Facilitating the acceptance of evacuees with companion animals at community shelters:According to the results of a survey of residents owning no dogs or cats in Osaka and Hyogo

Abstract

In Japan, owners of companion animals are encouraged to evacuate with their animals to a safe place — yet, most evacuation centers are not ready to accept evacuees with their animals. There are various reasons why the acceptance of evacuees with their animals is not improving at evacuation centers. People with allergies are a significant barrier to the acceptance of animal companions at evacuation centers. Thus, this study focuses on dogs and cats as companion animals and conducts a survey of people who own neither dogs nor cats, asking for their opinions on accepting evacuees along with their animals. Based on the results, this study provides insights into which acceptance methods can be used for allowing evacuees to accompanied by their companion animals at evacuation centers.