WSPA - Animals in Disasters Blog

Ongoing work in Thailand

WSPA has come under some criticism from two groups in Thailand in relation to our work to help the animals affected by the flooding in Bangkok. We would like to clarify our position in the interests of transparency and the respect we have, both for our partner organisations and all our supporters who generously donate what they can to our animals in disasters fund.

WSPA has been helping animals affected by the flooding in Thailand since early September, when our team went to Phichit Province and delivered emergency food to sustain over 2000 cattle. We have since delivered 25 tonnes of emergency pet food to three different areas in Central Thailand - which should help sustain 6000 animals for around six weeks - and are expecting to deliver another five tonnes in the coming days.

We have also distributed 75 cages for local groups to use in their emergency rescues and as temporary shelters. We are also reaching out to our international network to try and secure additional cages and send them into Thailand.

We are fully integrated with Thailand's livestock department's food distribution and vet services for pet animals. For the next two weeks WSPA staff will be working at their facility to assist in coordinating and delivering these services and to provide information regarding the situation on the ground.

We are continuing to work in close coordination with the Department of Livestock Development, Thailand Red Cross Society, the Thai Vet Network and Department of Disaster Preparedness and Mitigation in Thailand to ensure that we deliver the best results for the animals affected.

It will take a long time and sustained efforts to truly resolve the situation in Thailand. By working with government bodies as well as other NGO groups, WSPA is ensuring that we do everything we can to help as many animals as possible while ensuring that the animal welfare infrastructure recovers from the disaster.

Unfortunately two local organisations have been trying to solicit funds from our supporters by posting comments on our animals in disaster blog. We have had to delete a couple of these comments as we cannot be accountable for any funds directed by our supporters to these other organisations. WSPA will continue to respond directly to all groups making requests for assistance. Our first priority has been and always will be helping the animals affected by these terrible floods.

Team assesses animal need after Mexican hurricane

The impacts of Hurricane Jova continue to be felt across Central America. The hurricane, which struck earlier this month, caused devastation both in the countries to the south of Mexico, where WSPA has been conducting assessments, and in Mexico itself.

The severely affected area has been limited to the southern coast of the central state of Jalisco; prior to the hurricane’s landfall, we had Public Service Announcements (PSAs) broadcast on local radio, reminding people to include their animals in their evacuation plans.

A WSPA team has now arrived in the worst affected district of Cihuatlán to conduct a Disaster Assessment Needs Analysis (DANA). It is estimated that more than 4,000 cattle, 600 horses and hundreds of pets and small farm animals have been affected by more than 15 days of constant rains and flooding in this agriculture-dependent area.

We will update you further on all the Central America deployments when the assessments are complete.

Team sees both devastation and mitigation effects in El Salvador

Amongst the news of devastating floods in several parts of the world, we currently have three teams assessing the flood situation which still is severely impacting Central America.

Parts of El Salvador have been some of the worst affected, with a national disaster declared by the government. WSPA’s Disaster Assessment Response Team (DART) for this operation travelled to the worst affected communities of Pichiche, San Jose de la Montaña, Marranibo and Pimental in the province of La Paz. The DART, consisting of WSPA vet Dr. Sergio Vasquez, a former Veterinary Emergency Response Unit (VERU) leader and a local NGO, in coordination with the local Ministry of Agriculture, witnessed a high level of devastation in the rural area, but also some positive results from our prevention work.

All the crops in the affected communities had been lost, as well as 80 percent of the pastures which will require several months to recover. In addition, 70 percent of the poultry kept by local people had perished. The local population depends heavily on livestock and poultry for their livelihoods and so will be severely impacted by the loss of their animals and pastures, which are used for grazing.

But, despite the loss of five percent of the cattle to the floods, the vast majority of these animals and the pig population were saved from the flood waters, thanks to preventative measures being taken by locals. WSPA had broadcast Public Service Announcements (PSA) in the country, advising people to include their animals in their emergency planning. Cattle and pigs were taken to higher ground within the communities and so were able to withstand the floods. In addition, many cattle were evacuated to higher pastures, owned by relatives or friends.

We will update you further on the three Central America deployments when the assessments are complete.

Delivering relief in Thailand

As the flooding in Thailand continues, our disaster relief team has been hard at work delivering relief supplies for the flood affected families’ pets.

The Thai Red Cross, who have five trucks delivering relief supplies to distribution centres on a daily basis,  have accepted one tonne of our pet food and will include these sacks in their relief packages, making sure that the families they help will receive supplies for their pets as well.

The remainder of the food is stored in the staging area at Chulalonkorn University, from where it is being distributed by the Thai Vet Network. Vets from the network have access to the stocks stored here, and will be using our supplies to distribute on their field missions.  Altogether, the 1.5 tonnes of pet food should benefit between 300 and 500 animals for up to two weeks, depending on how animal caretakers use the food. 

Meanwhile, we have also purchased close to seventy five cages for animals and taken these to the Petchaburi Quarantine Centre so that animals being rescued and brought there can be safely housed in the temporary shelter. These cages will be used in the rescue and sheltering operations by Wildlife Friends of Thailand (WFFT) and, depending on whether they are used for transport or shelter, will benefit roughly 100 animals. 

Pet owners will be happy to hear that WFFT have been photographing each animal that they relocate to shelters, as well as making notes showing where each animal was rescued from, so that pet owners can identify and reclaim their pets when they return to their homes.

With tens of thousands of animals in need this should only be the start of the relief activities and we hope to continue to provide relief and coordinating support.

Working to help the animals as flood waters continue to rise in Thailand

The flooding continues to take its toll and the waters are rising in Bangkok.  The homes of nearly all our staff here have been affected by the floods now, and our dedicated team are working round the clock, joining our relief efforts but also helping friends and neighbors move furniture, build walls and protect homes!

With so many pets being evacuated, abandoned or stranded, keeping them fed is a key priority right now. We have bought 1.5 tonnes of pet food, which will be split up into bags of 5kg each and then marked with stickers so that the bags can be easily identified as pet food. This entire consignment of food will be delivered to the vet facility at the Chulalonkorn University, our staging area for relief operations over the next few days. From here, a truck will head out and deliver the pet food to various locations so it can be distributed effectively.

Partnering with other organisations

In order to make sure our relief supplies are reaching as many affected animals as possible, WSPA is working with and through several groups involved in relief operations.

In Ayutthaya, Wildlife Friends of Thailand (WFFT) will receive half a tonne of animal food at the Petchaburi Quarrantine Center where they have set up a temporary animal shelter for the animals they are rescuing. They have reportedly rescued 80 animals today alone so we are certain our supplies will come in very useful over the coming days! 

We are also working with the Thai government’s Flood Response Operations Centre (FROC) so that we can link into their relief activities and make sure our supplies reach as many animals affected by the disaster as possible. 

WSPA vets, as well as veterinary students in universities that we work with, are coordinating with the Thai Vet Network to help provide veterinary help for affected animals and also to ensure that the distribution of pet food through their networks doesn’t overlap with other groups’ efforts.  

With so much coordinated effort and so many groups working together, we are confident that we will reach the many affected animals in the next few days, and help see them through this difficult time.

Animal welfare needs in Thailand floods

Thailand’s worst floods in decades were triggered by heavy monsoon rain that began in July. More than one third of its provinces have flooded. The government has said it will be impossible to protect all of Bangkok and the capital continues to be under flood alert. 

WSPA is monitoring the situation on an hourly basis. We have a team based at our Bangkok office who are anxious about their own companion animals, as well as the escalating situation for others in the area.

The scale of the situation is likely to be huge as flood waters are expected to remain for several weeks. There are reports of over 14 million livestock affected, not to mention unknown numbers of companion animals belonging to the 2.4 million people caught up in this disaster.

On Thursday, two WSPA Disaster Assessment Response Teams (DARTs) began work on the ground to assess the situation.

The first team worked with Wildlife Friends of Thailand (WFFT) at the Emergency Operations Centre in Ayutthaya. We assisted with setting up a temporary shelter that is expected to hold 100 animals for the next two to three weeks.  We also were also able to assist with the rescue of eight dogs, three puppies, two cats and nine kittens by boat. The animals we’ve seen are clearly stressed and in need of food, water and veterinary treatment.

The second DART team joined Prof. Dr. Mongkol Techakumphu and three veterinary students from Chulalonkorn University to visit Nonthaburi Province, where they distributed feed to companion animals and provided veterinary treatment. We were pleased to see one food distribution centre where local people can come to collect food for their animals too.

More work and further information is needed at this stage to determine how best we can help Thailand’s animals. Over the next few days our teams will continue their assessments in the field and we will continue discussions to confirm how best we can work with government and other agencies and groups to help those animals in need.

We’ll update you with more news as soon as we can.

Central America floods require WSPA response

Recent torrential rains across Central America have seriously impacted animals, prompting WSPA assessments in Guatemala, El Salvador and Costa Rica.

At least one and a half million animals and half a million people are thought to have been affected, with Guatemala the worst hit by the most serious flooding in recent years. As a matter of urgency, three Disaster Assessment Response Teams (DARTs) are leaving today for each of the three countries to assess the animal need on the ground and to determine whether an intervention is needed.

We will know more once the teams have compiled a Disaster Assessment Needs Analysis (DANA) for each country, but it is estimated that both livestock and companion animals are in need in all three nations, with Guatemalans especially dependent on livestock for their livelihoods.

As the urgency of the situation requires simultaneous assessments, the DART teams will comprise a combination of both WSPA staff, local partners and Veterinary Emergency Response Unit (VERU) members and leaders, in co-ordination with government officials.

We are also launching Public Service Announcements (PSAs)  on radio stations in El Salvador and Guatemala to advise local people on how to assist their animals following such a disaster. We will be keep you updated on the outcomes of the assessment .

Prevention can be as important as a cure

Although delivering emergency relief to animals in disasters and assisting in their rescue is crucial to our work, WSPA’s Disaster Management department also plays an equally important role in prevention. This was demonstrated in the run-up to Hurricane Jova, which slammed into the coast of Mexico on Wednesday as a Category 2 storm (on the Saffir-Simpson scale), west of Manzanillo, bringing strong winds, flooding rains and mudslides.

By pre-empting the arrival of a disaster and encouraging local people to take action before the impact is felt, our Disaster Management teams across the globe are demonstrating how preparedness measures can make a difference - saving many animal lives without relying on relief efforts, which might otherwise be necessary in the aftermath of a powerful hurricane.

As Hurricane Jova moved towards the south-western Mexican coast, a WSPA Public Service Announcements (PSA) was broadcasted in Spanish on local radio stations in Mexico, reminding people to include their animals in their evacuation plans and evacuate with their pets if necessary; furthermore, the announcement urges them not to leave animals tied up and make sure they have adequate feed and water in the aftermath of the storm. The graphic accompanying this post is taken from a television PSA used in the region and urges people “to make a disaster plan for your family, without forgetting your pets, as they would never abandon you”. 

In addition to the PSA distribution, our Disaster Management staff and response support networks were on standby all this week, with the Disaster Liaison Officer (DLO) and Veterinary Emergency Response Unit (VERU) leaders in Mexico alerted and prepared in case a ground assessment was needed. Thankfully, the storm rapidly weakened in strength since it made landfall and the worst seems to be over.

WSPA begins relief work in Asia as monsoon continues

Several areas of southern and south eastern Asia continue to be severely impacted by torrential monsoon rains, particularly affecting rural communities and their livelihoods – often their livestock. After conducting Disaster Assessment Needs Analyses (DANAs) both in India’s Orissa state and in central Thailand, we are launching disaster response teams in both countries.

Our DANA in Orissa identified a need for both short-term emergency relief as well as longer-term risk reduction to prepare local communities for similar disasters in the future.  A team from our local partner PFA Bhubaneswar is already on the ground and will deliver fodder provided by WSPA to 3,000 livestock in the six most affected villages in the coming days. The NGO has also already provided care to 399 animals through its emergency mobile clinic.

Following the delivery of relief, from November, WSPA India will participate in risk reduction work with these communities over several months, together with PFA Bhubaneswar.  This will consist of preparing a village Disaster Management plan, setting up a storage bank for feed and providing training to help our local partners build capacity in the affected communities. 

WSPA was also quick to respond to the floods in Phichit Province, Thailand, by quickly sending out an assessment team to determine the impact on animals and put an emergency plan into action. The DANA identified an urgent need for emergency feed for livestock, which the local communities depend on for agricultural production. A team from WSPA Asia Pacific will be travelling to the affected area at the beginning of next week to deliver high-energy pineapple silage to more than 2,000 animals in need.