(CN) Animals Asia rescuing dogs from earthquake zone

[Guest guest]

29 May 2008

 

Animals Asia rescues family dogs from earthquake zone

 

Survivors in Sichuan’s earthquake-hit region of

Dujiangyiang are lining up to hand over their pet

dogs to Animals Asia for safe-keeping until they

are back on their feet. The Hong

Kong-headquartered charity has set up a receiving

station at a local vet clinic and a hotline for pet owners to call.

 

Animals Asia, which has a sanctuary in Chengdu

for moon bears rescued from cruel bile farms,

decided to act when it heard the authorities in

Dujiangyiang were implementing a cull of all dogs

because of fears they would spread disease. To

date, the Animals Asia team has rescued 90 dogs

and two cats, bringing them to Chengdu, some to

an animal shelter, others to it’s rescue centre for urgent medical attention.

 

Animals Asia’s China Relations Director, Christie

Yang said that this was one small way of helping

the survivors of the earthquake. “These poor

people have lost everything, family members,

their homes, their livelihoods and now they are

faced with losing their much loved pets in the

most cruel way, so if we can help them, we will.

 

“We are asking people who want their dogs back to

sign an agreement that we will make sure they are

well-looked after for six months; after that, if

they are still unable to take their pets back and

want to renew, they can. If not, we will try to

rehome the animals. We are also taking starving

dogs that have been found wandering around looking for food.”

 

Repeated offers by Animals Asia to go into the

devastated area to vaccinate dogs and people

against rabies and to rescue strays paid off on

Saturday when the Dujiangyiang Rabies Control

Centre gave oral permission for the charity to help.

 

Animals Asia has secured free dog food and free

vaccinations from the corporate sector and is now

concentrating on saving as many dogs (and cats)

as possible. It is a race against time, as any

dogs or cats found by the police or soldiers will

be killed, either shot or beaten with sticks. The

rescuers are taking the animals to the Qi Ming

Pet Rescue Centre in Chengdu, which can take

around 200 dogs. Animals Asia, with funding aid

from the Humane Society International is

providing food and building a temporary quarantine area at the shelter.

 

Animals Asia’s Founder and CEO Jill Robinson said

many animals lovers had been hiding their dogs in

the ruins of their building and risking their

lives to go back and feed them. “One elderly

couple handed over their two pomeranians; they

clearly didn’t want to give them up, but they

were so relieved that we could look after them.

The old man walked away with tears in his eyes,” she said.

 

Ms Robinson said she was heartened by the

response of people in the survivors’ camp, many

of whom came up to thank the Animals Asia team

for caring about the dogs. She said she hoped

that in future the authorities would think twice

before ordering a cull in a disaster zone.

 

“We understand the need to act urgently to stop

the spread of disease,” Ms Robinson said.

“However, in a disaster such as this, dogs and

cats in fact stop the spread of disease by keeping down the rodent population.

 

“With no dogs and cats, rats and mice will

quickly breed to plague proportions, leading to

the serious threat of an epidemic. The surest way

of spreading leptospirosis is to remove dogs from

the streets. Also, with no dogs and cats to

control their population, rats will quickly devour food rations.”

 

Animals Asia contacted Red Cross China

immediately after the quake and has sent teams to

Dujiangyan and Anxian three times to assist

survivors, bringing medical supplies, food and

water, and offering basic first aid.

 

Ms Robinson said that from day one of the

earthquake, dogs had been working alongside human

rescue workers doing what they do best – helping

humans. “For example, sniffer dogs have found

many survivors in the rubble, with one dog saving

35 lives. In another case, an old lady survived

for 190 hours buried under rocks because two dogs

kept licking her lips and giving her the will to live.”

 

She said that even family pets and strays, with

their keen sense of smell and willingness to help

humans, could locate trapped people and human

remains – dogs found barking and whining in areas

of devastation have often led to the detection of

survivors when human rescuers have long since given up.

 

“We need to remember that these dogs and cats are

also victims of this tragedy. Many are family

pets that are suffering terribly too. They may

have lost contact with their family and now be

wandering the streets, thirsty, hungry, weak,

sick, confused, frightened and hurt. It is almost

impossible to tell the difference between stray

dogs and family dogs at this point – and anyway,

stray dogs too can provide much assistance in this crisis.”

 

Ms Robinson said the rescue of dogs and cats

would continue over the next few days.

 

 

Angela Leary

Media Manager

Animals Asia Foundation

2/F, Room 04-05,

Nam Wo Hong Building

148 Wing Lok Street,

Sheung Wan, Hong Kong

Tel: (852) 2791 2225

http://www.animalsasia.org/