The Brooke is appealing for help for the thousands of horses and donkeys in Pakistan that are facing heavy snow and freezing winter temperatures without shelter, two months after an earthquake devastated north-west Pakistan.
More than 500,000 animals died and 12 million were injured by the quake, according to Pakistan’s livestock department. Brooke vets have been offering free care to working animals in affected areas since the disaster. The charity warns that many animals could die during the winter because their owners have not been able to rebuild their shelters.
“The horses are going to die if they can’t be sheltered,” says Nicki Austin from the Brooke Hospital, who has recently returned from the earthquake zone. “If the animals die their owners will be poverty stricken – they will have absolutely nothing.”
The devastation caused by the earthquake has made the local population ever more dependent on their donkeys and carriage horses. With many water pipes destroyed, the animals are now used to carry water, as well as firewood and provisions.
Celebrity vet Scott Miller is launching a £100,000 Brooke emergency appeal to stave off the winter disaster that threatens to engulf Pakistan’s earthquake survivors and the working animals on which they depend.
Scott, who is the resident vet on This Morning and The Paul O’Grady Show, has been working alongside Brooke vets in Balakot in the devastated north-west of Pakistan to help ease the appalling plight of families and their working animals in the aftermath of October’s disaster.
“These animals are so vital that many owners are now using rubble from their homes to build shelters for them, while they and their families will face winter snows in tents,” Scott explains. “The animals are the key to economic recovery for these people and money raised by the appeal will be used to fund the provision of shelters, shelter building materials and fodder for animals, as well as to finance the work of Brooke’s mobile veterinary teams in the area.”
To make a donation, or to find out how you can help, call (tel: 0207 930 1210) or visit: www.thebrooke.org
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