Know Your Pet

Such short little lives our pets have to spend with us, and they spend most of it waiting for us to come home each day. It is amazing how much love and laughter they bring into our lives and even how much closer we become with each other because of them.

This quarantine, the Rotaract Club of University of Peradeniya brought everyone at home a special pet care project. Since most of us are confined to stay at our homes due to the Covid-19 pandemic, a pet care project was organized to discuss the common issues related to pets. It made the society aware of proper pet caring and also gave an idea about public health issues that can occur due to pets in our day-to-day life. Furthermore, it provided practical advice on how to take care of pets by fulfilling their essential needs with a clear understanding. With that aim in mind, two webinars consisted of video discussions and live Q&A sessions were conducted and later a massive effort was taken by the Organizing Committee to publish articles, awareness posts, creative stories and poems written by undergraduates in the newly created Facebook page.

The two webinars were conducted via Zoom and Facebook live and reached an overall audience of more than 500 participants. The first session was aimed at making the public aware of the correct way of taking care of cats and dogs. This wonderful session was conducted by a professional in the field, Dr. Ushani Atapattu, a past Rotaractor, a Veterinarian and a probationary lecturer at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences at the University of Peradeniya. In this session, animal welfare, vaccination schedules, deworming, public health issues like zoonotic diseases and rabies, nutrition and diet, drugs and foods that need to be avoided and many more facts that we should pay attention to when having a pet dog or a cat, were discussed. At the end of the session, a valuable e-booklet, containing the important aspects that have been discussed at the webinar was given to the participants.

The second session was about exotic pets including aquatic pets, birds, squirrels, tortoises and guinea pigs. The session was conducted by Dr. Kashmini Sumanasekara, a veterinary surgeon at the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage, Department of National Zoological Gardens, Sri Lanka. In this session, issues that occur when having pets like birds, fish and exotic pets, things we can do if we come across an injured animal etc. were taught step by step in an understandable manner to everyone.

While the above sessions were very important and informative, the fun part of the project was what came after the webinar series: the newly created Facebook page. This page was created solely for the purpose of publishing the pet related work of students. For tips, awareness posts, creative stories, poems about pets and much more, just click the link below:

Know Your Pet Official Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/knowyourpet.rotapera