BANGKOK, Thailand, May 9 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- An emergency
veterinary team from the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA)
is on stand-by in Thailand awaiting authority to enter cyclone struck
Myanmar to assess and then relieve the suffering of thousands of animals
that human survivors depend on for food and their livelihoods.
WSPA is receiving daily updates from The Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations (FAO) while preparing its Rapid
Assessment and Response Team.
Philip Russell MBE, WSPA's Director of Disaster Management, said:
"No-one else, Governments, humanitarian NGOs or owners have the resources
to care for these animals, most of which are owned by poor impoverished
families. If those that survived die, so too will the livelihoods of
thousands of people."
He added that, as WSPA so often finds, when operating in emergencies
many families will have or be in the process of selling off their remaining
livestock at severely reduced prices to ensure some monetary value for
immediate subsistence, mainly because they cannot now keep them alive.
The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and the Humane Society
of the United States (HSUS) are also planning to join WSPA's emergency
response team in assessing and responding to the needs of animals.
One way of helping to stop the spread of disease is to separate animals
into temporary holding pens. Emergency feed will also be needed as it is
unlikely that there is any food for surviving livestock in and around
camps, or spare hay of any type will be available in Myanmar. Any precious
grass that is not ruined by the flood will be owned by individuals and will
not be for sale.
Wet conditions, lowered immune systems, endemic disease such as Foot
and Mouth and overcrowded camps create a highly disease prone and
contagious environment. WSPA will seek to advise government livestock
veterinarians on the need to deliver veterinary checks to enable
preventative treatment in the form of antibiotics, vaccinations and
de-worming.
"WSPA works to align animal welfare and humanitarian agendas to reduce
poverty, hunger and disease in humans. Equally, by complimenting
humanitarian efforts in this way we increase the number of animals we
protect," said Russell.
For more information and updates, visit: http://www.wspa-usa.org
SOURCE World Society for the Protection of Animals
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Related links:
http://www.wspa-usa.org
CONTACT:
Cheryl Lofts, WSPA's London headquarters,
+011-44-207840-6255, +011-44-7810-697957,
CherylLofts@wspa-international.org, or Barbara Castleman, WSPA's
US Office, +1-617-896-9291, +1-978-204-1262 (cell),
bcastleman@wspausa.org, both of the World Society for the
Protection of Animals
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