|
|
|
|
|
We've asked Sherry to jot down some of her experiences as she travels throughout Southeast Asia helping animals that are in need because of massive natural disasters. Click here for a listing of all of her diaries.
|
Sherry's Diary
Running the Clinic and Rebuilding
Preparing the building site area for the new animal shelter
[note: Sherry is on the the eastern costal city of Visakha, India. The city and the surrounding areas were wiped out in a cyclone (or hurricane) that swept through the area in mid-October. She is there assisting the Visakha SPCA (VSPCA) and its president, Pradeep Nath. The VSPCA cares for over 700 animals including dogs and farm animals. Their shelter and facilities were wiped out in the Cyclone and HSI has funded rebuilding the animal shelters and caring for the injured animals. Sherry is there to oversee the project and offer what aid HSI can. For assistance, she has called upon the HSI supported teams from the Yudisthira Bali Street Dog Foundation and the Sri Lankan Tsunami Memorial Animal Welfare Trust (TMAWT). Both groups have sent veterinarian teams to help with the work. The effort is also being assisted by the animal welfare groups AHEAD, from Ahmedabad, India, and Animal Aid, from Udiapor, India.]
Sherry Grant
Visakha, India
Monday, 1 November 2005
Intermittent rains did not slow down the Humane Society International Response Team. The AHEAD and Animals Aid guys, a team of five men, worked as fast as possible to level by hand the ground upon which the temporary shelter will be built. The emergency situation for the cattle was brought home to all of us this morning when we found one of the buffalo calves dead. The youngest animals are suffering the most. We have converted the old stray dog holding pen into a cow and calf shelter, but because the cattle being rescued are already in a weakened condition, it is a challenge to bring them back to health given our marginal conditions.
Dead buffalo calve
The regular shelter vets did not show up again, so Dr. Kabir, of AHEAD, and Dr. Telusha, from TMAWT, took charge of the surgery while Sarda, the VSPCA shelter manager, managed the induction and anesthesia. Galle, a vet tech and catcher, prepped and managed the animal handling. The team work is good. Nobody is saying, “This is not my job”. Everyone pitches-in to do whatever is necessary. They are sterilizing about twenty dogs a day.
Pradeep is aggressively recruiting a field clinic team to go out and do sterilizations in the community. He understands that this must be staffed by a permanent staff rather than part-timers. The ads were placed and by the end of the day we got our first response from a vet in Hydrebad. We are encouraged, but are painfully aware that getting good vets is going to be our biggest problem. Most vets prefer an easy government job.
Dr. Dananjaya, from TMAWT, spends his day gathering and purchasing all of the necessary equipment to supply the mobile M.A.S.H. style field clinic. Dr. Dananjaya and Pradeep check out the nets and decide to use a different metal for the frame in order to make it lighter and easier to use. They place an order for ten to be delivered in time for the planned field clinic demonstration to the press and municipal dog catchers and handlers.
The gravel trucks continue to drop their loads as the building site is being prepared for the construction of the new animal shelters. The land is being raised so future flooding won’t affect the shelter areas.
In addition to helping VSPCA and Pradeep rebuild, this has also been a leaning experience for them. Pradeep is keen to learn about disaster response, rather than just being on the receiving end. He is learning what it takes to organize and mount a disaster response. He is lucky that he has the “Tsunami Veterans” to teach him. In the future, he hopes to be able to support such efforts himself for India’s far too common disasters.
I spent my day in a cubby at the internet café answering emails and coordinating other HSI projects throughout Asia.
The biggest problem has been laundry and the toilet which bears the burden of thirteen people, but we’ve all been through harsher conditions. We are well fed and being looked after.
Click here for the VSPCA Website: www.VisakhaSPCA.org
Previous Diary Entry List of All Diary Entries
