Blog  /  Category  /  disaster-relief

Our first field report covered our team in the Philippines and their efforts to bring food and veterinary care to pets and their owners following the recent flash flooding in the Philippines. Since then our team has worked hard during the christmas break to do what they can to improve the situation in an area that has suffered utter devastation.  Our vet on the ground, Dino, describes the latest scenes in the worst hit areas.  

"I returned yesterday afternoon from 3-days of work in Iligan and Cagayan de Oro. As you have seen in photos, it seems a miracle how those people survived the flash flood. The scene is really a nightmare.

While there are now several welfare agencies that are helping the flood victims, we are the only ones who are working on the welfare of the animals. So far the reception to our work here has been positive, probably because we are making sure we give rice to pet owners as well as providing food and medical attention to their pets. In fact, if you see the faces of the dog owners, you can see that what we are doing is rewarding.

Sometimes the progress of the work here goes slowly because there are dog owners who are keen to share their stories, their experiences of the flood, the stories of how they survived and particularly the role their dogs played in their survival.  Some have said that without the barking of their dogs that awakened them they could be dead by now. There are also lost dogs that were considered dead only to return days after as well as dog owners who worked as hard to save their dogs as they did their children. There are,of course, many orphan dogs.

You can see in the photos that there are many dogs in a state of shock.  They just lie down, listlessly, and nobody in the neighborhood knows who their owner is. These are what I call the orphan dogs. And there are plenty of them.  But even if the owner is still alive, they simply have nothing to feed themselves and their dogs.  There is simply nothing left - no water, no house.

I suggested to the vets who are helping us in our activities here to make a report to their heads of units with the recommendation to create a shelter for these dogs.  I recommended that they should make animal welfare a permanent component of the animal services of their office and we will do what we can to assist them in making this a reality. 

I will be returning to Iligan and Cagayan de Oro in January to make a follow up and continue the work."

Following Typhoon Washi, which struck Mindanao in the Philippines last weekend, we dispatched our vet in the region along to the worst hit areas with a disaster relief team to provide food and emergency care to displaced animals.  The typhoon caused widespread devastation across the region, washing away homes, businesses and lives.  With nearly 1000 people officially dead and many more missing, the consequences for people and animals in the area are dire.  We took the decision for our disaster team to distribute food and treat stray animals, but also to provide rice for people who were struggling in the aftermath of the typhoon. 

Dino and his team are working long hours in a precarious situation encompassing health risks and a demolished infrastructure.  His first report describes the tragedy in terms of devastating lost, but a gritty determination to pick up and carry on. 

"We did feeding in Iligan City yesterday. It was a successful yet pitiful situation there.  There were many dogs that died and there are still plenty left. There are stories of canine heroism, of dogs that saved the lives of their owners by barking and wet dogs jumping into beds that awakened their owners.  There are plenty of orphaned dogs, which you can see from the pictures I sent you. The city stinks and the smells are awful. Many people are wearing masks while they work here.  It's also very dusty from dried mud.  The city is in disaster state.

We did house to house distribution of dog food and rice. People could not be pulled out from their areas, instead they are making shanties or removing mud and staying where they are. Others are just along the roads with simply no place to go. Dogs ate dog food even if they are not used to it due to their hunger.  Water is also a big problem for humans and animals.  The city vets personnel are very active and were all there with me. They will continue the dog food and rice distribution while there is supply.  We will work here in Cagayan de Oro today with some people from the province.  We work the whole day today."

Dino's team will continue to work alongside the city vets and other aid agencies until the situation stabilizes.  We'll bring your more reports when we have them.