Chile is a beautiful country but, unfortunately, it has to face numerous natural hazards, including earthquakes, tsunamis, volcano eruptions and landslides.
When disasters strike, people are not the only victims: disasters affect animals as well. In the midst of chaos, pets can be separated from their families, left behind, lost and forgotten. But it is not just companion animals that need to be rescued. Wild and farm animals are also hit by natural calamities and require medical care and help until they can be released and returned to their natural habitat.
To be prepared, OIPA Chile and SEARCH have organized a course aimed at training volunteers in animal rescue operations in the wake of a natural disaster.
At the end of the course all the participants will be ready to carry out relief work and provide rescue assistance to pets, domestic and wild animals in areas that are impacted by natural disasters.
OIPA Chile will soon have a disaster relief team ready and running to assist animals of all species in natural disaster situations. Here are some photos of emergency rescues carried out by SEARCH and Samuel Molina, OIPA Chile representative and lecturer of the course, who has nearly 30 years of experience in catching and handling wild and stray animals.
The course will cover the topics of main natural disaster threats in Chile, the risks of dealing with animals in danger, animal rescue techniques, rescue protocols, definition of roles during interventions.
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