Animal rescue workers have been working overtime for the past few weeks, first with Hurricane Harvey, Hurricane Irma, Hurricane Maria and now the earthquake in Mexico.
The human toll has been high. As many as 3.5 million people in Puerto Rico, British Virgin Islands, Dominica and other islands inhabitant of Caribbean countries. Thousands were affected in Florida and Texas and now in Mexico, the earthquake has already claimed hundreds of lives.
On Sept 7th, an earthquake in Juchitá created the first wave of need with 100 people killed.
Veterinarians and others with the Humane Society, which opened its office 18 months ago in Mexico City, are providing emergency animal rescue and treatment to victims in the state of Oaxaca. Treatment is being provided to 1,350 animals, mainly cats and dogs and one parrot.
On Tuesday, a 7.1 scale quake hit Mexico City and thousands more animals are in danger, according to the Humane Society’s president Wayne Pacelle.
There will be an animal toll there to match or exceed the terrible human suffering that the quake produced, with news reports of pets roaming the streets, separated from their families. The team is assessing the need on the ground and will work with local groups and shelters to provide assistance in days to come.
But even amidst all the devastation, the society’s president says staff have witnessed a deep expression of the bond between humans and their animals.
Dr. Claudia Edwards, program director of HSI/Mexico, who led the veterinary team on the ground, said hundreds of people showed up from afar with injured dogs.
Some even brought stray dogs from the area, along with their pets, like Juchito, a stray dog who was severely wounded.
He had been suffering silently on the streets until a local child spotted him and brought him into the clinic. Juchito was sent to Oaxaca City for emergency treatment and his health has now stabilized.
Besides the clinic, HSI/Mexico has also helped distribute more than seven tons of animal food collected under the platform Ayudemos a México, reaching more than 2,000 animals.
Hurricane Harvey would have been enough to keep us busy for months. Then Irma hit, followed by Maria. And now two quakes. It’s so much to bear for the tens of millions of people affected.