Dr. Waseem Shaukat from the Vets Care Club (VCC) and Pakistan’s University of Veterinary Animals Sciences, is leading WSPA ground operations. His team was in Kot Adu by the River Indus, a district severely affected by the floods.
Although the human population had been evacuated, relief agencies were unable to rescue animals from a sudden surge. When the team reached the area a few days later, the animals were in a terrible condition, with many injured and affected with various diseases.
I have just heard one heart-warming story from Kot Adu, which demonstrates the importance of operations on the ground, especially at this time of buffalo calving.
One farmer, named Sardar Khan, begged Shaukat’s team for help for his buffalo, which had given birth hours before. The animal had remained unfed during labour and birth of the calf. When the team arrived, both mother and calf were in need of immediate nutrition and energy. Unfortunately, the mother was unable to feed her calf because she could not produce enough milk. Therefore, calcium, high-energy feed and vitamins were given to the buffalo, and glucose to the calf, as well as de-worming medicine.
Both animals’ health instantly improved and Mr. Khan was registered for the WSPA-funded emergency feeding programme. “‘You are the only ones who we saw here working for our animals in this situation where animals are the priority of no-one,” Mr. Khan says. “Those who are working for only humans usually forget that these animals are our assets and we are totally dependent on them for our livelihoods.”
