WSPA - Animals in Disasters Blog

WSPA to assist Fukushima’s companion animals

Since our initial assessment of animal needs and planned response after Japan’s devastating earthquake and tsunami, rapidly changing conditions caused by the nuclear fallout at Fukushima Daiichi power plant have demanded some changes to WSPA’s work.

As reported at the time, following damage to the nuclear plant, all those living within a 20km radius of the plant were told to leave. Thousands were evacuated immediately, often without beloved pets and with no way of providing food and water for any animals that were left behind. 

Because the number of companion animals affected by the nuclear crisis has grown and the need for temporary shelters shifted towards a need for longer term shelters, our plan has been amended to reflect this change.

We are now providing shelters for the longer, recovery phase, which is anticipated to last from around four to 12 months after a disaster, until temporary housing is built and pets and families can be reunited. If reunification is not possible, each animal will be re-homed with new owners and each shelter will stay open until every single animal has a home.

The shelters will be staffed by volunteers from the Animal Disaster Response Team (ADRT), with the support of pet owners, and we expect they will provide shelter and care to thousands of animals. 
We’ve already established one pre-fabricated shelter in Ishinomaki City in Miyagi Prefecture, shown in the photograph accompanying this post. A further five pre-fabricated shelters will be built in Ishinomaki City, and these will be in use for at least six months.

In addition, we will also be establishing three animal shelters in warehouses in the Fukushima Prefecture that will host animals currently being rescued from the evacuation zone by Fukushima authorities as well as those who remain homeless in the rest of the Prefecture.

Following our announcement of a return to Colombia after further flooding and landslides, a needs assessment has been completed. We will be providing 12,200 dairy cattle mainly owned by small-scale farmers, with de-wormers and 122 tonnes of silage in the most affected municipalities of the central department of Cundinamarca over the coming weeks. Larger scale farmers will receive aid from the National Government.  Vet assistance will also be provided through our local Veterinary Emergency Response Units (VERUs), with the help of the UMATA (Unit of agricultural technical assistance).

Rains return to Colombia requiring further WSPA action

After little or no respite from severe weather, Colombia has once again been battered by heavy rainfall and landslides which have killed 128 people to date and affected more than three million people in the last year. According to preliminary estimates, more than 100,000 cattle have died and one million livestock have had to be evacuated. 

WSPA has been on the ground assessing the situation since last week, together with local member societies APAP and AHURA, but the area to be covered is vast, and the possible needs, great. Floods and landslides have affected vast parts of the country, while WSPA’s Disaster Animal Response Team (DART) has been assessing the need in the two worst-affected departments, Cundinamarca in the centre and Bolivar in the north, as well as part of a third, Boyaca. Any need for relief is also being examined in the two departments of Santander and Cesar.

At this stage, it is thought that there may be a need for food, water, shelter and veterinary care, as the animals are suffering from malnutrition, parasites, foot and dermatological diseases.
  
WSPA was last on the ground in the South American nation only four months ago, following Colombia’s worst flooding in decades. WSPA is also helping out in neighboring Bolivia, which like Colombia, has also been affected by the La Niña phenomenon, aggravating the current rainy season.

Japanese vet chronicles tsunami aftermath

Whilst recently on the ground in Japan, WSPA vet Dr. Damian Woodberry met an inspiring local veterinarian, Dr. Yuzou Taguchi owner of the Green Animal Hospital in the devastated prefecture of Iwate – the sort of person who has made all the difference to animals following the earthquake and tsunami of March 11th. 

From the very first day of the disaster, Dr Taguchi has been rescuing, sheltering and treating animals. He stopped his business and started using his clinic as a shelter and treatment centre, whilst operating mobile clinics in the evacuation centres in Iwate, where many owners are still keeping their pets in their cars. When Dr. Woodberry met him at the end of April, Dr. Taguchi had treated 167 animals free of charge and had sheltered 52 dogs, 29 cats and 5 birds. At the time, he was still caring for 13 dogs and 15 cats.

The veterinarian passed us his diary from the first 10 days following the tsunami and earthquake, and, in the coming days, we are posing the entries, chronicling the aftermath of this devastating disaster through the personal experience of this local veterinarian. 

Day 12: March 22, 2011

“I received a call in the morning. The newspaper article with the photo of me treating the rescued dog was seen by the owner of the dog. The old lady who was the dogs owner came to the clinic right away. It was a tearful reunion. The two were so very happy to see each other alive and well. The dog is energetic and doing much better. I am so happy to see this. The lady told me that she ran away with the dog but somehow they got separated. She had lost everything and yet she looked so happy. 

This is just one small incident and may seem insignificant when compared to the great losses that many people have suffered. But I cannot help but feel ‘healed’ by the tearful reunion between dog and owner. I called the newspaper reporter to thank him for running the article.

A friend who I had not been able to contact from Yamada came over to tell me that he had survived!  He and his cat had hung on to a piece of driftwood after the tsunami when a group of people who were on sturdier ground pulled him and his cat to safety. I cried outright to see him safe and sound. He was on his way to go to live temporarily with some relatives and asked if I could keep his cat for a little while. He will no doubt find a new life somewhere sometime and it will, I am sure, be with his cat.

So many people have died. I am but one person trying to do as much as is possible. I cannot help everyone but I will continue to try and help those whom I can reach.These last days have seemed like a lifetime but our efforts will continue.”  

Japanese officials begin animal evacuations

Japanese authorities have begun to evacuate companion animals from the 20km exclusion zone established around the crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.

The government-led evacuation began on Tuesday 10th of May, as part of the Fukushima Prefectural Government’s ‘temporary coming home’ project. Authorities predict that only around 100-200 animals need to be evacuated, and announced that they had already taken 27 dogs and 2 cats from the 20km zone.

A team of veterinarians and Ministry of Environment officials are spending the 10th and 11th of May collecting the animals and taking them to a collection point within the 30km evacuation zone. There, staff from the Animal Disaster Response Team (ADRT), a coalition of local animal groups, including WSPA’s local member society, Japan Animal Welfare Society (JAWS), are checking their health and radiation levels and decontaminating them. 

These animals will then be transferred to the Fukushima City Shelter which has a capacity of 200 animals. In addition, the Fukushima Prefectural Government and relevant municipalities have agreed to allow animals to live with their owners in the temporary houses currently being built.

 

A Promising Future Ahead for Haiti's Animals

This is the final in a series of blogs contributed by Lindsay Fyffe, WSPA's Disaster Response Manager.

It’s my last day in Haiti and the past few days have been eventful – here a just a few of the highlights:

- We met with the children who won ARCH’s animal welfare education project. They were so shocked to see us arrive to announce that they had won. Their classmates were clapping and cheering for them, and it was truly fantastic to see their faces when they received the prizes! We’re proud and hopeful that they will continue to be advocates for animals, now and in the future.

- We visited several sites in rural Haiti where ARCH re-installed cold chain units - infrastructures that are vital to storing and transporting animal vaccinations. I spoke with one vet who told me that the newly-installed solar panel units have already been very useful.

- On Tuesday, we held a press conference to formally announce the transition of ARCH’s operation over to Haiti’s Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Rural Development (MARDNR). Families throughout the community came to watch us celebrate the ARCH vet team’s hard work and dedication. It was an amazing moment!

Now, as I prepare to return to London, I find myself sad to leave Haiti – while I certainly will not miss the endless traffic jams, I will greatly miss the spirit and friendliness of the Haitian people. 

On behalf of the ARCH team, I would like to thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for all your unwavering support and compassion over the past 16 months – we could not have accomplished so much for Haiti's animal population and community without your help!

Life in Haiti Today: Sleeping and Eating among Rubble and Broken Glass

This is the third in a series of blogs contributed by Lindsay Fyffe, WSPA's Disaster Response Manager.

Since I arrived in Haiti, it has rained so much that the streets have practically turned into rivers. Every time we run for cover from the rain, my mind turns to all the people who are still living in the tent communities. I can't even begin to imagine how many rainstorms they've had to endure in those terrible conditions, during the past 16 months.

Yesterday, Franco was kind enough to take me to one of the sites that was heavily damaged by the earthquake, so I could see the progress that has (or, in some cases, has not) been made. I was shocked to see the utter destruction - still, to this day, it looks as though the great cathedral and government buildings have just been bombed. And yet - among the piles of rubble, twisted iron and broken glass - people are going about their everyday lives. Vibrant art for sale is hung on the stone walls around squares - just metres from where people sleep, wash and cook. Haiti continue to surprise and inspire me, and it makes our work here all the more rewarding.

Tomorrow, we are holding a press conference to announce the transition of ARCH's operation over to Haiti's Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Rural Development - I will be sure to share another update, along with pictures, following that event!