Noah's Ark-Jamaica

A puppy gets an anti-mange bath during recovery efforts.

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.