WSPA - Animals in Disasters Blog

Relief work continues in Colombia and Myanmar over holiday period

Further heavy flooding on Colombia’s northern coast means that WSPA will be working over the Christmas season to help local animals, whilst planned work in Myanmar following Cyclone Giri is also now underway.

As yet, there has been no let up in Colombia’s worst flooding in certain regions in 60 years, with humanitarian agencies calling for an increased international response. WSPA is back on the ground planning for the third recent relief effort in the country, and is currently assessing further need in the Valle, Atlántico and Cundinamarca areas.  

Previous relief and rescue work has already concentrated on these areas, which have received further torrential rain, resulting in a loss of pasture, food and shelter for local animals, especially livestock.

Together with our local member organisations, S.P.A. Barranquilla and Defenzoores, WSPA will be attending an estimated 1,400 animals in this particular operation, with the provision of medical care, food and shelter, which will be essential until local people can return to their homes, or be relocated with their animals.

Across the other side of the world in Myanmar, Asia, the country is still feeling the devastating impact of  October’s Cyclone Giri. Staff from WSPA’s offices in Thailand and India, together with local veterinary volunteers, are on the ground in Myebon, in one of the most affected areas, beginning the mass vaccination of approximately 10,000 livestock against foot-and-mouth disease.

The team is taking no chances with Myanmar’s notorious power shortages and have taken a fridge and power generator to prevent the vaccinations’ degradation.  The team plans to return to inoculate a further 15,000 animals in January, with vaccine donated by the World Organisation for Animal Health.

More relief and rescue work in South America and Asia

 
 
As Colombia and India’s Tamil Nadu state struggle to cope with their worst floods in  years, and Myanmar battles in the aftermath of Cyclone Giri, WSPA teams are assisting affected animals in each country.

The Colombian Department of Riseralda in the west of the country’s vast central area, has been one of the most adversely affected by the heaviest rains in 40 years, and was the next area WSPA South America, itself based in Colombia’s capital, identified for relief work. 

Following on from recent WSPA rescue work in the the Valle, Atlántico and Sucre areas, and government assistance in the northwestern Antioquia Department, we identified the need to assist animals in the municipality of La Virginia. The area was flooded by the waters of the Cauca river, one of the largest in Colombia, and needed urgent food, vaccines and other treatments for companion and farm animals.
 
So, on Tuesday 14 December, WSPA, together with local member society, Sociedad Protectora de Animales y Plantas de Pereira (APAP) and the Colombian Veterinary Emergency Response Unit, began distribution of food and veterinary medical assistance to some 500 animals, including 230 cats and dogs, 50 horses and other equines and around 60 cattle. APAP now hopes to assist around 1,200 animals in La Virginia and to extend efforts to some small municipalities nearby.

The company Mars Andino (Masterfoods Colombia), kindly donated one ton of Pedigree dog food which has arrived in the area.

After finishing an assessment of the damage caused by cyclone Giri in the Asian nation of Myanmar, better known as Burma, WSPA has been given the go-ahead to begin relief operations. Staff from WSPA’s offices in Thailand and India, together with local veterinary volunteers and the governmental livestock department in the Sittwe area, one of the worst affected, are beginning to vaccinate approximately 10,000 cattle and buffalo from foot-and-mouth disease.

The work will be completed this month, together with providing emergency veterinary care and veterinary infrastructure development for the country’s needy vets.
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Meanwhile, on 16th December, WSPA’s New Delhi office sent a team to the country’s south eastern Tamil Nadu state to assess the need for animals, following recent heavy flooding which has killed more than 170 people, and left coastal areas waterlogged and 5,000 hectares submerged. 

WSPA is working together with local animal welfare organisation Blue Cross , member societies AWBI and PFA and the Clocal government animal husbandry department, which is already distributing fodder for livestock and conducting vaccination programmes. WSPA will identify if there will be a need for further assistance in the coming weeks and will assess the situation in the two worst-affected areas.

Further flood and cyclone relief for South American and Asian animals

 

Unfortunately, just as our piece of emergency work had been conducted in Colombia, record rains have continued to fall, and the situation is now at least as bad as in recent weeks. Many people have lost their lives in mudslides, and, following further assessment, there is a further need to assist animals in three Colombian departments badly hit by rains and mudslides caused by the La Niña phenomenon.

There is a loss of pasture and a lack of food and shelter for a mixture of backyard animals, companion animals (cats and dogs) and a limited number of livestock in the Valle, Atlántico and Sucre areas. These are the same areas where we recently distributed emergency supplies and rescued animals. 

Together with Colombian member organisation, APAP, WSPA will be delivering food and providing emergency medical assistance to a total of 1,400 animals. Pedigree has very kindly donated food aid for companion animals.  

Colombia’s neighbour, Venezuela, has also been badly hit by the same weather system, resulting in devastating floods . Our local member society is currently conducting an assessment to see if there is a need for us to assist animals there too. 

Meanwhile, in the Asian nation of Myanmar, we’ve finished our assessment of the damage caused (and need created) by cyclone Giri, and we’re ready to start work. This month we’ll be vaccinating 10,000 cattle and buffalo in three townships against foot and mouth disease, and providing other veterinary care where needed.

We’re going to work with the Myanmar government as well as our Veterinary Emergency Response Unit (VERU). Staff from WSPA's Bangkok office will be joining us too.

 

WSPA responds to flooding in Parrita, Costa Rica

When Hurricane Frank hit a low pressure belt in Costa Rica in November, there were terrible floods. In the town of Parrita, water levels reached 1.8 metres – that’s roof level in some houses. Watch this video to see how WSPA teams worked with local authorities to treat and feed the surviving animals.

 

Emergency animal rescues from Colombian floods

 
WSPA South America’s Ricardo Jimenez has sent us this update from Colombia where he joined recent efforts to rescue animals from some of the worst floods the country has seen.

“Heavy rains associated with the La Niña phenomenon have seriously affected the country with 154 people reported dead and over 1.3 million people affected, according to the Ministry of Home Affairs. The National Government has even declared a state of emergency for 28 out of the 32 provinces in the country.

A WSPA team spent two days visiting a disaster zone near to the capital,  Bogota, in Mosquera, which is an agricultural area with many dairy farms and plantations. During the assessment, we observed that the farmers were dealing well with the evacuation of their livestock (over 4,000 animals) but we were concerned about some horses left in flooded paddocks, which were not even reachable by boat at the time.

Inland, free roaming dogs and cats and some goats and horses were given first aid and some preventive treatments. Partly thanks to evacuation assistance from WSPA, local authorities ensured that the dairy cattle were taken by their owners to higher ground.

WSPA soon returned to the scene to try to rescue as many horses as possible which was an onerous task. Eventually 20 horses and 5 bulls were rescued from the waters, suffering from varying degrees of injuries, hypothermia, skin infections and dehydration. The rescued animals were then taken to a farm, 
located away from floodwaters, and are currently awaiting their owners return, although some will be re-housed.

The floods are still ongoing and so we are continuing to monitor the situation for any further assistance which may be necessary.