Animal Charity Appeals To Brits To Act Now

When asked if we are more or less likely to support a group of British Charities working together on an emergency if a veterinary care agency were involved, 50% us say.. yes.

That is the conclusion drawn by the Society for the Protection of Animals Abroad, (SPANA) from its recent survey of British attitudes towards emergency appeals.

The survey also found that 37% of people questioned had donated to the Tsunami appeal, 12% to the Pakistan earthquake appeal and 8% to the Hurricane Katrina Appeal.

SPANA published the results to highlight the life-saving importance of dealing with livestock in emergency situations. The charity has been called in to resolve a serious problem in Eastern Chad after hundreds of thousands of refugees, fleeing from the neighbouring province of Darfur in Sudan, brought their own animals into the country, swamping that country's already limited natural resources.

The charity has been asked to draw up proposals to safeguard the livestock population against future shortages, possibly by encouraging local villagers to harvest some of the relatively plentiful forage during the aftermath of the rainy season, and sell it to the refugees.

Sadly, access to sufficient water and grazing resources for livestock during the annual dry season of April-June was cited as the most serious issue facing livestock owners. Earlier this year 30% of all livestock in one refugee camp (Oure Cassoni) died of starvation.

Jeremy Hulme, Chief Executive, SPANA said:

"Livestock are absolutely fundamental to the people of Eastern Chad but the influx of refugees from Darfur, with around 600,000 of their own animals has resulted in conflict over the already scant resources in this desert region."

When people's livelihoods are their livestock, they are quite prepared to fight a battle every day to sustain them. You can lend your support to thopse caught up in this tragedy by visiting www.spana.org