Helping the Animals of Japan

Re-Posted By Dawn Kairns, Author of  MAGGIE the dog who changed my life A Story of Love

Original post by Bernard Unti of Humane Society International

President and CEO Wayne Pacelle of The Humane Society of the United States, HSI's partner in disaster response, shares his thoughts on help for the people and animals of Japan @ http://hsus.typepad.com/wayne/2011/03/japan-disaster.html.

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March 14, 2011
by Bernard Unti

In the aftermath of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami double-strike that battered Japan’s northern coast and set off a mounting toll of death and destruction, Humane Society International and The Humane Society of the United States have deployed disaster response staff to the region, and reached out to Japanese partner organizations involved with animal care and rescue to identify where and how best to provide emergency support and veterinary attention.

HSI Lead Disaster Responder Kelly Coladarci is in the Philippines and has contacted Japanese organizations to help them evaluate all animal-related needs. Moreover, both HSI and The HSUS will provide aid to various Japanese organizations, supporting their efforts to assess the scope of the disaster’s effects on animals, to purchase and transport essential supplies, and to establish appropriate shelters and other needed bases of operation in or near the strike zone. The explosions that have rocked the two nuclear reactors at Fukushima may also swell the numbers of people and pets requiring emergency evacuation or already displaced in the midst of crisis.

The disaster’s destructive physical force and rising human death totals are horribly evident, and its impact upon animals is sure to be high, necessitating rapid deployment and response. Time and time again, whether after the Indonesian tsunami, the Haiti, Pakistan and Szechuan earthquakes, or Hurricane Katrina, we have witnessed the early focus on human need gradually expand to include the interests and needs of animals in distress. As the animal-related impacts of the crisis become clearer in Japan, we’ll be ready.