“Trueno” preparedness campaign for pet owners in Costa Rica 2012-2014

This paper describes a campaign developed by World Animal Protection designed to increase the level of preparedness of pet owners in Costa Rica. The campaign was implemented in 2012-2014 following a quantitative research study that determined the gaps in the level of preparedness according to the specific needs of companion animals in times of disasters. The campaign was then designed to fill the gaps of the assessment results and communication channels were selected based on media consumption by the specific target audience. 

The first section establishes the strong attachment between people and their companion animals and describes the effects disasters have on pets and their owners. The document then describes the specific details of the campaign, starting with a pre-assessment of the preparedness levels of pet owners in the great metropolitan area of Costa Rica. The paper then describes the specific communication tactics used as part of this campaign, to then conclude with the results of the campaign that go beyond ratings and reaching the target audience and touch on changes in the behaviour. 

The essential role that companion animals play in the lives of their owners, as well as the need to find fresh and positive ways to promote disaster risk reduction among communities, made this campaign an innovative approach in Costa Rica to an issue that in the past had been addressed mainly from a negative perspective. As this document describes, positive results can be reached by messaging people about protecting their pets from disasters instead of focusing on the harmful impact these events could have on them.

This paper is a contribution to the 2019 edition of the Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction (GAR 2019).

To cite this paper: 

Morales, E. “Trueno” preparedness campaign for pet owners in Costa Rica 2012-2014. Contributing Paper to GAR 2019