outside, and clean them all and make sure they were spotless.

Everyone taking proper care of their own dogs and cats was the most important requirement of "Wan-Nyan House!"

So hygiene was challenging then.

Yes, it was.

And owners were responsible for that themselves?

Yes, and that was the main point.

In fact, Fujioka himself was affected by the Kumamoto earthquake together with his pet cat.

The damage to my house wasn't that bad, but I was very scared by the tremors of intensity 6 or 7.

When I experienced the disaster myself, I strongly felt,

"Ah, up to now I've always regarded those I saw on TV as someone else's problem."

People who keep pets have more things to prepare for than those who don't,

so the Kumamoto Earthquake made me realize that we must regard being prepared as our own concern.

We often don't realize it until it happens, but by then, it's too late.

Exactly.

Did you find that there was anything you didn't have enough of, or that you were missing?

Well, in my case, I have a cat, and I realized it was difficult to take a cat to an evacuation center.

So, for example, I thought it would be necessary to prepare for an overnight stay in the car with my cat.

I also thought that cats and dogs could possibly get lost in the event of a disaster.

Yeah, there is a chance you could get separated in the chaos.

That's right.

So you should have missing pet tags, microchips, and other such items ready before a disaster strikes.

Based on these kinds of experiences, Japan's Ministry of the Environment has produced

a "Disaster Preparedness Guideline for Humans and Pets."

It can be viewed by anyone on the Internet.

This says "To evacuation center," but can pets actually go to the evacuation center?

According to the Ministry of the Environment guideline,

the government recommends that you evacuate with your pets to an evacuation center.

However, this is a difficult issue, as whether or not your pets will be allowed to enter the center is a different story.

Oh, is it?

Regarding evacuation with pets, pets and people should evacuate together.

However, they cannot necessarily stay in the same room.

In many cases, the living spaces will likely be separated.

The acceptance of pets varies greatly depending on the center.

You should check in advance for information on the facility where you may be sheltering.

Based on the disaster situation and the pets' condition, various cases can be considered, including:

"Pets remain at home, owner at evacuation center" if it is safe; "Evacuation in a car"; and "Evacuation with pets."

You should simulate all these cases in advance.

Okay, so we've got a lot of pet goods set out on this table,

but what kind of items are most important when you evacuate with your pets?

Well, of course, everything is important, but the first thing is food, pet food.

Basically, you need to prepare one week's worth of pet food on a regular basis.

In the case of "Wan-Nyan House," relief supplies for pets arrived five days after the disaster.

However, there may be cases where stockpiles for pets have not been prepared in advance

or where relief supplies are delayed due to damaged roads.

So, it's important to prepare your own supplies.

Also, I'm sure that communication with the people around you is also important, right?

That's right.

At the time of the Kumamoto Earthquake, we created a team called the "Pet Owners' Association."

We all worked together and operated the facility in a way that everyone would follow the rules

by deciding on a responsible person and an assistant.

At evacuation centers, consideration must also be given to all kinds of people, including those without pets.

Bungee is really cute!

I know. He is so cute!

But you are the only one who can protect this cute little dog, so treat him carefully as a family member.

It's a matter of course both to train him and to evacuate together when disaster strikes.

Enhancing your own disaster prevention awareness will ultimately lead to protection of Bungee.

You have to be able to protect yourself first,

but by doing that, you will actually help protect your pets.