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On Friday, Best Friends Animal Society joined a multi-agency coalition called Animal Relief Coalition for Haiti (ARCH). The coalition was initially formed by World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) and the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW). Coalition members include the American Humane Association, Kinship Circle, ASPCA, Humane Society of the United States, and others. ARCH is working in a coordinated fashion to address the needs of animals affected by the earthquake in Haiti.
Due to the overwhelming destruction, information regarding animal needs has been slow to materialize but the coalition has been able to gather enough information to begin planning. The initial priority focus will be in providing food and water to animals surrounding Port-au-Prince. ARCH is also actively planning to set up feeding stations to draw community dogs away from destruction areas so they can be trapped and vaccinated against rabies. Long-term plans will involve addressing animal health issues. As these plans begin to materialize, the possibility of sending in volunteers is likely. While an exact deployment timeframe is not known, it is possible that ARCH volunteers may start deploying next week. Says Dick Green of IFAW, “As things start to pick up in terms of security, greater military presence, and the possibility of USDA on the ground, we are starting to plan for activities in and around Port-au-Prince.” Best Friends is asking Rapid Response volunteers who might be interested in deploying, to let us know. We will only consider sending highly qualified, experienced rescue volunteers with a history of responding to major disasters.
Specifically, we are looking for individuals with:
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– Experience handling small and/or large animals. At this time, we do not need people with sheltering experience.
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– Experience working in hazardous conditions.
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– Ability to be completely self sustained. There is no food, water, shelter available. Volunteers will therefore need to bring their own provisions, sleeping bag, tent, etc.
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– Physical fitness is a must. Volunteers will need to be prepared to work long, arduous hours in hot temperatures.
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– Ability to make a minimum commitment of nine days.
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– French/Creole speaking a real bonus.
Also, all volunteers will need to take their own personal safety into account, including disease prevention. Click here to read the CDC’s recommendations for persons responding to Haiti. If you are interested in volunteering for Haiti, please email bfvolcoord@bestfriends.org.
Photo of stray dog in the aftermath of the Peru earthquake by Best Friends photographer Molly Wald
Posted Mon, Jan 18 2010 by cmoon
PITStop obtained permission from Best Friends to repost this announcement.
Link to actual post: http://network.bestfriends.org/groups/rapidresponse/news/14128/post.aspx