We are NOT the Only Victims

It's been a little over a week since Typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda hit the central region of the Philippines. The death toll is rising, some people are still missing, and while help is slowly getting to all the areas in need, it's going to take years to recover, rehabilitate, and rise again. It's crazy how long the cleanup would be as it only took a few hours for the mega-typhoon to make such a huge mess. I watched the news day in and day out (sometimes mindlessly) on the day of the disaster and in the days that followed. At least, I got the chance to do so when electricity was stable. I shed tears countless times, and still continue to do so when I watch or read the many stories of distress as well as the rare stories of hope.

Seeing a photo of several dogs that perished in the storm was more than enough for me to get moving. I realized, albeit a bit late, that the humans are not the only victims of the calamity! And perhaps a lot of people realized this even later than I did! I then asked a few pet-parent friends if any donation drives accepted dog food. Sad thing was, none of them knew of any leads and I had to constantly search that night and was forced to turn in disappointed.

Odie's teacher and veterinarian put up a blog post the following day and gave many options to help the animal survivors. Why I didn't think of asking her during my unproductive search, I'll never know. Seeing her post was the only time I learned about international animal welfare organizations that dedicate their time and energy to helping animals in disaster-stricken areas. The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) has teamed up with the Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) and headed to Tacloban, the worst hit location, to help the animals in need of food, water, and medical care. World Vets has also sent their teams to do the same. There are also other veterinarians abroad who are setting up donation drives for the typhoon-affected animals. Right now I'm keeping a close watch on these rescue missions. I'm grateful that they have already reached out to the animal survivors, and I hope that they could cover more locations in the coming days.

Image taken from the PAWS Facebook Page

I can't emphasize enough that just like humans, the displaced animals need help. It's also a bit disconcerting to see comments online (the Internet has a really big share of idiots, after all) questioning the need to rescue and rehabilitate animals when the humans haven't all been accounted for. I presume these remarks come from those who don't have animals as part of their family and I can't help but feel sorry for them. I'm sorry that for them, animals whose love and loyalty even surpasses those of humans' are just an afterthought. I'm sorry that they don't know how sweet it is to have cuddle time with a dog, or how sweetly dysfunctional it must feel to be owned by a cat. I guess I just really find it unacceptable to focus only on saving the humans when they're not the only ones in distress.

I even think that saving the animals at the same time as the humans would be beneficial for both parties! Hungry, stressed, and/or sick animals can be aggressive and may hurt humans and other animals in the process of trying to survive. I don't know how many or how few of the animals in Tacloban or in other affected areas are rabid so that exponentially increases the danger for everyone. Some lost animals may be looking desperately for their humans, and some humans may be clinging on to the hope that their pets are still alive. They're part of the family, too, and it's unimaginable to lose even just one family member, be it human or animal. Animal victims are also not limited to dogs and cats. Some humans may have had pigs, cows, water buffaloes, goats, ducks, and other animals that they may have depended on for livelihood. If your main source of income is goat's milk, for example, and you've lost everything in the storm surge, you would want to at least have the animal/s survive so that it may be at least a bit easier to start again. I saw a photo of a little girl carrying her dog and holding her mother's hand, her mother holding just a small backpack. A friend saw a video of a man in Tacloban happily playing with his dog after the storm. Having a dog by your side during the worst of times may be more emotionally uplifting than we all think.

All the animal welfare groups have already deployed their teams by now, but we can't stop helping just yet. Here's where you can donate:
World Vets
Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS)
Compassion And Responsibility for Animals (CARA) Welfare Philippines
International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW)

You may note in your donations that the amount you gave is for the benefit of Yolanda animal victims. You may also donate any amount, anytime, for them to save for another rainy day. You may also check their respective Facebook Pages for updates on their Typhoon Yolanda rescue missions. I sincerely hope that (universe forbid) disasters come our way in the future, the local animal welfare groups would be able to immediately respond to the animal victims.