Costa Rican-based disaster management veterinary coordinator Dr Juan Carlos Murillo checks a tsunami dog victim for injuries. Photo WSPA.

Pacific.Scoop
By Pippa Brown

An animal relief mission has returned to New Zealand to tell of another tragedy in the tsunami-ravaged coastal region of Samoa.

The World Society of Protection of Animals programme and media manager Bridget Vercoe has just returned from five days in Samoa after leading a relief mission to assist the animals affected by last week’s tsunami.

The disaster response team made up of WSPA, Ministry of Agriculture of Forestry and RSPCA staff left Auckland last week to assist animals affected by last week’s tsunami.

Their main role was to see how the animals fared in the worst affected areas on the south-east coast and provide emergency veterinary care and feed. Some of these villages were completely wiped out.

Animals were often the forgotten victims of disasters, yet their survival and wellbeing was critical for the recovery of the communities which rely on them, said Vercoe.

Lalomanu and Saleapaga and nearby villages were completely wiped out.

“In the areas where the animals were penned the pigs and chickens didn’t survive.

“The pigs that swam and survived are okay as they can eat coconuts for food but food is a problem for any surviving dogs as people are no longer there so there are no food scraps for the dogs,” says Vercoe.

Most Samoan families, although they love their pets, believe the animals are capable of foraging for their own food and water so can take care of themselves.

Donated dog food
“The team dropped off sufficient dog food for one week and, just as we were leaving, Hills Pet Nutrition donated two tonnes of pet food which is expected to last for another month.

“We are hoping by then people will be back and there will be enough food scraps around for the dogs,” says Vercoe.

A lot of the dogs didn’t survive, she says.

“Most of the dogs probably ran off so it is difficult to know how many survived.”

Some animals were found still alive the next day after being out to sea but were in really bad shape and died. Others had brain damage.

“The central nerve damage is thought to be a problem from head bangs.

“We inject Vitamin B to assist with blood flow and reduce swelling of the nerves, then tell the owners how to care for them,” says Vercoe.

There were other stories of animals being found alive. Someone found about 10 piglets still alive the next day in a swamp.

They had either been hiding or swept back in.

Laumoli ... his barks saved a family from the tsunami. Photo: WSPCA

Dog saved lives
A man told Vercoe his family would not have survived without his dog, who alerted him to the disaster by barking constantly.

He saw the wave coming, yelled to his family, grabbed his young children and ran following the dog uphill. The family’s three houses are gone but the family survived thanks to Laumoli.

The Animal Protection Society of Samoa was told about a child found alive after being alerted by a whimpering dog who refused to leave. The dog was tugging at the shirt of the unconscious boy in the village of Saleapaga, one of the worst hit areas.

Vercoe says it appears that in American Samoa the animals fared much better as there is so much more rubbish around for them to eat although relief teams there have also done a lot more veterinary work.

In Samoa the animals were so badly injured or had not survived the aftermath, meaning veterinary treatment was not a priority.

“They either ran and escaped or died and there wasn’t a lot in between,” says Vercoe.

Most of the animals found washed up had died by the time rescuers got there. A lot of roads were washed away and blocked off and these areas were hard to get to, she says.

Vercoe says: “If people want to help Samoa they need to go back there for holidays as a lot of areas have not been affected.

“Samoa needs people to go back.”

Pippa Brown is a Graduate Diploma in Journalism student at AUT University and a contributor to Pacific.Scoop.

Resource:  www.spca.org.nz