2007 Caribbean Hurricane | Humane Society International

	2007 Caribbean Hurricane

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In August 2007, as Hurricane Dean was carving a devastating path through the Caribbean and Central America, Humane Society International (HSI) deployed a team headed up by Dr. Barry Kellogg, former acting director of disaster services for The HSUS, to Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula to asses the damage caused by the storm.

Over the next several weeks and months, HSI worked with its partners to provide ongoing veterinary treatment, spay-neuter surgeries and reconstruction assistance to animals in areas of Mexico, Jamaica and Belize that were devastated by the hurricane.

Spaying and Neutering After Dean: February 4, 2008

HSI Grant Helps Hurricane-Affected Animals in Jamaica: September 30, 2007
Hurricane Dean Aftermath: Helping Animals in Mexico: August 30, 2007
Disaster Team Heads to Mexico in Hurricane Dean's Wake: August 22, 2007

February 4, 2008

Spaying and Neutering After Dean

By Jessica Higgins

The 2007 hurricane season is well behind us, and most affected areas have recovered significantly. However, the Yucatan Peninsula—the hardest hit region after Hurricane Dean—remains severely damaged.

In the town of Mahahual, the population has been reduced by two-thirds, many people are still sleeping in tents, and the sounds of construction have not ceased since August.

Under these conditions, street dog overpopulation only gets worse. People unable to provide shelter for their families who once could look after their animals responsibly are forced to abandon them. The pets who are left to wander reproduce, continuing the cycle of homelessness. Even families who would like to care for their pets don't have the resources to do so, since the Xcalak Peninsula, which includes Mahahual, does not have trained veterinarians.

Dr. Barry Kellogg returns a spayed puppy.

In an effort to help, HSI initiated the first Humane Animal Management program on the Xcalak Peninsula this January in conjunction with our partner organization, Sociedad Protectora de Animales de Yucatán (SPAY). Bringing in vets from other parts of Mexico and from the United States, the HSI/SPAY team was able to treat, vaccinate and spay or neuter hundreds of animals. In Xcalak alone, the team treated almost 100 animals—a great turnout for a town of 400 people!

As they worked with each animal, HSI and SPAY had the opportunity to talk with community members about responsible ownership and the importance of proper care. Although the clinics lasted only five days, they brought together the communities of the Peninsula to rally around a common theme: compassion for the animals who live side by side with them.

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September 30, 2007

HSI Grant Helps Hurricane-Affected Animals in Jamaica

A fearsome category 4 hurricane, Hurricane Dean, struck Jamaica on August 19, 2007. The country was spared total devastation at the last minute as Dean veered to the southwest of the island, but sustained winds of 80 mph with 115 mph gusts and heavy rain still battered Jamaica's capital, Kingston.

The Jamaican Prime Minister declared a month-long state of emergency as 300,000 people were displaced from their homes due to mudslides, flooding and structural damage from the heavy winds. These dangerous conditions affected both human and animal residents.

Many pets and farm animals were left behind as people fled seeking shelter. Noah's Ark, a small Jamaican animal rescue group, braved the inclement weather to help animals trapped by mudslides and under collapsed buildings.

In other cases, the ground was so saturated with water that cows and goats became bogged down in knee-deep fields of mud. The owners did not return for days, so Noah's Ark recruited some young men to help dig out the animals and lead them to safety.

Kingston and the south coast of Jamaica were hardest hit, with many animals killed by debris or drowning. Tragically, some of these animals had no chance for escape because they had been left chained up.

Noah's Ark volunteers worked their way into low-income areas of Kingston, where flooding was particularly bad and many dogs were starving. They passed out food to those residents who needed help feeding their pets. Lost and injured animals were brought to the local animal shelter for treatment until their owners could be located.

HSI provided a grant to assist the heroic efforts of Noah’s Ark to aid Jamaica’s animals in the wake of Hurricane Dean. In total, this small but dedicated team was able to ensure that 41 dogs, 11 puppies, six cats, three kittens, seven goats, two cows and two guinea hens got the help that they needed.

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August 30, 2007

Hurricane Dean Aftermath: Helping Animals in Mexico

As America reflects on the two-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, The HSUS and Humane Society International are on the ground again, providing relief and assisting in recovery efforts for animals in Mexico, following Hurricane Dean.

While the resort area of Cancun was spared from the storm's fury on August 21, many coastal towns and villages in the southern part of the Yucatan Peninsula sustained a great deal of damage following the Category 5 storm. Some were completely devastated.

Sanctuary in Shambles

Dr. Barry Kellogg, acting director of disaster services for The HSUS, describes one scene the team encountered:

Marco Benetiz, a veterinarian with an environmental organization called African safari, escorted us to a place in Chetumal called Jardin Zoologico Payo Obispo, where we met with some of the staff. They were led by Marisol Corro Albornoz, a young veterinarian that had been on the job for about a year. It is somewhere between a zoo and a sanctuary.

This jaguar came to the sanctuary after being used for tourist
photo opportunities and then released into the forest once she
was too big to be handled.

Our hearts were broken very quickly. What had once been—I suspect—a very beautiful animal sanctuary for some 430 animals of all species (birds, jaguars, pumas, monkeys and so on) was totally devastated. All of the trees (and therefore canopy) were destroyed. It was very hot. No animals were lost, but many enclosures were damaged, and the fallen trees are preventing the animals from being taken out of lock-down.

The difficult part was when we met back in the clinic with Dr. Albornoz, and she showed us her supplies and medicines. They were in a black garbage bag and would have all fit in my computer bag. We then spent time sharing the materials and supplies that I had brought, and we promised to help her obtain more of the things that she needed. This lack of supplies wasn't storm-related—just what she is given to work with in general. In spite of the conditions, however, the animals were in very good shape. Nice coats and of good weight. They obviously are doing a good job with what they had to work with.

The HSUS, the International Fund for Animal Welfare and the World Society for the Protection of Animals are all providing grants to Jardin Zoologico Payo Obispo to rebuild the facilities and increase the capacity of its veterinary clinic to handle the issues brought about by the storm.

Communities in Need

© Jeff Eyre/The HSUS

Dr. Barry Kellogg gives water to dogs on the Yucatan coast.

The team has visited a number of small communities that were directly in the path of the hurricane. While some suffered wind damage, others, like Mahahual—the largest town on the Xcalak peninsula and home to about 1,000 people—also experienced storm surges of more than 20 feet.

These areas are devastated, and animal needs range from setting up assistance to local veterinary treatment to wildlife concerns. HSI will continue working in the area, providing both short- and long-term assistance. HSI and The HSUS are providing support to a local animal organization for ongoing veterinary treatment and spay/neuter programs throughout the affected communities on the Peninsula.

The HSI and The HSUS team also visited Belize City to assess damage and meet with more HSI partner organizations.

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August 22, 2007

Disaster Team Heads to Mexico in Hurricane Dean's Wake

A disaster response team from Humane Society International and The Humane Society of the United States is being deployed to Mexico to assess damage from Hurricane Dean and offer assistance.

The still-raging hurricane killed 13 people in the Caribbean before plowing into Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula on Aug. 21 as a Category 5 storm, with winds reaching more than 160 miles per hour. It crossed the southern Gulf of Mexico and made landfall again today near the port of Tecolutla as a Category 2 storm.

HSI and The HSUS are coordinating disaster response efforts with the International Fund for Animal Welfare and the World Society for the Protection of Animals.

Yucatan Peninsula Bears Brunt of the Storm

Although no human fatalities had yet been reported in the Yucatan, flooded streets, downed trees and power lines, and damaged buildings were widespread along much of the coast. Cancun's resorts may have been spared, but the indigenous Mayan people living further to the south have fewer resources with which to recover from the hurricane. Many did not evacuate before the storm and it has been difficult to reach them due to road conditions.

An impoverished area, the southern Peninsula has virtually no infrastructure for animals—no shelters, very few veterinarians (none in Majahual and Xcalak), and very limited access to veterinary supplies.

"HSI was already working with the communities of Majahual, Xcalak and Chetumal to help improve conditions for animals. When we saw that the hurricane made landfall just north of Majahual, we knew we had an obligation to help out," said Jessica Higgins, HSI Program Manager for Latin America and the Caribbean.

Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was directly in the path of Hurricane Dean. The reserve, established in 1986, is an important conservation area. It remains unclear how the reserve fared the devastating storm.

Other Areas in Caribbean Also Affected

Belize was also hit hard by the hurricane. The team plans to work with partners in Belize City to assess the situation for local animals.

Jamaica, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Martinique, Dominica, and St. Lucia also experienced a great deal of damage. Reports are still coming in from partner animal protection organizations on the ground.

Dr. Barry Kellogg, acting director of disaster services for The HSUS, explained, "With the continued development and capabilities of the Domestic Disaster Response Team, we wanted to offer our help and assistance in the path of this latest storm. We were spared in the United States, but would like to offer our assistance to the people and animals of Mexico and Belize."

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Updated Nov. 19, 2008.

	Disaster Services
	Reports from the Field

The Humane Society of the United States: The HSUS Prepares for Hurricane Dean