Animals key but forgotten in storm relief work

SAN PEDRO, Laguna—The almost forgotten casualties of Supertyphoon “Yolanda” are the farm animals that happen to be major sources of livelihood of most survivors in storm-battered Leyte province.

“Most of the survivors are dependent on agriculture—coconut and rice, so when their carabao falls ill, how could they plow the farms?” said Joy Santos, a 43-year-old veterinary doctor from Sta. Rosa City, Laguna.

Another veterinary doctor, Esteban Aldrin Bisa, 44, from Lipa City, Batangas, said he met several residents who survived but lost their farm animals. “Some said livestock farming is the only job they know,” he said.

As human aid continues to pour in a month after the typhoon, a group of animal doctors felt it was about time they did their part in the rehabilitation.

They flew in to Leyte on Dec. 6 for a three-day animal relief mission in Tacloban City, Jaro, La Paz, San Miguel, Dulag and Barugo towns, organized by Bangkok-based World Society for the Protection of Animals, Philippine Animal Hospital Association (Paha) and local government veterinary offices.

Santos, incoming president of Paha, said most of the animals that died were those left by their owners on a leash as the sea wiped out the coastal villages.

“Some cows and carabaos (water buffalos) were injured while the chickens were starting to catch colds,” she said on the phone on Wednesday.

The volunteer doctors administered mass animal vaccination, deworming and gave out vitamins to about 4,000 farm animals. They also distributed sacks of animal feeds in communities that could sustain 3,000 heads of swine in the coming months.

Bisa, in a separate interview, said a problem was how to sustain animal feeding. The owners said they used to feed their animals with coconut, corn and rice hull.

“But you see, Yolanda also destroyed almost all the coconut trees there,” he said.

The immensity of the devastation prompted the veterinary doctors and animal welfare groups to look into animal preparedness and resilience when calamity strikes. Santos said they were working on giving training programs to veterinary doctors as well as on how to help out their clients during a disaster.

“The first thing is to set the animals free to increase their chance of survival. Never mind losing them,” Santos said.

Bisa said an early evacuation of the farm animals to higher ground could help them escape a storm surge.

Another animal protection group, Humane Society International, is returning to Tacloban City next week to administer mass rabies vaccination.