Harsh monsoons test rescuers, From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 2006

[Guest guest]

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 2006:

 

 

Harsh monsoons test rescuers

 

VISAKHAPATNAM--At least 49 people were reported dead in

Bangladesh and 46 in India on September 22, 2006, following the

ninth cyclone to hit the western coast of the Bay of Bengal in as

many weeks. The animal toll was not immediately available.

" We are hoping to get some help to add to our efforts, "

e-mailed Visakha SPCA president Pradeep Kumar Nath. " Help is needed

urgently for feed. "

The Visakha SPCA continued assisting animals elsewhere along

the stricken Bengal coast while rebuilding its own facilities,

destroyed by a cyclone and landslides on August 3, just 11 months

after a typhoon destroyed the previous facilities in September 2005.

" We send our deepest gratitude from the animals and villagers

for the flood relief help we have received from the World Society for

the Protection of Animals and individual donors, " Nath said before

the ninth cyclone hit. " So far we have been able to help more than

27,000 animals with over 66 ton of food, vaccinations, wound

treatment and deworming. "

The rising Vamsadhara River isolated some villages for as

long as 10 days, Nath reported, " with broken roads, bridges, and

in some areas a mile of chest-high water. The villagers have to walk

up to nine kilometers to receive help. "

The Visakha SPCA had two mobile veterinary teams working in

the Vamsadhara and Srikakulam regions. An unpleasant discovery amid

the difficult conditions was an outbreak of blue tongue, a cattle

disease best known in Africa, previously believed to have been

eradicated almost everywhere else but also now occurring in the

Netherlands, Belgium, France, and Germany. Rescuers and residents

were also menaced by the previously rare debilitating mosquito-borne

disease Chikungunya fever.

Trying to reach 15 marooned villages on a damaged road, " Our

lorry fell into the river between Vizianagaram and Srikakaulam, " Nath

said. " The staff of four miraculously escaped while the lorry was

precariously perched on one side. We summoned a crane to lift it

out of the river. All were safe, although shaken, and continued

their vaccination work. Then our men, including the vet, went

through the standing waters walking over 3 miles to reach one

village. Despite the difficulties, they completed their mission. "

A similar report came from Mahesh Agar-wal, general

secretary of Bharatiya Prani Mitra Sangh, who worked in nearby

Andhra Pradesh.

" Nearly 160 villages lost dry grass and animal fodder, "

Mahesh Agarwal wrote. " Officially 100 animals were declared dead,

with 800 missing, but unofficially the figure runs into the

thousands. Nearly one month after the disaster the dead bodies of

animals were still seen in the river and thousands of animals were

temporarily sheltered on hillocks and bridges. After 25 days of

flooding we were the first to enter a few villages to distribute

fodder and medical aid to the animals. "

Violent stampedes broke out several times as fodder was

passed out, Mahesh Agarwal recounted.

Assessments from farther inland came from Humane Society

International representative Sherry Grant and Rahul Sehgal, founder

of Animal Help in Emergencies And Disasters. AHEAD is the first

Indian organization to specialize in animal disaster relief.

Grant earlier founded the Bali Street Dog Project in

Indonesia, while Seghal founded Animal Help Ahmedabad.

" All of the fodder land in [the afflicted part of] Orissa is

gone. Most mud shelters for cattle are destroyed. Standing crops

are gone, which impacts the fodder supply post harvest for late 2006

and early 2007, " Grant and Sehgal wrote. " Animals have been been

birthing, and the lack of grazing and fodder availability affects

milk production, hence compromises the health of the offspring, " as

well as impacting the human food supply. "

A government report estimated that 235,000 cattle, more than

9,000 buffalo, 53,000 " small animals, " and 66,000 " others " were

affected.

" Animals washed downstream are claimed by the villages they washed up

into. This is creating problems as these animals are not branded, "

Grant and Sehgal observed.

They saw " no other international charities on the scene.

India has turned away humanitarian charities guilty of coming in,

taking pictures, and then leaving, " Grant and Sehgal said. " Only

two local animal charities with minimal resources are responding with

fodder. The government delivered fodder to some areas we visited,

but others have received none. Government vets have not been to

inspect the health of the animals in any of the affected areas,

according to all of the villages we assessed. "

" We are not talking of the coastal areas, " Grant and Sehgal

emphasized, " which are regularly hit by floods and cyclones; we are

talking about the inland areas which usually get normal monsoon rains

that they depend on and manage as the water source for their crops

and cattle. These are very poor rural villages self-sustained by

dairy and wool production, and rice fields. This is not a region

that produces handicrafts. These villages do not use cars, and few

motorbikes were seen, but lots of bicycles and bullock carts. Many

buildings have never had telephone lines or electricity. Those who

had this infrastructure no longer have it, as it has been ruined.

This is a difficult area to use cell phones in, as there is

generally no signal.

" Fodder originally distributed on the highway was taken by

refugees and used to make roofs on temporary shelters for

themselves, " Grant and Sehgal continued. " People For Animals is

providing some villages with bags of husk fodder that is mixed with

water and vegetable cuttings, such as peels and tops. We assessed

the fodder distribution to animals who had not had food in the four

days since the last PFA visit. The animals ate the food in a mater

of minutes. They were very hungry. Cows were neck-deep in water

looking for fodder and eating water hyacinth and anything else green.

" The animals are not showing signs of sickness associated

with flooding and being wet for such a long time, " Grant and Sehgal

wrote, contrasting the situation with Rajasthan, on the opposite

side of India, normally a desert but hit hard by flooding in August

2006.

" Rajasthan still needs herds treated, " Grant told ANIMAL

PEOPLE. " They are very sick whereas in Orissa the animals are fit

but have no place to graze. "

Grant and Sehgal recommended that experts should " Evaluate

potential disease or illnesses that may affect the animals in the

near future and provide preventative care, " and " Research for future

understanding why these animals are not showing typical signs of

stress and illness from flood situations. "

Ironically, Grant and Sehgal noted, " Villagers claim sick

animals and want vaccines. But this is not part of the emergency,

and they don't normally vaccinate. "

Grant and Sehgal also recommended, " Community

capacity-building to manage dry fodder stores for future floods. "

 

 

--Merritt Clifton

 

--

Kim Bartlett, Publisher of ANIMAL PEOPLE Newspaper

Postal mailing address: P.O. Box 960, Clinton WA 98236 U.S.A.

CORRECT EMAIL ADDRESS IS: <ANPEOPLE

Website: http://www.animalpeoplenews.org/ with French and Spanish

language subsections.