Animal Welfare Groups Around the World Join Together to Aid Haiti
January 2010
Tails magazine
View story on the Tails website here or read full text below.
Michael Booth’s bags are packed. Tonight—Wed., Jan. 20—he will board a flight from Boston to the Dominican Republic and plans to be in Haiti by Saturday with a small group of other animal rescue workers. He says he has no idea how long the group will be in Haiti, but that at least a few weeks will be required to analyze the situation. “We are taking as much as we can in terms of equipment and safety gear,” he says.
Booth handles emergency relief communications for the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), an organization with offices in 15 countries worldwide. Only days after the 7.0 earthquake reeked havoc across Haiti, IFAW and the World Society for the Protection of Animals joined together to form the Animal Relief Coalition for Haiti, or ARCH.
“It’s such a humanitarian catastrophe,” Booth says. “We’re there to help the animals and also humans by way of helping animals. It’s a very strong commitment we’ve made.”
In the coming weeks—and for untold time after that—ARCH will focus on providing emergency first aid to critically injured animals, including the large stray dog population, companion animals, and natural wildlife. “We have the fear that public health will be an issue with the spread of disease,” Booth says. Through a mobile clinic, the group will offer vaccinations against rabies and other zoonotic diseases and treat animals for infections such as leptospirosis—a severe and contagious bacterial infection.
Haiti is also home to some 5 million head of livestock, and Booth says those animals are on ARCH’s list as well. “We want to be sure we are helping in the development of farmers and small livestock, caring for those animals and helping them rebound.”
Dozens of animal welfare groups from around the world have already donated funds and resources to the coalition. Among them are the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and Best Friends. The American Humane Association (AHA) came forward first, donating $25,000.
According to Deborah Schnackenberg, AHA’s vice president of animal protection, the group is also prepared to send animal rescue workers. “You get a lot more done in coalitions than people working separately,” she says of why American Humane wasted no time in offering assistance to ARCH. “Haiti needs a lot of help, and they need that help in a very thoughtful and planned manner. The animals of Haiti don’t need to see another Katrina.”
Schnackenberg says the animal welfare groups learned a great deal after their individual experiences with Hurricane Katrina. “People were not working well together. After Katrina, there was a lot of discussion about how we could do this better,” says Schnackenberg.
Since then, the groups have come together in solid partnerships. And for this particular mission to Haiti, the American Humane Association’s phones have been ringing off the hook with members of the organization’s volunteer Red Star Team offering to travel to Haiti to help. “We’ve been telling them to just be patient. It’ll take us a little while to do this right,” Schnackenberg says, adding that the organization plans to send their most qualified rescue workers—people who are “fire fighters and Animal Control workers in their everyday lives”—should ARCH need them.
Meanwhile, Booth’s team is landing in the Dominican Republic, the island nation divided from Haiti by a single river, where they will gather with staff and volunteers from SODOPRECA, a nonprofit organization that prevents animal cruelty across the Dominican Republic. A team of 12 will be in Haiti by Sat., Jan. 24, when they will meet with top officials.
“This would be the perfect time to conduct an assessment of the situation. Depending on what we see, we’ll be able to formalize a plan,” Booth says. He speaks French, Spanish, and English and will assist the Spanish- and English-speaking team in communicating with the French- and Creole-speaking Haitians.
Although the situation in Haiti is particularly catastrophic and poses extra security concerns, Booth has grown accustomed to trips into the heart of disaster zones around the world. IFAW, created in 1969, began its emergency work 15 years ago, and since then has sent teams to more than 25 disaster zones around the world—both manmade (i.e. oil spills) and natural. “The folks that are coming along in this are very used to that, and their families are as well,” Booth says. “We do this for a living. We travel at short notice for weeks at a time. It’s a bit of the job as usual in many ways.”
Regardless of the fears and issues at hand, Booth is very clear about his team’s purpose. “Obviously, we’re here to help the animals and look out for their welfare. But humans and animals are inextricably linked. By going (to Haiti) we’re making a big difference.”
To read more about ARCH’s efforts in Haiti, visit the IFAW Animal Rescue blog at AnimalRescue.Typepad.com/animal_rescue_blog.
To donate to ARCH, visit IFAW.org or WSPA-International.org.
Michael Booth’s bags are packed. Tonight—Wed., Jan. 20—he will board a flight from Boston to the Dominican Republic and plans to be in Haiti by Saturday with a small group of other animal rescue workers. He says he has no idea how long the group will be in Haiti, but that at least a few weeks will be required to analyze the situation. “We are taking as much as we can in terms of equipment and safety gear,” he says.
Booth handles emergency relief communications for the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), an organization with offices in 15 countries worldwide. Only days after the 7.0 earthquake reeked havoc across Haiti, IFAW and the World Society for the Protection of Animals joined together to form the Animal Relief Coalition for Haiti, or ARCH.
“It’s such a humanitarian catastrophe,” Booth says. “We’re there to help the animals and also humans by way of helping animals. It’s a very strong commitment we’ve made.”
In the coming weeks—and for untold time after that—ARCH will focus on providing emergency first aid to critically injured animals, including the large stray dog population, companion animals, and natural wildlife. “We have the fear that public health will be an issue with the spread of disease,” Booth says. Through a mobile clinic, the group will offer vaccinations against rabies and other zoonotic diseases and treat animals for infections such as leptospirosis—a severe and contagious bacterial infection.
Haiti is also home to some 5 million head of livestock, and Booth says those animals are on ARCH’s list as well. “We want to be sure we are helping in the development of farmers and small livestock, caring for those animals and helping them rebound.”
Dozens of animal welfare groups from around the world have already donated funds and resources to the coalition. Among them are the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and Best Friends. The American Humane Association (AHA) came forward first, donating $25,000.
According to Deborah Schnackenberg, AHA’s vice president of animal protection, the group is also prepared to send animal rescue workers. “You get a lot more done in coalitions than people working separately,” she says of why American Humane wasted no time in offering assistance to ARCH. “Haiti needs a lot of help, and they need that help in a very thoughtful and planned manner. The animals of Haiti don’t need to see another Katrina.”
Schnackenberg says the animal welfare groups learned a great deal after their individual experiences with Hurricane Katrina. “People were not working well together. After Katrina, there was a lot of discussion about how we could do this better,” says Schnackenberg.
Since then, the groups have come together in solid partnerships. And for this particular mission to Haiti, the American Humane Association’s phones have been ringing off the hook with members of the organization’s volunteer Red Star Team offering to travel to Haiti to help. “We’ve been telling them to just be patient. It’ll take us a little while to do this right,” Schnackenberg says, adding that the organization plans to send their most qualified rescue workers—people who are “fire fighters and Animal Control workers in their everyday lives”—should ARCH need them.
Meanwhile, Booth’s team is landing in the Dominican Republic, the island nation divided from Haiti by a single river, where they will gather with staff and volunteers from SODOPRECA, a nonprofit organization that prevents animal cruelty across the Dominican Republic. A team of 12 will be in Haiti by Sat., Jan. 24, when they will meet with top officials.
“This would be the perfect time to conduct an assessment of the situation. Depending on what we see, we’ll be able to formalize a plan,” Booth says. He speaks French, Spanish, and English and will assist the Spanish- and English-speaking team in communicating with the French- and Creole-speaking Haitians.
Although the situation in Haiti is particularly catastrophic and poses extra security concerns, Booth has grown accustomed to trips into the heart of disaster zones around the world. IFAW, created in 1969, began its emergency work 15 years ago, and since then has sent teams to more than 25 disaster zones around the world—both manmade (i.e. oil spills) and natural. “The folks that are coming along in this are very used to that, and their families are as well,” Booth says. “We do this for a living. We travel at short notice for weeks at a time. It’s a bit of the job as usual in many ways.”
Regardless of the fears and issues at hand, Booth is very clear about his team’s purpose. “Obviously, we’re here to help the animals and look out for their welfare. But humans and animals are inextricably linked. By going (to Haiti) we’re making a big difference.”
To read more about ARCH’s efforts in Haiti, visit the IFAW Animal Rescue blog at AnimalRescue.Typepad.com/animal_rescue_blog.
To donate to ARCH, visit IFAW.org or WSPA-International.org.
