New Disaster Relief mission
FOUR PAWS distributes animal feed to Pakistan flood victims

After extensive relief commitments in the summer of 2010, FOUR PAWS has returned to Pakistan after new flood waves have left the animals of an entire region on the brink of starvation. Reports indicate that 87,000 of them are already dead. With access roads blocked, more and more inhabitants of the Sindh Province are facing devastating consequences. Animals are often the only possession people in this area have and their survival hugely depends on them. With humanitarian aid having dropped significantly this year, the situation is particularly serious. In the first week FOUR PAWS has funded the distribution of feed rations to 550 farmers in several villages in the badly hit Jhando Mari district.

A team of volunteers lead by Dr Waseem Shaukat, who was already in charge of last year’s relief efforts in Punjab, had to travel to the disaster region from Lahore. The journey through difficult terrain and extreme weather conditions took over 24 hours as the clock kept ticking. They brought badly needed supplies to an area that is on the verge of collapse. The experience of previous missions was more than useful when it came to register the villages’ farmers as quickly as possible and distribute the fodder efficiently. FOUR PAWS disaster relief veteran Dr Amir Khalil stated that the supplies delivered until this point are expected to last for about two weeks and will keep over 2000 animals alive.

Second major flood in 15 months
Instant financial support for the local volunteers was vital in order to establish supply routes and purvey fodder and clean water to the affected areas. The 2010 relief missions in Layyah and Punjab saved the lives of thousands of animals, helped entire villages to survive the hardship and prevented the outbreak of epidemics. The work done by the local team is extremely effective and can do much to avert further suffering.

2011.11.14

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