Together for animals: 2012 and beyond “Thank you so much for supporting our life-saving work. Throughout 2012 we’ll be convincing governments, humanitarian and development agencies that including animal welfare in emergency planning is vital for effective disaster management. To support this, we will gather compelling, independent evidence of the importance of animals during times of disaster and celebrate the successes of regions already considering animals in their plans. We hope our awareness campaigns will help local people safeguard their own animals and encourage them to lobby their governments to implement national plans too. Our efforts to create a shared understanding of how the animal welfare community can best respond and collaborate in disasters will also help save animal lives.” James Sawyer, WSPA Campaign Director, Disaster Management
SUPPORT IN TOUGH TIMES Alejo is from Jacobacci, a small town in Argentina. He is just one of the farmers whose animals you helped us save after grazing lands were covered in thick volcanic ash when the Puyehue volcano erupted in June. Alejo’s few angora goats and merino sheep are his only sources of income. When our team arrived he explained that some of his animals had died after grazing on the ash-covered grass. He was in a desperate situation with no money to buy another source of food for his surviving animals, which were increasingly at risk of starvation and even death.
“Like so many people in this region Alejo lives in poverty. His own home is as tiny as his animals’ enclosures. When we arrived there wasn’t enough water for either himself or his wife or for his goats and sheep. He was so glad to see us.” Ricardo Jimenez, WSPA Communications Manager, South America
“Sometimes I had to go to the fields and carry them because they were too weak to walk back to their enclosures,” he told us.
Strength to face the future Your support meant we could give Alejo’s livestock the best chance of survival, by providing fresh food and water, vaccinating them against disease and treating their injuries. Some animals were also given vitamin shots to help them make it through the harsh Argentine winter. “Alejo was overwhelmed with gratitude. He gave me the most sincere thank you hug I have received in recent times!” says WSPA’s Ricardo Jimenez. With your support we delivered 171 tonnes of feed to this devastated region and vaccinated 99,000 animals to protect them in the tough recovery period that lay ahead.
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A healthy sign: WSPA staf f mark the sheep that have already rece ived treatment in the af termath of Puyehue volcano the .