Abandoned animals, another face of the tragedy in San Andrés and Providencia: organizations and volunteers help thousands who roam the islands

After the passage of Hurricane Iota through the archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina, several animal protection foundations traveled to the area to assess the situation of the animals that were affected by the climatic phenomenon.

Semana magazine reported that the census of the first entities that approached the islands showed that about 250 thousand animals were affected by the hurricane, that last November seriously affected the infrastructure of the islands.

The strong winds of the devastating phenomenon not only left the islanders out in the open but also made pets, poultry and other domestic animals homeless.

According to the Kienyke portal, they are 15 thousand dogs and cats that “were left in a state of vulnerability.” Faced with the situation, one of the first foundations that traveled to the area was Ángeles con Patas, which warned about the serious situation in which they found the animals:

“Many people left and the animals were left homeless, walking disoriented. They are all over the island. We found three pigs in the middle of the street eating the cans. There are many chickens, many have climbed to the top of the mountain, they have nothing to eat, “said in Noticias Uno, Leidy Guerra Montoya, director of the foundation.

For her part, Natalia Sierra, president of the Pro-Animal San Andrés Isla Foundation, assured in Semana magazine that they are using social networks to tell people how to help affected animals:

“We are doing days of feeding and hydration mainly and, little by little, treatments will be organized. To channel aid, We created an event on Facebook, on the Pro-Animal San Andrés Isla page, where we provide information on the collection centers, donations in kind and in money, ”said Sierra.

The Kienyke portal reported that currently three other foundations are on the islands carrying out search and rescue activities for “Animals large and small that were covered under the ruins or injured by wood chips or glass splinters.”

Animal Voices, Adopta No Compres and Humanitarian Management make up a great team of volunteers whose main purpose is to “meet the nutritional needs of the vulnerable animals of the archipelago.”

They also carry out veterinary assistance for wound saturation, vaccination, deworming, and other animal health functions.

Kienyke said that to meet the needs of the affected animals he had to resort to the actions of the ARC 7 de Agosto, a flagship of the Colombian National Navy.

The ship is huge and is historically known because it managed to conquer Antarctica, but also because it is a ship with adaptations for war missions and transport of people or aid in kind.

The digital portal reported that on this ship they moved 30 tons of Ringo and Mirringo brand dog and cat food, which served to help the affected animals of the archipelago.

The volunteers plan to continue offering food and medical aid to animals in need on the islands, until March of next year. They also assured that “Community and state aid will begin to decline in December and will be zero in January”, so it will be a tough end of the year.

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