There Are Animal Victims Too

Over 100,000 people are believed to be dead after a magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck near the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, on Tuesday afternoon. The quake buried countless buildings, from shantytowns to the presidential palace. All hospitals in Port-au-Prince have been leveled or abandoned. The United Nations headquarters and the city’s main prison have collapsed as well. Thousands of residents are homeless and without food, water, or electricity.

Because all hospitals have been destroyed, there is nowhere to take the injured. The United Nations says it will immediately release $10 million from its emergency fund to aid relief efforts.

“For the most part, Europe and the United States have continued to sit by as Haiti has grown poorer and poorer. When I was there you could find the children just outside Cite Soleil, the giant slum, living in the garbage dump, waiting for the U.S. army trucks to dump the scraps left from the meals of American soldiers. There they stood, knee deep in garbage, fighting for bits of food. As for the old, they people every street, gathering at the Holiday Inn at Port-au-Prince in wheelchairs, waiting at the doorway in search of a coin or two. They have no social safety net. And nobody with any money—no bank, no insurance company, no hedge fund, no mutual fund—ever makes any serious investment in the country.”

Hip-hop artist and Haitian native Wyclef Jean has led efforts to help Haiti for years through his charity Yele Haiti. Yele spends $100,000 a year on athletic programs for Haitian children and helps feed 50,000 people a month with food donated by the UN. When Jean received word of the disaster, he immediately acted, sending a “flurry of tweets” for people to donate $5 by texting 501501. He has already returned to Haiti to help.

While the US and other foreign governments mobilize in efforts to save victims of the catastrophe, there are still animal victims who desperately need help. Among the chaos and disaster animals can also easily get lost or left behind hungry, thirsty and injured. The World Society for the Protection of Animals is one organization that campaigns to deal with disaster.

“Our teams will be working out of a mobile clinic which has been donated to us by the Antigua and Barbuda Humane Society. WSPA and IFAW have pledged funds to fully outfit this mobile clinic, and it will be shipped from Antigua to our member society, Sociedad Dominicana Para la Protección de Animales (SODOPRECA) in the Dominican Republic for them to drive across the border into Haiti. We are inviting other animal welfare groups to join ARCH and direct their support to the coalition,” according to James Sawyer, Head of Disasters for the WSPA.

The specially trained canines are being rushed to the area to sniff out survivors trapped in the rubble and locate Haitians who lost their lives. Rescue dogs are desperately needed during catastrophic events.  Their special training and natural abilities help emergency workers find survivors quicker than any other method.  Their sensitive hearing, sharp night vision and strong sense of smell have proven to cut down on the time it takes to locate injured and trapped victims.

• Dutch Search and Rescue took off from Eindhoven Airport with 60 dogs and their handlers.
• A group from France boarded vans that were headed to the airport.
• China sent a chartered plane with several sniffer dogs.
• A plane left Moscow with 3 Labrador retrievers, 2 Golden retrievers and a German shepherd.
• Dozens of other rescue dogs are en-route from Peru, Mexico and Taiwan.
• And dogs from Spain, Iceland, Canada, Germany and Venezuela have been pledged to help.

Filed Under: Animal & Plant Life