WSPA - Animals in Disasters Blog

Pakistan: first phase complete

Good news: the first round of feed has been delivered successfully in Muzarffar Garh, and around 1,500 animals have been fed. Worsening security issues mean an international WSPA team can’t be there, so we’re working with the Vet Care Club, who are on the ground in Pakistan, to plan the next phase of our work in the area. With the money that our generous supporters have given so far, we should be able to do some valuable work.

Meanwhile, in Vera Cruz, Mexico, the flood waters are receding and people are returning to their homes in the cities. But the area remains on high alert, as this is the worst wet season on Mexico’s record and more storms hit after Hurricane Frank. This delayed the work of our vet team, but now they’re working with the military and have delivered feed and treatment to 500 animals in the city of Tlacotalpan. 

More animals in need following more floods around the world

While feed is still being delivered in Pakistan, we’re putting plans in place to help three thousand animals in Veracruz, Mexico, where heavy floods have caused 25,000 people to evacuate their homes. The companion and farm animals they had to leave behind are in desperate need of feeding, so we’ll be sending feed and a team of vets from Guadalajara to help them. They’ll be using boats to get to flooded homes, and animals will be fed and kept in the city so that their owners have a good chance of finding them again when they return.

Meanwhile, in Leh in Northern India, heavy monsoon rains have triggered floods and landslides, killing 179 people and more than 1400 animals. The government of Jammu and Kashmir predict a 20 per cent shortfall in the animal feed needed to get the state’s animals through the coming winter, when temperatures can plummet to minus 30 degrees Celsius. A team from WSPA India are travelling to the region to assess the situation in the next few days. 

Food arrives for Pakistan’s animals

The food funded by WSPA is being delivered to animals in need in Pakistan.  Trucks carrying 160 tonnes of animal food has arrived in Muzarffarh Garh district in Pakistan. Muzaffar Garh lies between two rivers: the Indus and the Chenab. These rivers have burst their banks, so most of the area is still underwater and animals desperately need food.

Our team of volunteers from the Vets Care Club (VCC) from the University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (UVAS) are starting to distribute the food to the animal owners. The food provision will last 15 days and as it is buffalo calving season it’s even more important.

Elsewhere, in Mexico, Hurricane FRANK and a number of other tropical depressions to have hit Mexico during August have caused rivers to break their banks in 5 districts. Miguel Somarriba and Victor Rosario from our Disaster Assessment Response Team in Costa Rica have travelled to the area to meet with officials and visit field sites to assess the animal impact.