1. Humane Society International (HSI) / Humane Society United States (HSUS) /Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association

• Helping Haiti in the Long Term
• Latest Video: HSI and Haitians, Working Together
• Additional Videos and Slideshows
• Third Team Heads In: February 10, 2010; 11:30 a.m. EST
• Heading Home, for Now: February 4, 2010; 10:00 a.m. EST
• Merger Village: February 2, 2010; 9:30 p.m. EST
• Second Wave Deploys: February 1, 2010; 3 p.m. EST

The long-term HSI/HSUS/HSVMA recovery plan is expected to include:

• the shipment and distribution of food and supplies necessary to keep animals alive and healthy
• financial and practical support for Haiti’s crucial rabies vaccination program
• ongoing direct animal care and treatment in Haiti
• a rural spaying and neutering program with Christian Veterinary Mission
• collaboration in equine care and welfare workshops
• disaster preparedness training for Haitian veterinary personnel
• the creation of a basic animal care infrastructure or animal services clinic
• a program of improved care for captive animals in zoos, and
• the hiring of veterinary personnel to staff and manage funded initiatives.
  
  Slideshow 1
  Slideshow 2

2. Animal Relief Coalition for Haiti (ARCH)

From the  WSPA Animal In Disaster’s Blog

www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgUq8qQAbY8

“Over the last few weeks, the ARCH field team has been moving from neighbourhood to neighbourhood doing vaccinations, de-worming and providing treatments. Our other partners from IFAW, SODOPRECA and Best Friends have been part of this rotation, working together day and night. The collaboration between animal welfare groups has been vital to ensuring the immediate needs of Haiti’s animals are met. So far, that dedicated team has come to the aid of nearly 2,000 animals.”

Current members of Animal Relief Coalition for Haiti (ARCH)

• International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW)
• World Society for Protection of Animals
• American Humane Association
• Best Friends Animal Society
• RSPCA (UK)
• In Defence of Animals
• American Veterinary Medical Association
• American Veterinary Medical Foundation
• Antigua and Barbuda Humane Society
• ASPCA
• United Animal Nations
• The Kinship Circle
• One Voice
• Swiss Animal Protection
• Palo Alto Humane Society (PAHS)
• People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)
• Finnish Federation for Animal Welfare Associations
• Animal Medical Care Foundation (AMCF)
• Petfinder.com Foundation

American Pets, Rabies Vaccinations: Jan. 27, 2010; 5 p.m. EST

The HSUS and HSI are also working to solve the problem of restrictions on the evacuation of pets owned by Americans leaving Haiti to return to the United States, reaching out to the American Red Cross, the Centers for Disease Control, and the State Department to smooth the way for the safe and swift transport of these animals.

HSI is developing a list of the animals and families affected; making plans for a temporary holding area in Haiti should it become necessary to shelter them in place; and working on a system for transport of animals to the Dominican Republic, where we are engaged with our partner group Veterinary Care and Human Service in developing a temporary holding facility for animals brought across the border. (more)

From the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA)  website

ARCH Situation Report 7 (PDF) (Jan. 28)

Children’s Hospital: January 26, 2010; 9:30 p.m. EST

“Today, the team went to the U.S. Embassy and found some soon-to-be evacuated families concerned about their pets; we will do what we can to help.

The organization Save the Children learned we were here in Haiti and asked for our help in addressing an issue at a children’s hospital in Port-au-Prince. A number of dogs have been showing up at night on the grounds and going through garbage. One dog in particular was getting into everything, including supplies. Our team responded today and our paramedic/animal-handler extraordinaire Lloyd Brown managed to finally catch her. The dog, Hai-chien, is very sweet and our team has fallen in love with her. We’ll find a good home for her and she’ll be in our care until then. (more)”

Lloyd calms Hai-chien. © HSI

HSI also has a Facebook site with photos.

From the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) Animals in Disaster blog

“Although some of us have returned to Santo Domingo, a significant part of the ARCH team continues to be in Haiti, tending to the animals. Since the infrastructure in Haiti is still fragile, we returned here so that we could send back our reports and consult the coalition group to formulate plans. But more importantly, we are also restocking supplies”

From the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA)  website

“Among the concerns are possible outbreaks of zoonotic diseases such as rabies and leptospirosis. . .

Only about 20 percent of Haiti’s estimated 500,000 dogs were vaccinated against rabies last year, according to ARCH officials. In addition, Haiti lacks sufficient medicine and vaccine to protect pigs, cattle, and other livestock against common illness, such as anthrax and pig cholera. . . . A first shipment of medicine and equipment needed to treat animals is expected to arrive in Port-au-Prince from the Dominican Republic this week, according to ARCH officials. . .

There has been no call for veterinary volunteers to help with the Haitian relief effort, nor for specific veterinary medical supplies, according to Dr. Heather Case, AVMA director of scientific activities and coordinator for emergency preparedness and response.”

ARCH Situation Report 6 (PDF) (Jan. 27)

ARCH Situation Report 5 (PDF) (Jan. 26)

ARCH Situation Report 4 (PDF) (Jan. 25)

On its second day of operation in Haiti, the ARCH (Animal Relief Coalition for Haiti) field team traveled South of Port-au-Prince to the towns of Leogane and Jacmel. Unlike the capital city, these two rural areas have many farm animals.

On the way, the team encountered goats, pigs and dogs near a fruit and vegetable market set-up on the side of a dirt road, rummaging in the garbage for whatever food they could find. (more including additional photos )

From the Humane Society International site Exchanging Ideas: January 25, 2010; 8:00 p.m. EST

Today, the team met with Christian Veterinary Mission (CVM) to exchange ideas. CVM has a long history of working in Haiti, knows the culture well, and shared useful information with us, including the fact that before the disaster, the Haitian government had been working to vaccinate the country’s approximately 500,000 dogs and cats through free community clinics (more

From the Christian Veterinary Mission site:

CVM has been working on the ground in Haiti for 30 years helping to train animal health workers and help Haitians raise healthier animals that help provide nutrition for families and money for school fees and medicine. CVM’s programs during that time have been lead by 11 different veterinary missionaries. CVM is also very active in mobilizing veterinary volunteers and has coordinated over 300 people serving in Haiti.

Check out the photos from Kinship Circle’s  Haiti Animal Photo Log – A Look From The Ground

From the Humane Society’s  Blog by Wayne Pacelle .

“Perhaps because of its chronic poverty, Haiti does not have the level of pet-keeping seen in many other nations. We fortunately have not yet discovered or learned of large numbers of animals trapped in buildings and killed when these structures collapsed. The farm animals also seem to be in acceptable shape, and they, of course, are concentrated in the more rural areas, which were not at the epicenter of the earthquake. The stray population was substantial before the quake hit, and the health of these animals remains an ongoing concern. In the days ahead, we’ll be concentrating on providing feeding stations and water for the strays, and we’ll also work with government responders and humanitarian groups to handle situations properly when they come across animals in need or in distress.”

He then goes on to share an interesting story.

“A day after the earthquake struck we received an urgent plea for help from an American couple living in Port-au-Prince. They’d been forced to evacuate very quickly and were not able to bring along their two dogs. . . In talking further with the family, we discovered that they were the victims of two natural disasters, as were the dogs. The couple had lived in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina and, when they returned home in the aftermath of the storm, found two dachshund mixes roaming the streets. They were moved to take the dogs in, and named them Bella and Dieter. These are the same two dogs who had to be left behind in Port-au-Prince.

. . . Our team has located the dogs. They are in good health and now in our safe keeping, having survived a Category 4 hurricane in 2005 and now a magnitude 7.0 earthquake in 2010. When we told the family that we had located the dogs, they were understandably overjoyed. . . . we’re transporting them to the Dominican Republic today. We intend to reunite them with their family as soon as possible.

It is remarkable that these dogs are on-the-ground survivors of the two biggest disasters in recent years in the western hemisphere. They are living embodiments of the principle that kindness and concerted action do make a real difference in the lives of vulnerable creatures.“

We will start off this update with some photos  of dogs in Haiti taken after the earthquake.

An injured dog walks the streets of Port-au-Prince after the earthquake. PRESS PHOTO: Carolyn Cole, Los Angeles Times

(found at Kinship Circle)

1/18/10: A crippled dog roams the streets of Port-au-Prince. PRESS PHOTO: Carol Guzy, The Washington Post

(found at Kinship Circle)

Dogs in Haiti – Photo Credit : WSPA

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It would appear that there are two teams in Haiti part of  the Animal Relief Coalition for Haiti .  The Humane Society International / Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association Team (which arrived first) and the World Society for the Protection of Animals/  The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) Team

From the Humane Society International Reports from the Field

Leogane: January 24, 2010; 12:45 p.m. EST

“We’ve discovered that we are one of the better-prepared groups on the ground in Port-au-Prince, so we have been working with humanitarian and other organizations to provide supplies and conduct assessments in outer areas. . . headed out to the Quiskeya University to check out reports of large numbers of animals on site.  . . . . Fortunately, we encountered no injured animals. . . Afterwards we left for Leogane, an area considered one of the worst affected in the country. After viewing the devastation—building flattened, many people dead and displaced—we agree that it could possibly be in worse shape than Port-au-Prince. We spoke with farmers there and discovered that their horses and cattle had survived the earthquake in pretty good shape, but there were concerns about the effect of the disaster on their health, energy, and milk production going forward. We’re exploring the possibilities for a long-term husbandry project in this region.”

Croix-des-Bouquets: January 23, 2010; 9:30 p.m. EST

“. . .after assessing conditions at the zoo, they visited a town outside of Port-au-Prince called Croix-des-Bouquets to check on the farm animal situation. There, they saw goats, chickens and horses; all appeared okay, but many structures for housing animals were in ruin throughout the area . . . doctors from a New York hospital working on the ground in Haiti have asked for our team’s help in reviewing the human situation in these outer towns as well, since many of the humanitarian groups don’t have vehicles or access out of Port-au-Prince such as we have managed to obtain. . . ”

MSNBC interviewed Andrew Rowan (video)  from HSUS  about their efforts.

Humane Society International Twitter http://twitter.com/Hsiglobal

From the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) Animals in Disaster blog

“Today (1/23/10) in Port au Prince, the joint ARCH team began its field assessment . . . Pictured here is Dr Juan Carlos Murillo,  . . .  and a member of the ARCH team in Port au Prince, as he checks a Haitian dog to determine the state of his health and treat any lesions he might have had.  . . . ”The animal was as normal as can be expected for a dog that survives day by day. We can say our friend “Lucky” really honours his name as he became another survivor of Haiti’s earthquake.”

Note:  Here is an updated list of ARCH members

• WSPA
• IFAW
• American Humane Association
• Best Friends
• RSPCA (UK)
• In Defence of Animals
• American Veterinary Medical Association
• Antingua and Barbuda Humane Society
• ASPCA
• United Animal Nations
• The Kinship Circle
• One Voice
• American Veterinary Medical Foundation
• Swiss Animal Protection

Blogs

More blogs of ARCH members posting updates from the field teams in Haiti.  I will reference them as needed to supplement the above coverage.

United Animal Nations  Emergency Response Blog

In Defense of Animals blog

American Humane  blog

National Animal Rescue and Sheltering Coalition

In researching this update  I learned about the  National Animal Rescue and Sheltering Coalition (NARSC). “Established in early 2006, the National Animal Rescue and Sheltering Coalition is an outgrowth of the unprecedented disaster season of 2005, when major storms – most notably Hurricane Katrina – impacted more people and their companion animals than any other time in the history of the United States. In the aftermath of that storm season, the major national animal protection organizations in the U.S. met to discuss ways in which animal disaster response resources could best be used collaboratively and effectively in future events.

In the years since Katrina, these organizations have continued to work on the major issues that came to the forefront during this crisis, developing a working coalition to facilitate responses to large-scale incidents and addressing the ongoing concerns.  This coalition of national animal protection organizations represents more than 15 million animal care and control professionals, volunteers, and pet owners.  Participants in the Coalition include the most experienced, qualified animal rescue and sheltering management professionals in the country.  Member agencies have cooperatively responded nationally and internationally to wildfires, floods, ice storms, tornadoes, hurricanes and other natural disasters; as well as man-made animal disasters including puppy mills and hoarding situations“

“Today, the team visited a local zoo and found it had escaped major damage during the earthquake. Our partner, Veterinary Care & Human Services, Caribbean Project of the Dominican Republic, is hoping to work with the zoo to improve conditions for the animals there.

Before our responders crossed into the country, HSI had heard from a U.S. family living in Haiti who had been forced to leave their pets behind when they evacuated to Florida directly after the disaster. We were able to travel this afternoon to the orphanage where the two dogs, Bella and Deeter, were being looked after, and make plans to transport them to safety in the Dominican Republic.”

Apparently the zoo is located in Fermathe (also known as Fermate) and is 14 miles south of Port Au Prince Airport.  It is behind the Fermathe Baptist Church (of the Baptist Haiti Mission)  and the Fermathe Hospital and reportedly houses monkeys, snakes, alligators and exotic birds, such as peacocks.

1/23/10 11:06 AM Update – See the Humane Society International Reports from the Field as they update daily their efforts in Haiti with the latest being Assessing the Situation: January 22, 2010; 6:50 p.m. EST

“As they drove into the country, they saw cattle grazing in fields, stray dogs and rubble everywhere. People are still fearful of getting too close to buildings in case of further collapse.

Today, the team traveled to a site where tent cities had been set up and found many more dogs wandering around the area. Aside from being hungry, the animals encountered there seemed to be in okay condition, but starvation, dehydration and disease remain threats, especially to the injured.”

Photos from the HSI Twitter – http://twitter.com/Hsiglobal

Click on the images to go to the twitter pics site and see them larger

1/22/10 Update

Animal Relief Coalition Haiti (ARCH)

As found on American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) website

ARCH Situation Report 3 (PDF) (Jan. 22)

ARCH Situation Report 2 (PDF) (Jan. 21)

From the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) Animals in Disaster blog

“One of the people we have met is a photographer who has just returned from a tour of duty in Haiti. This photographer, who is also a WSPA supporter, wanted us to have a couple of pictures that showed what an important part of Haiti’s social fabric the Haitian animals are.

This is what the photographer said about this particular picture, “While taking pictures of the devastation in Haiti, I saw this group of children – camped on the pavement with no home to go back to, they represent the harsh reality that Haitians are faced with. But as the dog cheekily forced his way into the frame, the children burst out laughing… and I realized how these simple pleasures are part of their reality too!”

From the today’s blog of Wayne Pacelle, President and CEO of The Humane Society of the United States

“Today, a veterinary response team from Humane Society International (HSI) is in Haiti, traveling to Port-au-Prince with a full trailer load of veterinary supplies. The team includes a veterinarian, two veterinary technicians, an expert animal handler and paramedic, and a DR military escort for security. They’ll treat what animals they can, gather information on the plight of animals, coordinate with relief agencies, and lay the foundation for putting more assets into place, on the ground, where it counts.”

Twitter

Humane Society International (HSI)  http://twitter.com/Hsiglobal

AVMA Veterinary Medical Assistance Teams (VMAT) http://twitter.com/AVMAVMAT

1. The Animal Relief Coalition for Haiti (ARCH) has released a SITUATION REPORT (pdf file) on the Haiti Earthquake.

2 . News story from the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) on Haiti situation

@AVMAVMAT: AVMA Veterinary Medical Assistance Teams (VMAT) Twitter feed

@AVMAvets: AVMA’s general Twitter feed

The Animal Relief Coalition for Haiti (ARCH)  has been created to address the needs of animals in Haiti following the earthquake that devastated the country.

ARCH is headed by The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA).

Other animal welfare groups part of the coalition includes the ASPCA, American Humane Association, Best Friends Animal Society, The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), and Humane Society International (HSI).

“There are an estimated 5 million head of livestock in the country (mostly goats), a large stray dog population, an untold number of companion animals and native wildlife all adversely affected by the earthquake.”

“The coalition is  preparing a “mobile animal clinic and staff to perform outreach work in Haiti, with training provided by ARCH. Our coalition also will be assessing and assisting with the needs of animals belonging to people displaced by the disaster, as they move into temporary camps. Plans include providing food and clean water, as well as vaccinating companion animals against rabies.”

The Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association (HSVMA) is working with HSUS and HSI in “ working on a preliminary assessment of Haiti’s animal-care needs, taking into account the security, transportation, housing, and supply challenges that we would face in deployment.” Those groups are working with Sociedad Dominicana para la Prevención de Crueldad a los Animales, which is based in the Dominican Republic and has offered to get a team of animal responders and veterinarians into Haiti.

Each organization has links if you want to donate.  Or you can use this link from the ASPCA where they state: “If you would like to contribute directly to the Haitian relief efforts of ARCH, please donate here.? (Read the fine print for each organization.  HSI says “your donation today may or may not be used specifically to help animals in Haiti, depending on needs there and our ability to respond in the coming days.”)

I have not yet found any local animal groups, rescue groups  or shelters such as SPCA of Tampa Bay or Humane Society of Tampa Bay raising funds for the animals in Haiti either for ARCH or for their own efforts.  If you are aware of any email me.

Blogs on the subject http://animalsindisasters.typepad.com/wspa/ http://hsus.typepad.com/wayne/
http://www.hsus.org/hsi/disaster_services/reports_from_the_field/2010_haiti_earthquake_11310.html

Come back to this The Mutt Report for updates