Groups work to protect animals in the aftermath of Haiti earthquake

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Animal-welfare groups arrived in Haiti on Saturday to help protect earthquake victims by vaccinating stray dogs and maintaining the health of livestock. One of the biggest animal-related threats posed by the magnitude 7.0 quake, which killed an estimated 200,000 people and left thousands more homeless, is an increased incidence of rabies, said Ian Robinson, of the International Fund for Animal Welfare.

‘When you get situations with a large group of displaced people, and hungry dogs wandering around, then you’ve got the opportunities for dog bites to occur, and that obviously leads to the spread of rabies,’ he told the Associated Press.

It is also important to maintain veterinary care for livestock, said Gerardo Huertas, of World Society for the Protection of Animals, because families in crisis need them all the more for food, milk, sale and survival.

‘The concept of pets is quite foreign to Haitians,’ said Karen Ashmore, executive director of the Lambi Fund agricultural group in Haiti. ‘Most Haitians can barely feed themselves, much less a pet.’

Robinson’s and Huerta’s groups -- the world’s two largest for animal welfare -- have joined a dozen partners to respond to protection and public-health issues related to animals in Haiti.

Continue reading ‘Groups work to protect animals in the aftermath of Haiti earthquake’ in the L.A. Times the animal news blog L.A. Unleashed.

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Stray dogs in a road covered by debris in the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake. Credit: Rodrigo Abd / Associated Press