WSPA - Animals in Disasters Blog

Fiji flooded once more

Our Disaster Response Team is preparing to land in Fiji again after the island was hit by severe flooding for the second time this year.

In February we visited the island to assess the impact of the flooding and provide emergency feed, but during the fragile recovery phase the island was affected by heavy rain and strong winds caused by Cyclone Daphene. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Much of the islands crops and pastures have been destroyed and there is concern for those animals in poor conditions as a result of the cyclone. Once on the ground our team will work in the Western District of the island with members of the Fiji SPCA to assess the impact on animals.   

We will update you once the team have reached the impacted areas. 

A photo update from Brazil

As we posted earlier this week, our disaster relief team has been in the Minas Gerais state, Brazil, to help animals affected by the flooding and landslides there. Following their assessment, the team reported that close to 3000 cats and dogs are in need of our help. Over the coming weeks, we will be delivering emergency feed and basic veterinary care to these animals. In addition, if persistent rains start compromising pastures, we will provide food supplements to an estimated 500 cattle that are likely to be affected.

Meanwhile, here are a few of the photographs sent through by the team, visibly highlighting the need for our work there.

WSPA vet Sergio Vasquez surveys damage in the Brazilian State of Minas Gerais, where months of rainfall have caused flooding and landslides, destroying many homes and rendering most roads unusable.

 

While the DART (Damage Assessment and Response Team) were conducting their assessment of the area they were followed by this puppy. She is usually looked after by locals, who apparently left her behind when they evacuated.  

 

The team came across many abandoned dogs who were visibly distressed. For instance, the locals told our vets how this dog had lost her puppies in the flooding and was refusing to leave her home.

 
The bridge in Guidoval municipality was destroyed by flooding dividing the town in half. The Brazilian Army built a temporary pontoon bridge allowing access.  WSPA’s Sergio Vasquez crosses over with food for animals.  

 

During the assessment in Guidoval city, WSPA’s Juan Carlos Murillo found this starving, injured puppy. Since no one in the neighbourhood claimed ownership of the puppy, Juan Carlos named him Guido and took him to a veterinary clinic for thorough treatment.

Sergio Vasquez holds Guido while the local vet, Dr. Alonso, examines him. Guido is recovering well and will be looked after until a suitable home can be found for him. 

 

Over the next few weeks WSPA will continue to work with volunteers from local animal protection groups Nucleo Fauna and Bichos Gerais who will be carrying out the work in the field.

We expect more information from our team over the weekend, and will certainly keep you posted! 

An update from Brazil

As we mentioned in a previous post, Dr. Juan Carlos Murillo and Dr. Sergio Vasquez, two of our most experienced disaster management vets, have been in Brazil since Sunday the 8th of January, to conduct a thorough assessment of the impact on animals in the flood-affected regions.

One of the first results of the WSPA visit has been to secure 450 placements of a public service announcement (PSA) on over 335 radio stations – this means that thousands of residents all across Brazil were reminded to include animals in their disaster plans and given practical tips on ensuring the safety of their animals. 

Our team started by visiting Belo Horizonte, where they met with Franklin Olivera, a representative of a local partner organisation "Amigos dos Bichos" to plan how best to work together to help the animals belonging to the local flood-affected communities.

They also visited the Mario Campos district to assess the impact of the floods there and the current animal situation. On their way there, they passed the previously flooded cities of Juatuba and Mario Campos, where they found that the situation had returned to normal, and people were going about their business as per usual. The Paraopeba river is returning to normal levels but in Mario Campos, effects of the recent flooding were still visible: water marks were visible on household walls as far inland from the river as 100 metres! 

The animals most impacted by the flooding in this region are pets that were abandoned when their owners had to evacuate their households. Most farm animals had been moved to higher ground – as they usually are, during the rainy season, and were therefore safe from the floods.

WSPA has initiated the distribution of pet food and fodder for animals in the communities most affected, including for some families continuing to live in a shelter set up at the Municipal School Antonio Gonzalez, because their homes had been swept away in the floods.

Over the weekend, our staff are expected to return from this initial assessment trip; based on the findings they report, we will make decisions about how to continue to help these animals, and of course, continue to keep you posted!

Click here if you'd like to hear the PSA that played on radio stations across Brazil.

A busy start to 2012

2011 was a busy year for our global Disaster Relief team (as for many of our readers, surely!) but it’s gratifying to look back at the impact we made: last year alone, WSPA Disaster Relief Teams across the globe helped more than 240,000 animals in 11 countries. We helped a variety of animals: cattle, buffalo, pigs, sheep, goats, camels, donkeys, horses, poultry, as well as people’s pets, like rabbits, cats and dogs. The countries we worked in included Brazil, Colombia, Sri Lanka, Egypt, Bolivia, Japan, Thailand, Argentina, India, Vietnam and Kenya, and regular readers of this blog will have followed the many kinds of disasters we have responded to last year.

This year has got off to a busy start as well (although thankfully, not with a disaster as large-scale as the earthquake that struck Haiti on 12 January 2010) with our disaster team from Costa Rica responding to the flooding in Brazil, just as we did last year when floods and landslides hit three states in Brazil.

Since the beginning of January 2012, very heavy rains caused flooding and landslides in the Minas Gerais Brazilian State and an alert is active over the Rio do Janeiro State, specially in the area of Sierra do Organs, which was affected last year too. 

In the state of Minas Gerais, the toll of human deaths attributed to the rains has now reached eight. Overflowing rivers and landslides have blocked various state and federal highways, making it difficult to send through supplies or assistance to the disaster hit areas.108 municipalities were affected by storms and floods during the last 15 days, of which 52 municipalities have declared themselves to be in an ‘Emergency state’, affecting 2.1 million people. 

Dr. Juan Carlos Murillo and Dr. Sergio Vasquez, two of our most experienced disaster management vets, have been in Brazil since Sunday the 8th of January, to conduct a thorough assessment of the impact on animals in the flood-affected regions. Knowing that they are likely to encounter abandoned pets during their assessment, they are carrying large consignments of mixed dry food and first aid veterinary kits so that they can help any animals in need immediately.

As we receive reports back from our colleagues in the field, we will continue to post updates here and via our Twitter feed. Stay tuned, and Happy New Year!

Talking to the team in Thailand

Dr Ian Dacre is just back at the WSPA Bangkok office, after having helped with the animal relief work he is overseeing in Thailand. In this video interview we conducted via Skype, Ian tells us what the situation there has been like.

 

In this second video, Ian describes the sights he has seen during his work, including some of the ingenious ways in which the Thai people are protecting their animals.

 

 

WSPA is distributing large consignments of pet food to help sustain thousands of animals over the next several weeks. Much of the hard work – which our team is doing along with volunteers – involves re-bagging tonnes of this food into manageable quantities, redistributing it in lots of varying sizes and then transporting it to through mud, floods and traffic jams, to the end recipients. 

 

 

Over the next few days the WSPA team and the volunteers who are helping us, will continue the arduous process of feed distribution. It isn’t always pleasant work, but at the end of the day, everyone feels good knowing how their work is helping defenceless animals survive in these trying times.

 

 

 

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.

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.

Visiting animal shelters in Niigata

On Sunday, 2nd April a joint team from WSPA and the Humane Society International (HSI) joined members of the Japanese Animal Disaster Response Team (ADRT) to visit animal shelters in the cities of Niigata, Ishinomaki and Sendai – the worst hit from the earthquake and resultant tsunami of 11th March 2011.

Niigata has seen an influx of at least 7000 people from Fukushima, now staying in evacuation centres. In Niigata, the team met with local hero Mr Akitsugu Kakimoto, who runs his own animal welfare charity called ‘Pet With’. Years ago, Kakimoto san took over a ‘dog entertainment park’ where over 200 dogs were kept and trained to perform tricks. He closed down the business, found new, caring homes for 190 of these dogs and kept 30 of the oldest ones in comfortable enclosures. For the last several years, he has used the establishment to run boarding kennels and a grooming parlour for pets. Following the earthquake, he has been providing shelter to abandoned pets, and is also acting as the coordinator for the various agencies taking action in Niigata to help the animals there.

The team visited one of the evacuation centres in Niigata – an erstwhile sports stadium. Since this is essentially a large, open area, people were not allowed to keep their animals alongside other families. However, the authorities did put up a prefabricated building right outside the stadium and furnished it with comfortable cages where people could house their pets.

The owners get to spend as much time with their animals as they like, since each owner (or indeed, family!) is responsible for the cleaning, walking and feeding of their pets. Local vets come by on a regular basis, to administer medication, treat wounds and provide advice to pet owners. Mr Kakimoto makes regular rounds of all the evacuation centres in Niigata, making sure that animals are included in all their plans.

Kakimoto san is also very well known to the team from the WSPA member society JAWS. In the days before transport links between Sendai and Tokyo were restored, JAWS got in touch with him and asked him what he could do for the animals in Sendai, as no one from Tokyo was able to get in. He first got to Sendai on the Saturday following the earthquake, and has since been visiting the city at least twice a week – each time he carries supplies of pet food and medications, visiting the animal shelters, local vets, the Sendai City Animal Control Centre and those human evacuation shelters that are allowing pets in.

One of the dogs Damian met in Niigata is called Taro. Taro is one of about ten dogs that were brought in to Pet With; these dogs came from inside the 20km exclusion zone around the Daichi nuclear plant. Officials from the Fukushima Animal Control Centre checked them for signs of radiation exposure and gave them warm soapy baths to decontaminate them.

While nine of the ten dogs from Fukushima that were brought in to Pet With were reclaimed by their owners, Taro was not. But he seems quite happy to be with Mr. Kakimoto, and appeared well settled at Pet With.

Equally happy seems this lovely dog, reunited with his owner – although she instantly recognized him as belonging to her, this elderly lady couldn’t remember her dog’s name! Nonetheless, both of them seem well pleased to be reunited and drawing comfort from each other’s presence.

Tomorrow, we will bring you an update from Ishinomaki and Sendai – watch this space!

 

Animal relief efforts underway in Christchurch, New Zealand

As the community begins to face the aftermath of the magnitude 6.3 quake that hit Christchurch, New Zealand last week, the search and rescue efforts for humans and animals remains high priority.

The human death toll currently sits at 148, with 8 people named, and others expected to be on the list of the more than 200 people still unaccounted for. Although communication continues to be difficult due to the destruction, WSPA remains in regular contact with its member society, the Canterbury SPCA, as well as the National Animal Welfare Emergency Management Liaison Group (NAWEM), the New Zealand Veterinary Association and Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, who are managing the animal assessment and relief work in the area.

The Wellington SPCA Animal Rescue Unit and Massey University Veterinary Emergency Response Team arrived on Sunday afternoon to assist. The Christchurch City Council's Animal Control is taking the lead with efforts inside the cordon area with the assistance of the SPCA. WSPA remains on standby should these groups require any further assistance, although at this stage it appears our help will not be required as few animals have been adversely affected in contrast with the human population.

Contact has been made with most veterinary clinics in Christchurch. Most are up and running, with some having power and/or water. A small number of companion animals have presented with minor injuries like cuts and abrasions, and a few are being treated for fractures. There have been no reports of injuries to horses.

Some roaming cats and dogs have been brought into clinics and others have been reported to the SPCA. Some who have microchips have been reunited with owners, while others are temporarily being cared for by those who have brought them in. The SPCA are working with Pets on the Net and Trade Me to help earthquake victims locate their lost animals. The current situation in New Zealand is a reminder for pet owners around the globe to check with their local authorities what method of pet identification, like microchipping, is available to them. This process can increase the likelihood of a reunion not only in a disaster situation, but should your pet become missing at any time.

The SPCA are checking apartment buildings in the CBD for pets that may be trapped inside. They are also checking with welfare centres to ascertain if evacuees have turned up with pets or service dogs, and to ensure the Christchurch veterinarians, who have been integral in relief efforts, are not too overwhelmed with the situation.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry has confirmed that the damage in the rural areas is relatively minor, outside of house/building damage. Federated Farmers are reporting very little damage also and at this stage there appears to be no animal welfare issues.

As the search and rescue efforts continue we will keep you up to date with any news that comes in.