Lending a hand to animal rescue
MANILA, Philippines - Before 2009 ended, Mayon Volcano threatened Bicol with an eruption that forced residents to evacuate, and to give up livestock and pets, especially those in endangered areas.
Fortunately, Dr. Nielsen Donato, renowned veterinarian and founder of the Philippine Association of Wildlife Veterinarians, readily offered assistance to the troubled residents by establishing a rescue center for the animals, mainly prioritizing the livestock.
Together with a team of two other veterinarians and volunteers from Philippine Animal Welfare Society, Dr. Donato put up kennels for dogs and tents for pigs and cattle. The Office of the Governor, meanwhile, volunteered the use of a private property to set up the rescue center.
The rescue operation for the Mayon Volcano evacuation took place last December and January. With the support of Cebu Pacific, Dr. Donato flew in bearing a generous amount of Robina Agri Partners dog food.
“The flight was very significant,” Dr. Donato said. “For volunteers like us, time is very precious and being able to go to our destination early in the day allowed us to maximize our work. Also, being able to travel with an airline that supports our advocacies made the operations easier to execute.”
Animal Rescue, One Day At A Time
According to the veterinarian, there are a lot of things that every Juan can do to care for their beloved pets, and these don’t even require professional training.
“Anyone can help simply by educating people to treat all animals with respect,” he said. “Other than that, people should be proactive in times of need, in donating to projects such as feeding programs and animal population control.”
Wildlife Advocacies
Dr. Donato’s advocacies do not end in animal rescue. As the founding member of the PAWV, he sees to it that the Philippine wildlife conservation is also being addressed.
“Protecting Philippine wildlife is probably the greatest challenge for every Filipino. We still can save our own wildlife by not engaging in illegal wildlife trade, reporting to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources any hunting or illegal destruction of wildlife’s natural habitat,” he explained. “We are very lucky that there are a lot of organizations now doing conservation work to preserve our Philippine wildlife, so let us support their advocacy either by joining or donating in any way we can.”
Those who are interested to help advocate animal rights and welfare may visit www.pawvi.org to know more about Dr. Donato’s projects, or visit www.cebupacificair.com for the leading low-cost airline’s “Bright Skies for Every Juan” tie-up with WWF-Philippines.
