We’re just back from Panay island in Central Visayas, Philippines where we completed the last phase of our nearly year long work following Typhoon Haiyan last November.
North Cebu, November 2014. ©World Animal Protection 2013
You’ll remember the devastating stories from that time and thanks to you, we were able to help over 17,000 animals in the immediate aftermath.
Disaster veterinarian Naritsorn Pholperm administers vaccinations to a cow. North Cebu, November 2013. ©World Animal Protection 2014
But the work did not stop there. Since then, we’ve equipped a mobile veterinary unit with bikes and motorcycles along with veterinary kits so the remotest villages can receive help for their animals during emergencies whe car and truck travel is not possible.
Mobile veterinarians can reach remote or otherwise inaccesible communities following a disaster. ©World Animal Protection 2014
We’ve also been working with communities, helping them create risk maps to identify hazards in their area and create plans for themselves and their animals for what to do and where to go in the event of another major disaster.
Mobilising entire villages and their animals, and practicing evacuations, while alerting other communities with SMS messages so they can take action as well were some of the elements of this week’s rehearsal. We also shared techniques with farmers how they can secure their animal structures so they are not destroyed or blown apart by high winds.
Animals and people alike practice evacuating to safe ground. Antique, Central Visayas. September 2014. ©World Animal Protection 2014
Securing roofs of animal enclosures prior to disasters means animals can shelter from the elements and farmers do not need to rebuild each time diasters strike. ©World Animal Protection 2014
As Maria Juliette Catipon of San Jose, Antique told me, “We never were able to save our animals before. Thank you so much for this. Now my community, their livelihoods and their companions can all evacuate together and we know what to do”.
Maria Juliette and her neighbours young goats get ready for the evacuation drill. ©World Animal Protection 2014
With your help, we’re making sure thousands of animals and the people who depend on them have a plan and a much better chance of surviving future disasters.