ARCH pledges $1.1M for long-term animal relief efforts in Haiti

Mar 4, 2010

A Haitian girl and her puppy stand outside the mobile clinic provided by ARCH.
© WSPA/IFAW

Today, the Animal Relief Coalition for Haiti (ARCH) announced a $1.1 million agreement with the Haitian government, aimed at improving animal welfare conditions and repairing the country’s damaged veterinary capacity in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake of January 12.

From the beginning of our intervention in post-earthquake Haiti, all members of the Animal Relief Coalition for Haiti (ARCH), jointly led by WSPA and the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), have been committed to working with the Haitian government and Haitian vets because they are the ones who will ensure that our work has lasting benefits for Haitian animals.

What is involved in the agreement?

The ambitious program of work outlined in the agreement with the Haitian government includes:

Assisting the government in protecting animals from disease outbreaks. A laboratory and lab workers will be provided to do things such as carry out targeted vaccination campaigns for rabies, anthrax and other diseases, which means the people of Haiti are being protected too.
Training of Haitian veterinarians and veterinary health workers. The goal is to train a minimum of 200 animal health workers to address current and future animal welfare problems.
Rebuilding the infrastructure to keep vaccinations cold up through delivery. Haiti had embarked on several ambitious vaccination programs prior to the earthquake.
Conducting animal population studies. Haiti’s animal demographics have changed dramatically as the result of recent disasters. Accurate, updated survey data will inform coalition work in the future.

James Sawyer, WSPA’s head of disaster management said: “This joint, long term operation will help an untold number of animals, as well as countless people, recover from the disaster and will build resilience to better protect them against future disasters too.”

Making progress

WSPA vet Gerardo Huertas and the ARCH vets treat a cow in a neighbourhood on the outskirts of Port au Prince where they treated about 200 animals.
© WSPA/IFAW

We have already treated well over 4500 animals in Haiti, including dogs, cats, goats, cattle and horses, through a mobile clinic and an international team of vets who have been in operation in Haiti for over a month.

Our teams continue to treat injured and sick animals with medications including antibiotics and de-worming medicine, and they are also providing anthrax and rabies vaccinations for thousands of animals.

According to the Haitian Ministry of Agriculture, there are an estimated five million heads of livestock in Haiti (not including poultry), and approximately 500,000 dogs living in the capital city of Port-au-Prince.

More disaster relief work in Chile

An earthquake measuring 8.8 on the Richter scale, even stronger than the one in Haiti, hit central Chile early on Saturday morning. The resulting tsunami also flooded coastal towns near the epicentre of the earthquake, leaving behind widespread destruction. In the aftermath, people are still dealing with the desperation presented by having no water, no food, and no electricity.

News reports have shown that there are lots of dogs on the streets, and just like in Haiti, these dogs will need our help. We have member societies in the affected region, some of which run animal shelters. WSPA South America is in touch with them to find out what help they need. A team of WSPA vets is scheduled to travel to Chile this weekend, and will be able to report on the situation first-hand soon after.

As always, we’ll keep you posted as the true picture emerges. For the most recent updates, keep visiting our Animals in Disasters blog.

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