Our global DM team has had a busy twenty four hours, tracking the movement of the tsunami across the Pacific Ocean, and making all necessary arrangements to mitigate what seemed to be a catastrophe in the making. Fortunately, though, the tsunami lost force as it travelled across the ocean, meaning there was significantly less damage to coastal communities across the Americas than originally feared.
Nonetheless, the threat – and the WSPA response to it – helped prove an important lesson: preparation always pays!
As the tsunami advanced towards coastal communities in Latin America, the DM team launched a coordinated effort with the trained and tested Veterinary Emergency Response Units (VERU) on stand by, reporting on progress and ready to swing into action as needed. Typically, the VERU teams spend months working closely with local authorities and communities in vulnerable areas, to help minimise the impact of natural disasters. Drills are practiced in ‘safe’ times – to prepare communities for effective evacuation that include their animals as well.
As part of the preparations following the alert yesterday, radio stations along the coast have been airing our public service announcement, reminding communities to include their animals in evacuation plans.
The situation in Japan, though, continues to be a major concern. The country has been rocked by several aftershocks, some as intense as 6.8 on the Richter scale. We are keeping a particularly close eye on the developments at Fukushima, where the nuclear power plant is thought to have suffered structural damage as a result of the quake, increasing the risks of radiation leakage. We continue to remain in close contact with our member society the Japan Animal Welfare Society and with the OIE in Japan, in order to ascertain the best way to provide support for the animals affected by this disaster. However, until the situation with the radiation threat is clearer we will continue to rely on information from within Japan; WSPA cannot send staff into situations presenting dangers outside our area of expertise, as the safety of our teams is paramount in our operations procedures.
