| WSPA's Disaster Operation Vet Officer, Naritsorn Pholperm, talks to Kallaya Kamnuan, ©WSPA |
Unseasonably wet weather in Thailand has caused mudslides and flash-flooding, sweeping away bridges, roads and buildings and affecting more than 2 million people in 10 provinces. Just last week, three villages in the Surat Thani province were still under 1 metre of water after three weeks of torrential rain, with up to 40mm falling in some places in 24 hours. Inevitably, huge numbers of animals have also been affected and a WSPA team is currently on the ground assessing their needs.
Initial reports are that the in-country Provincial Department of Livestock and Development (DLD) has been valiantly trying to respond on behalf of the affected livestock, but transport has proved a logistical obstacle. Their primary concern was to deal with the sort of livestock on which so many people in Thailand depend for their livelihoods – goats and cattle, being the most valuable things they own in their lives and without which they face a bleak future.
Our team have already met one courageous and inventive woman who found a novel way of ensuring her precious cattle could be safe from the floodwaters – by building a temporary shelter for them and herself on a bridge! Kallaya Kamnuan, is 53 years old and moved to live on the bridge at the end of March, because the floodwaters meant she couldn’t get back to her house. She has already had to travel to another province simply to buy hay for her cattle. The team will be working alongside the DLD to assess the need for feed and veterinary care for people like Kallaya and their animals.
