Providing urgent care for animals in Nepal
News
The unthinkable has happened – a second major earthquake, this one estimated to be magnitude 7.3, struck Nepal yesterday.
Devastated communities, still reeling from the April 25 earthquake, have suffered additional deaths and injuries, damage and destruction, making an already desperate situation much worse.
“This is utterly tragic,” says Scott Cantin, our Disaster Communications Manager. “The country had only just begun the recovery process and now has been hit by another major earthquake. Since April 25, people and their animals were living in damaged buildings under temporary tarps. I am horrified to think how this latest quake has affected them. We continue to work and race against the clock to help animals and the people who depend on them in Nepal.”
“I fear this disaster will push an already fragile and vulnerable population into unimaginable suffering,” adds Cantin. “I saw people putting their own lives at risk, sharing precious food and shelter with their animals just last week. With this new tragedy, our already urgent and critical delivery of relief becomes truly a difference between life and death for animals and their owners.”
Our team of veterinarians on the ground has reported an urgent need for treatment of injuries sustained in the earthquake and emergency supplies of food and water. We are running a mobile vet clinic in Kathmandu and in more remote mountain villages in the Kavre Region to provide medical support for animals and support for their owners.
Animals are the forgotten victims of disasters. It’s estimated that around 40 million animals are affected by disasters each year. Help end the suffering of animals affected by disasters by donating to our Disaster Relief Fund.
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“The country had only just begun the recovery process and now has been hit by another major earthquake. Since April 25, people and their animals were living in damaged buildings under temporary tarps. I am horrified to think how this latest quake has affected them.