2011: Brazil Floods & Mudslides - Field Notes

KINSHIP CIRCLE-IDA TEAM: Bonnie Morrison, Traci Dawson, June Towler, Enrique Reyes DVM, Juan Pablo Gomez DVM, Georgia Zelada Corbalan DVM, Priscilla Rocha Yanai DVM, Priscilla Stone Mendonca DVM, Alessandra Nogueira Rinah Vogues DVM, Jan & Carlos Cabral
LOCATION: Teresopolis, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

3/9/11: MORE VETERINARIANS JOIN OUR TEAM IN TERESOPOLIS
Six volunteer veterinarians! IN PHOTO ABOVE, LEFT TO RIGHT: Alessandra Nogueira Rinah Vogues DVM, Priscilla Rocha Yanai DVM, and Priscilla Stone Mendonca DVM are veterinary residents of Sao Paulo University. They’ve registered in Kinship Circle’s disaster response network. We can call upon their skills in future disasters too.

In 2010, Kinship Circle assisted Socorro Animal Chile (SACH) in the aftermath of a mass Chilean earthquake and tsunami, traveling to tent camps and towns along Chile’s ravaged coast. Now our Chilean colleagues help give Brazil animals a second chance! IN PHOTO ABOVE, LEFT TO RIGHT: Georgia Zelada Corbalan DVM, Enrique Reyes DVM, and Juan Pablo Gomez DVM (in back) reunite with Traci Dawson and June Towler (taking photo), both Canadian, for Brazil Team #3, led by IC Bonnie Morrison (right end).

Juan Pablo organizes a treatment regimen to prevent four distemper dogs from spreading the deadly virus. Kinship Circle’s June Towler lends Juan Pablo a hand. She also walks special-needs dogs, cleans kennels and helps with flood control. Relentless rain floods sections of the shelter...sometimes washing into a room during surgery. Five-gallon buckets placed beneath holes in the shelter roof fill up quickly. Pails are set up in flooded dog kennels, but it’s impossible to trap all the water. A flooded back room is sopped up with squeegies and buckets. Traci and June sweep water from a tarp ceiling over one area — before the tarps can capsize and dump water on the dogs below.

Georgia is all puppies, all day. IDA-Kinship Circle’s Traci Dawson helps her treat puppies for parvovirus. Parvo is fatal without quick medical interventation. Two puppies have pneumonia and three puppies die today. We discover one mother’s milk has dried up, but the shelter has no hot water for puppy formula. Bonnie returns to the hostel to boil water that she brings back to the shelter to formula feed these pups...

Brazil police drop off a tiny female terrier (PHOTOS ABOVE). A wound over half her front leg is infected with screw worms. The Bicheira maggots have eaten through tissue, exposing her bone and ligaments. Vet Enrique, with Bonnie assisting, does surgery to extract over 300 flesh-eating maggots. The wound is then flushed and disinfected.

Bicheira wounds should never be closed tightly, so Enrique loosely stitches together the dog’s skin to cover bone and ligaments (PHOTO ABOVE). Antibiotics and a fluid injection are given to the emaciated and dehydrated dog. On a happier note, another policeman brings in a dog he witnessed a car hit. Juan Pablo sees damage to the ligament of the dog’s front elbow area and treats him with an anti-inflamatory. The dog is lucky two times over: His injury is minor and the policeman adopts him!

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KINSHIP CIRCLE-IDA TEAM: Bonnie Morrison, Jan and Carlos Cabral
LOCATION: Teresopolis, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

BREAKING NEWS IN BRAZIL — MORE FLOODS AND SLIDES ON THE WAY?
Relentless rain for over a week has drenched the already soggy shelter in Teresopolis, Brazil. Dirt layers atop granite mountains are saturated — the same state that made them collapse in mid-January. Mudslides resumed last evening (3/3/11), killing one person and tossing two homes off their foundations near the shelter. We await reports of injured or missing animals. Brazil residents brace for the worst, again.

3/4/11: DETACHMENTS AND THE BLANK SPACE OF LOSS
A Rottweiler-pit bull mix is deserted outside the crisis shelter (ABOVE LEFT, with Kinship Circle IC Bonnie Morrison). We don't know her guardian’s story. House smashed? Death? No means to care for the dog? The orphan with the shiny coat and white teeth was obviously loved. Her eyes plead: "Why am I here? I want to go home." But home is now, in this dungeon-like warehouse amid hundreds more like her... Elsewhere, a kitten awaits a familiar voice. (ABOVE RIGHT photo from Tony Pires of Resgate de Animais, the Rio NGO that does search-rescue with IDA-Kinship Circle).

Imagine your beloved dog, a child of routine who awakens to your voice. Or your cat, so much a part of your home she is its very soul. Within days, everything they’ve ever known becomes the blank space of loss. A month and a half after catastrophic floods and landslides crushed mountain communities outside Rio de Janeiro, animals arrive despondent and scared. At the disaster shelter in Teresopolis, Brazil, IDA-Kinship Circle volunteers describe these orphans as starved for attention. Former companions crave a comfort zone forever lost in fatal floods and avalanches.

Today, a confused black chow mix finds himself inside the shelter’s front gate. Just outside, an old man slowly walks away with his head lowered in despair. Like the others, this dog will strain at the end of his leash, searching for the man who walked away. Like others, he’ll sniff each passing human. He’ll run to strangers, hoping this is The One who has come back for him.

Some give up. Especially the puppies, whose fragile immune systems are no match for disease and stress. When Kinship Circle’s Bonnie Morrison arrives for her day-long shift at the Teresopolis shelter, she sees local boys (who assist with animals) digging a hole. This means one thing: Another death. The boys look up with sad eyes as they bury one of Bonnie’s favorite pups (LEFT PHOTO ABOVE) from a healthy litter. Two more tiny bodies lay nearby, awaiting burial (RIGHT PHOTO). Bonnie fights back tears. The only explanation volunteer Brazil veterinarian Jackeline Moraes Ribeiro can offer is that their distressed mother laid atop them, accidentally smothering them. EstimAcao leader Dina DeMiranda Puccini Pereira has no diagnosis for the other two — except for their frailty amid deplorable conditions.

Still, volunteers and staff are fueled by hope. EstimAcao shelter director Bebete Filpi is excited about tomorrow’s adoption of two older dogs. A Franciscan nuns and monks order will take 15 dogs as soon as closed roads, due to flash floods, reopen. Today, IDA-Kinship Circle team leader Bonnie Morrison presents EstimAcao with $2,000 to keep the disaster shelter in repair until all occupants are adopted or fostered... Carlos and Jan Cabral, IDA-Kinship volunteers who live in Petropolis, Brazil, arrive to help move supplies to the new shelter location that should be functional by next week. But they are diverted by the sudden collapse of a dog. Dr. Bruno Pessca Dos Santos Baetas is not sure if the animal will survive.

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KINSHIP CIRCLE-IDA TEAM: Cheri Deatsch, Bonnie Morrison
LOCATION: Teresopolis, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

2/26/11: TOMORROW TELLS US WHO LIVES, WHO DIES
A month and a half post-disaster and the shelter settles into a routine pace: Clean puppy room. Force-feed sick animals. Assist Brazil veterinarian Dr. Bruno with meds and treatment. A poodle-esque dog is admitted. His entire coat hangs in dreadlocks, even his ears. The fur on his back is a hardened shell, gray with dirts. After grooming, a sweet, snowy white and close-shaven little dog returns. One of four sick puppies dies today. Oddly, he is the robust one who ate on his own this afternoon. Dr. Bruno tells us the puppy suddenly vomited and died. He pulls three other anorexic pups for observation. A non-responsive pup, given intravenous fluids, perks up right way. Tomorrow will show us who lives and who dies.

2/25/11: SEARCH AND RESCUE IN CAMPO GRANDE
Flavia, an EstimAcao volunteer and filmmaker interviews Kinship Circle's Bonnie Morrison and Cheri Deatsch for her documentary on saving Brazil’s animal disaster victims and then brings her crew on a today’s search and rescue in Campo Grande — a barely accessible neighborhood where recent rain has turned dirt roads back into muddy ruts filled with large rocks. We drive as far as possible and then set out by foot. We see the dogs we’ve come back for, but they run away. So we split the team, with Bonnie and volunteer Savio stationed in the backyard of a gutted home, Flavia and Mao on the road, and Cheri, volunteer Maria and the film crew in thick surrounding woods. The trees are littered with personal belongings tossed from homes washed away in the mudslides. At one point we come to a drop-off where part of the hill is entirely gone. Every remaining structure looks ready to tumble. We realize the area is too unstable for our search. A neighbor tells us of another black dog further down the road, cared for by bar patrons. Bonnie and Savio stay behind for the original three dogs as the rest of us drive in search of the bar. We find a barely functional pub with no electricity or lights. No one knows about a dog.

We rummage through the neighborhood behind the bar. Recent flash floods have filled homes with mud, despite their elevation. We see the body of a Siberian Husky, still encased in the sand and mud that suffocated him during flash floods. A roof is split in two. Flavia climbs underneath the fallen roof, then peers below a mud covered car. Two bright eyes gaze back. The small black dog has been found. Wet food is offered, but the dog curls his lips and snaps in response. Cheri lays on her belly offering small bits of food that the dog eats while wedged beneath the car. We finally manage to coax him out. With a slip lead looped around his neck, the dog walks nervously behind us. We see Bonnie near the bar holding the little brown dog who’d evaded earlier rescue attempts. Today’s survivors come home to a bed and food at the shelter.

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KINSHIP CIRCLE-IDA TEAM: Cheri Deatsch, Bonnie Morrison
LOCATION: Teresopolis, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

2/24/11: DEATH AND BIRTH UNDER A SINGLE ROOF

At mid-day a man drops off a Rottweiler-pit bull mix and leaves. The dog is incredibly sweet, with a shiny coat and white teeth. But she is so bewildered that she quickly becomes despondent. She won’t move or even lift her head. Like so many others, she is lost and sad. This dog gets lots of love from: PHOTO ABOVE LEFT, Kinship Circle's Bonnie Morrison and an EstimAcao volunteer; and ABOVE RIGHT, IDA-Kinship Circle's Carlos Cabral and Cheri Deatsch. The shelter’s cycle of life is in full force. A pregnant black lab begins labor and is rushed to a separate warehouse reserved for medical procedures. On the same day, a dog Bebete has nursed all week gives up her battle. She dies in the same building that puppies are born.

Bonnie, Kinship Circle’s Disaster Management Director (PHOTO ABOVE LEFT cradling pup in shirt and RIGHT PHOTO kissing pup), syringe feeds liquified food to two frail babies. She cradles them, along with a third pup with an eye infection, until all fall asleep. Cheri (PHOTO ABOVE RIGHT holding black pup) and Bonnie deworm four other pups and prepare to head out — when a large dog viciously attacks an elderly small dog. The little dog is left with a three-inch neck laceration and puncture wounds. Blood spurts. The veterinarian has left. EstimAcao volunteer Raphael and a vet student apply pressure and decide they must stitch the wound closed themselves. Bonnie assists in the procedure, done without anesthesia. No one present is trained to administer it. The dog lays motionless, in a state of shock. We reach the veterinarian who returns by bus just as surgery concludes. She says the wound is stitched excellently and gives the dog an antibiotic shot.

2/23/11: A CALF’S LIFE IS SAVED
Kinship Circle’s Bonnie Morrison and Cheri Deatsch join a five-member WSPA team to search for horses in the districts of Imbui and Posse Teresopolis. As we ascend mountains into Campo Grande, car-sized boulders and trucks smashed into homes reflect the flash floods and mudslides that decimated all hillside structures here. We climb on foot and find three dogs amid the remains of a home marked for demolition.

Then a cat’s meow leads us to a beautiful white-gray tabby living with the dogs (PHOTO ABOVE, with Bonnie). Locals confirm that the family is gone. The animals have no one. The cat eats food from a bowl in Bonnie’s lap, before wrapped in a cotton tote and carried down the mountain and across the stream to our car. WSPA vets mildly tranquilize the kitty, who spends her ride investigating back and front seats.

On the drive back we spot a large-horned black bull and brown yearling with horns just budding. The young bull has a nasty neck wound, so we set out on foot to examine him. The bulls meander across the road into the yard of a gutted, evacuated home. Bonnie and WSPA volunteers head behind them. Cheri (Kinship Circle) and Carol (WSPA) move to the opposite side of the house to block their exit. The small backyard is enclosed in a vine-covered fence...and the large bull looks none too happy to be cornered there. Cheri notes that perhaps it is not a wise idea to trap an agitated bull in a confined space, but thankfully the animal retreats through the door of the house. Cheri runs to the front door as Bonnie trails both bulls through the back. This move leads the large, healthy bull out the door so that Bonnie and Cheri can lasso the baby with slip leads and guide him to the front porch.

Bonnie holds the young bull's head as Cheri controls his hindquarters with the leads. The wound is advanced Bicheira, with deep holes along his throat swarming with flesh-eating maggots. After irrigating the wounds Luciana (WSPA) squeezes each individual sore, causing worms to emerge that she pulls out with a pair of forceps.

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KINSHIP CIRCLE-IDA TEAM: Cheri Deatsch, Bonnie Morrison
LOCATION: Teresopolis, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

TWO INCREDIBLE SURVIVORS PASS AWAY
Kinship Circle Disaster Management Director Bonnie Morrison, with Cheri Deatsch on her second Brazil trip, arrive in Rio for the long drive to Teresopolis. Once there, shelter director Bebete Filpi, of Brazil NGO EstimAcao, is overjoyed to received donated medicines from Bonnie. But sadly, two dogs we’d grown to care about have died. The first is a Rottweiler who miraculously survived mudslides, buried alive with his elderly caregiver. The dog, 15 and suffering from hip dysplasia and Bicheira, had lived with the woman all his life. He was entombed in rocks and mud up to his neck, beside his person as she perished. Rescers pulled the Rottweiler out alive. The dog has since succumbed to a heart condition, accelerated by his broken heart.

The other death began as a complex rescue on 2/11/11. Kinship's Cheri Deatsch, along with EstimAcao volunteer Raphael and Michael James, an American traveler who wanted to help in Teresopolis, responded to a tip about a dog scrawled on a paper scrap. Somehow Raphael located the outlying district, now just skeletal homes tangled in mud. During the rains, an adjacent river had spilled over the land. We located Rose, who'd called about the dog, by hiking through downed trees and thick debris. We crossed a river on plywood sheets and rope that replaced a fallen bridge. Finally we found Rose, who led us to the dog.

The white male shepherd lay curled in a ball. He did not raise his head or notice our approach. When crouched around him, the dog growled and pitifully tried to snap at us. Caked in mud, the dog could not move. We had to transport him to the shelter, even though he'd already issued a bite warning if touched. Raphael and Cheri cautiously looped a slip lead around the dog's muzzle. Rose and other locals offered two muddy sheets to use as a stretcher. We tried to hold the sheets at each end, but the dog mustered enough strength to wriggle away. So Michael carried the sheet-wrapped dog as Cheri supported his head for the half-mile trek to our parked car.

Michael held tight as we walked up steep hills and over the swaying makeshift bridge. At one point we tried to ferry the 50-pound dog in a wheelbarrow, but this upset him so much, Michael hoisted the animal back into his arms. By the time we reached our vehicle, hard rain beat down like pebbles. At the shelter, a vet immediately administered fluids and vitamins, while trying to diagnose the dog's condition.

Rose had a second dog in the early stages of Bicheira (flesh-eating maggots) on her ear. This German Shepherd (above, on right) refused to leave the side of her sick companion. In fact, the healthy dog tried to lay atop her sheet-wrapped friend before lifted from the ground. The ambulatory dog trotted with us to the car and ultimately back to the shelter. With her very ill friend on an exam table, the second dog sat sat beneath, refusing to budge. All night long, the two dogs' bodies touched. The German Shepherd stayed awake to protect the limp dog.

Today, when Cheri asks about the wheat-colored shepherd, Bebete tells her the dog had suffered a broken vertebrae and has since died. His German Shepherd life mate (above) is so depressed she barely eats or drinks. Her eyes show heartbreak. We give her extra love and attention.

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KINSHIP CIRCLE-IDA: Sister Michael, Dennis Pickersgill, Jan & Carlos Cabral
LOCATION: Teresopolis, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

WITH WALL-TO-WALL ANIMALS, THE SHELTER MAKES ROOM FOR MORE
Kinship Circle-IDA team members are first to arrive at the shelter to clean and feed animals. Shelter manager Bebete Filpi and Kinship Circle’s Sister Michael Marie administer antibiotic injections and Metronidazole (Flagyl) for the chronic diarrhea that plagues the shelter. Another litter — five 8-week old pups — arrives in what seems to be a neverending stream. Bebete is furious when a man discards his 7-year-old German Shepherd, with him since a pup. He can’t bring his dog into a new apartment. Still, she reasons, it’s better than dumping the dog in the streets. Bebete knows that her disaster shelter could easily become a waystation for unwanted companion animals.

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KINSHIP CIRCLE-IDA TEAM: Sister Michael Marie, Dennis Pickersgill
LOCATION: Teresopolis, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

TEARS COME EASY AT THE DISASTER SHELTER IN TERESOPOLIS
Images from a tragedy: As happened in post-Katrina New Orleans, starving dogs eat homeless cats... Rescuers spot a muddy dog chain affixed to a post. The end of this chain disappears under hardened mud... By 9:00am, the heat bears down, especially inside the Teresopolis shelter for disaster affected animals. Kinship Circle’s Dennis Pickersgill concentrates on a section of the vast shelter, treating his charges to a snack of lunch leftovers from a nearby cafe. He also babysits two kitten litters until Brazil volunteer Dora takes them to a separate waystation for cats. Rosely Bastos drives in from Rio de Janeiro to take the cats to foster/adoptive homes.

At 11:30am, a mom of four pups goes into death throes. Volunteer vet Thereza Dantas pronounces the dog dead five minutes later. The diagnosis is eclampsia, "milk fever," fatal if not detected early. The shelter does not have enough volunteers to closely observe each dog... A pit bull mix Dennis helped rescue yesterday has mammary tumors that seep blood. A vet examines the dog and agrees to perform surgery if shelter director Bebete Filipi can furnish necessary medicines. On a happy note, we observe many adoptions today. Bebete identifies each animal with a number and logs adoptions. Adopters must agree to let EstimAcao volunteers do follow-up visits.

One dog presents neurologic symptoms that reflect the contagious virus Bebete calls "Cinomose." This poor doberman mix cannot hold his head steady. His head bobs and sways. Cataracts cloud his eyes, even though he is just over one-year old. He is hand fed soft food since he cannot eat on his own.

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KINSHIP CIRCLE-IDA TEAM: Sister Michael Marie, Dennis Pickersgill, Carlos Cabral
LOCATION: Teresopolis & Santa Rita, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

FINDING MORE ANIMALS IN THE RUINS
At 9:00am we clean and feed the shelter's many inhabitants. EstimAcao veterinarian Thereza Dantas tends to gravely ill dogs while shelter director Bebete Filipi doles out the daily Flagyl, antibiotics, etc. We learn that EstimAcao translates as "caring, caregiver, kindness to animals." Bebete attempts to provide dog/cat food for private citizens who care for, in some cases, hundreds of disaster affected animals.

By 1:00pm we're navigating dirt roads and ruins on the long mountain ascent to Santa Rita. Most residents fled our died in flash floods and landslides that leveled this community. We discover a dog in a destroyed home, but the frightened animal evades capture this time. Santa Rita residents, it seems, are so traumatized by the tragedy many have not come back. Those who have are impressed that Americans journeyed to their remote village to care for animals. On the trip back to Teresopolis, we deliver dog food to a resident sheltering homeless animals.

Disasters tend to strip a city’s veneer, revealing poverty, social injustices...and forgotten animals. Back in Teresopolis, joined by Raphael, a military lieutenant and regular volunteer at the shelter, we split into groups for urban search and rescue. A friendly, but skeletal white German Shepherd is surrenderd, along with a 65-pound Pit Bull with mammary tumors from overbreeding. We see a young white poodle stranded atop a hot metallic roof. Young Savio manages to reach the rooftop to capture the 10-pound pooch. "Cat Lady" Rosaly retrieves a white cat who may have feline leukemia.

Later, we see a Golden Retriever mix in the street dodging traffic. We scoop up the dazed puppy, about 12-weeks old. We deliver today’s rescues as the sun sets over the Teresopolis shelter. Inside, a puppy with chronic lung and skin conditions has died.

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KINSHIP CIRCLE-IDA TEAM: Sister Michael Marie, Carlos Cabral, Dennis Pickersgill
LOCATION: Teresopolis & Surrounding Countryside, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

BUNNIES, CHICKENS, DUCKS, CATS...AND MORE DOGS
Team members Sister Michael Marie, Carlos Cabral and Dennis Pickersgill begin the day with baths and walks for hundreds of canine survivors healing at the Teresopolis shelter. Another 20-30 dogs left for "Adoption Day" in Rio de Janeiro yesterday. Today we learn they all have new humans to love! Veterinarians come and go, with two departing for Rio today. Kinship Circle urgently needs funds to sponsor several American veterinarians in Brazil.

MOUNTAINS FALL LIKE COOKIES OFF A BAKING SHEET
When the dirt layer atop granite mountains is soaked, the mountain collapses. Even dense jungle layers cannot hold it back. Flash floods caused mountainsides to crash down on Santa Rita, a village just beyond Teresopolis. Every human died or evacuated. Today, we search for signs of life.

We encounter missing roads and areas blocked by thick debris. Along the way, we spot a black Cocker Spaniel mix who leads us to an abandoned house. The occupants have fled without their animals. Seven chickens and five rabbits are caged without food or water. Two young ducks share quarters with the chickens. Three dogs roam and a finch-type songbird is caged indoors. Our team retrieves most of the animals. We release the chickens and songbird. By Brazilian law, it is illegal to cage native species, so Bebete sets them free. A neighbor informs us that the caretakers have returned just once. All animals are severely dehydrated, starving and afraid. A blonde terrier-lab mix drives back to the shelter snuggled atop Bebete's lap. Once there, he is barely in the door when a Bebete’s friend offers to foster him.

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KINSHIP CIRCLE-IDA TEAM: Cheri Deatsch, Carlos Cabral, Sister Michael Marie, Dennis Pickersgill
LOCATION: Teresopolis & Surrounding Countryside, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

SECOND CHANCES FOR BOB, ROSIE MARY AND MORE ANIMALS
Compassion for the animal victims of Brazil’s floods and landslides is contagious. Michael James, an American on vactation at our hostel joins in at the Teresopolis shelter. We begin with inventory of medical supplies and other donations. Emergency shelter manager Bebete Filipi, two veterinarians, EstimAcao volunteers, and our team immediately get vitamin B injectibles to frail animals.

At warehouse two, used for medical procedures, one dog suffers from severe mange. A veterinarian has adopted Bob, a large black/white dog with a broken leg on the mend. Two dogs with bicheira (flesh-eating maggots) are under treatment. The landlord wants everyone out by month’s end. No one knows where to go.

A family brings in a 4-5 month old dog, saved from what locals call "the tragedy." The pup’s broken tail dangles faraway from her body. Yet she wags furiously, oblivious to pain. After treatment, the teeny survivor and her family leave with donated supplies. A second pup is admitted with ticks and bicheira (maggots) on her jaw. In the "maternity ward," a small terrier mothers her prematurely born pup. A large black dog tends to her four-puppy litter. Another dog looks ready to whelp any time.

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KINSHIP CIRCLE-IDA TEAM: Cheri Deatsch, Jan & Carlos Cabral, Sister Michael Marie, Dennis Pickersgill
LOCATION: Teresopolis, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

ANIMALS ARE FOUND WHERE NO HUMANS REMAIN
Kinship Circle’s Sister Michael Marie, a vet tech, helps Teresopolis shelter manager Bebete Filipi administer antibiotics, Metronidazole, antacids, anti-emetics, Capstar, and more meds. Since mid-January, Bebete (with NGO EstimAcao) has worked nearly 24/7 to save and adopt out animals made homeless by Brazil’s floods and landslides. The shelter is full of animals with bloody diarrhea, dry cough, bicheira (a flesh-eating maggots condition called "miiase" in Portugese), skin infections.

IDA-Kinship’s Dennis Pickersgill departs for search and rescue with Brazilian volunteers Tony, Flavia and Marie. The team looks for stranded animals at 10 mudslide sites in Teresopolis and surrounding countryside. Entire communities have vanished under mud and rubble here. At least 500 people remain missing. Locals report a 25-pound mutt penned up at a damaged cantina. We locate the dog and bring him back to the Teresopolis shelther in the late afternoon.

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KINSHIP CIRCLE-IDA TEAM: Cheri Deatsch, Jan & Carlos Cabral, Sister Michael Marie, Dennis Pickersgill
LOCATION: Teresopolis, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

UNABLE TO SURVIVE IN THE STREETS, NOWHERE ELSE TO GO
About 200 dogs occupy the Teresopolis shelter run by NGO EstimAcao, under Bebete Filpi's leadership. Another 300 dogs, plus 400-500 cats, are at Bebete's property.

We enter through a tarp-covered area for outside dogs. Dogs are chained to various posts, often so close together that skirmishes erupt in the oppressive heat. Every inch of space belongs to a dog. Multiple dogs in cages. Dogs chained to slats outside of cages. Sick dogs among the healthy. Despite its cavernous dimensions, this room is also overwhelmingly hot. A few desktop fans blow muggy air around, with no cool spot in the room. Small anterooms branch off this main area. One houses unaltered females, another keeps puppies old enough to be weaned, one more contains nursing mothers and litters. All are disaster impacted dogs unable to survive in the streets.

Volunteers and veterinarians are desperately needed. Kinship Circle must pay for veterinarian deployments. Please consider a donation to our Animal Disaster Aid Fund, so we can send veterinarians and supplies. Here is what your donation can do:

Many dogs have bicheira. This occurs when flies lay eggs inside a dog's wound Maggots hatch that literally eat the flesh surrounding the wound. Numerous animals were injured during or post-disaster. Rescuers fear they will become infected with bicheira, a disease already common here.

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KINSHIP CIRCLE-IDA TEAM: Cheri Deatsch, Jan & Carlos Cabral
LOCATION: Nova Friburgo, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

THEIR EYES ASK, "WHERE ARE MY PEOPLE? WHAT HAPPENED?"
IDA-Kinship Circle responders Cheri Deatsch and Jan and Carlos Cabral head to Nova Friburo, a long drive winding through Rio’s mountain region. Sections of road are washed out. Some bridges are still down. Workers clear and repair roads that crumbled under the force of flash floods and falling mountains.

The team arrives at the shelter of COOBEA — Coordenadoria de Bem-Estar Animal — a city government office that oversees animal welfare and is part of Nova Friburgo's Town Hall structure. Carla Freire coordinates the makeshift shelter, presently populated with 40 dogs and cats whose families were killed or displaced in mudslides. Carla has already adopted out 170 "mudslide animals" and hopes to rehome them all, to make room for more still wandering in the rubble.

Despite post-disaster chaos, Carla maintains meticulous records and requires adopters to complete a detailed application. If a family returns to claim a lost animal, she wants accurate information on where that animal went. The COOBEA shelter is small. Carla and a handful of volunteers vaccinate and spay/neuter animals as quickly as possible.

Carla asks Kinship Circle-IDA to assist with implementation of a spay/neuter clinic, along with adoption/education/vaccination drives for mudslide survivors. She strives to rotate animals from street to shelter to spay/neuter and vaccination...into new homes. If the process keeps moving, more orphaned animals can be helped. Unfortunately, as disaster aid responders, we must assess and go to the most dire areas that require search and rescue and immediate crisis sheltering. Tomorrow we travel to Terespolis, where thousands of animals have passed through a single shelter. In nearby Santa Rita (a destroyed and vacated city) search and rescue is still underway. If we receive more funding, we can send volunteers to cover both areas. At present, we do not have the means to be in two places at once.

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KINSHIP CIRCLE-IDA TEAM: Jan and Carlos Cabral
LOCATION: Teresopolis, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

MORE OF OUR VOLUNTEERS EN ROUTE TO HELP ANIMAL FLOOD REFUGEES
Cheri Deatsch, Dennis Pickersgill and Sister Michael Marie will join Jan and Carlos Cabral as our assessment team. In January, walls of water and land crushed entire towns — burying people and animals in Brazil’s worst natural disaster. Teresopolis, a mountain town outside Rio de Janeiro, suffered extensive damage. There, a worn warehouse doubles as an "animal refugee hospital".

Jan learns that residents have also opened their hearts to animals. A man whose home washed away in flood waters cares for more than 100 animals. Another woman looks after 80 anmals. Near Sao Jose, a woman who lost everything tends to 100 animals.

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FEBRUARY 2-4, 2011: Kinship Circle-In Defense Of Animals (IDA) Report
Nicky’s Story — A Thousand Times Over

KINSHIP CIRCLE-IDA TEAM: Jan and Carlos Cabral
LOCATION: Teresopolis, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

TODAY THE NEWS FROM TERESOPOLIS IS NOT GOOD...
Animals stream into the ramshackle warehouse that shelters thousands displaced by floods. IDA-Kinship Circle responders Carlos and Jan Cabral assist Bebete Filpi, who leads volunteers from NGO EstimAcao. Animals are stressed, disoriented. Fights erupt.

NICKY'S STORY, 2/2/11 — Jan learns that the dog her family adopted from the Teresopolis shelter belonged to humans swallowed alive in a landslide. She bathes Nicky in love, even as she hears similar stories about the next six arrivals. At home, Nicky grieves for the family she lost. The frail dog clings to Jan — perhaps afraid her new family will vanish too. Nicky is 10, crippled, a GSD mix. She hobbled into the shelter in a mud-caked collar, sad and thin. One leg dangles uselessly. A toe is gone. A pad is also absent from her foot, leaving bone to heal atop bone. Still, she moves about. At the moment, her sorrow seems more crippling. Jan and Carlos had vowed to adopt the animal no one else would take. With Nicky, they found the heart of a nation in mourning. And they found love.

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JANUARY 30, 2011: Kinship Circle-In Defense Of Animals (IDA) Report
I Am Crying As I Write These Words

KINSHIP CIRCLE-IDA TEAM: Brenda Shoss, Jan Cabral
LOCATION: Teresopolis, Petropolis, Santa Rita, Sao Jose, Agua Claras

STUNNING PHOTOS, REPORTS SHOW ANIMALS IN DESPERATE NEED
IDA-Kinship Circle team member Jan Cabral lives in Posse Petropolis, Brazil. Just about 30 miles away is utter despair. In Santa Rita, a mountain collapsed into a avalanche over the city. Today, Jan visits the warehouse in Meudon, a suburb of Teresopolis, that serves as a makeshift shelter for thousands of animals. "I have seen despair. This is worse."

TERESOPOLIS, 1/30/11 — Today 250 animals are at the Teresopolis warehouse. Brazilian Bebete Filpi leads a handful of local volunteers. Bebete is weary and frazzled. There are never enough hands to heal broken bones, sores and sickness. Bebete, who lost five of her own animals to the floods, has relocated 700 animals on her rural property. Another emergency shelter houses hundreds more.

DYING, SICK, INJURED: Untreated broken bones, lack of medication, overcrowding, fights between stressed and disoriented animals. An intolerable heat bears down on animals and humans alike. It's summer in Brazil, with temps in the 80s and 90s. A few fans stir the muggy air inside the warehouse. Animals are doused in cold water. With the lack of fluid bags and lines, dehydration is a serious concern.

SUPPORT IS CRITICAL: Today Jan sees a dog arrive with burns over his body. Another is maggot-infested. Teresopolis lost 27 residential districts to this disaster. Dead people were pulled from trees. Many animals belong to humans who will never return.

PLEASE DONATE FOR RESCUE DEPLOYMENT & VETERINARY NEEDS SUCH AS:
  ▶ Xilazina
  ▶ Ketamina
  ▶ Zoletil
  ▶ IV Stands & IV Sets / 4 ft 14 gauge x 1
  ▶ IV Fluids, IV Catheters
  ▶ Adrenalina
  ▶ Capstar
  ▶ Disposable Syringes
  ▶ Giardia Medication

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JANUARY, 2011: Kinship Circle-In Defense Of Animals (IDA) Report
IDA-Kinship Circle Aid Animal Flood Victims In Brazil

KINSHIP CIRCLE-IDA TEAM: Brenda Shoss
LOCATION: Nova Friburgo, Teresopolis, Petropolis, Santa Rita, Sao Jose, Agua Claras

FLOODS AND MUDSLIDES LEAVE ANIMALS HURT, SICK, SCARED
On 1/12/11, the rainfall began. By the following week, flash floods swept through Sao Paulo and the mountain region of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Mudslides swallowed buildings, trees, roads — and tragically, animals and people. These catastrophic events are linked to over 700 deaths, with many still missing. Tens of thousands of people lost homes. In destroyed towns near Rio, an unknown number of animals (estimated in the tens of thousands or more) need food, water, shelter and care for wounds and disease.

Kinship Circle and In Defense of Animals (IDA) — two nonprofits with 30+ years combined animal disaster aid experience in over 35 countries — have formed a partnership to assess and respond to animal crises. Shortly after we heard reports of innumerable cats, dogs, horses...dying, injured, and stranded by Brazil floodwaters and mudslides...we reached out to Brazilian animal organizations. Since then, we've been on 24-hour watch to evaluate stricken areas. An IDA-Kinship Circle team, deployed to Brazil, will canvass ravaged communities to help animals encountered and determine length of deployment. Our goal, as done for animal victims of the 2010 Chile earthquake and tsunami, is to work within the structure of Brazilian agencies already on the ground — combining human, technical and material resources.

Street animals no longer have survival resources, due to absent human populations. Care-given “pets” were left behind or lost in the chaos. Some were orphaned when caregivers died. Brazilian animal groups are concentrated in the hard hit town of Nova Fibrugo, where a government animal welfare office doubles as an emergency animal shelter. Other towns are accessible by helicopter only, after floods demolished bridges and roads. Yet each day yields a clearer snapshot of animal conditions. Two on our team live in Petropolis, near the most overwhelmed parts of Brazil. Their reports, along with fragments from other Brazilians in areas with limited communication, paint a grim picture:

TERESOPOLIS — Hundreds to thousands of rescued animals have passed through an overcrowded warehouse in the borough of Meudon. Veterinarians and volunteers with the local group Estimacao rescue and care for the animals. “They are doing what they can, but need more space, vets and support.”

SANTA RITA — IDA-Kinship Circle team members who live in Petropolis report high casualties in Santa Rita, where many people and animals died "buried up to their necks in mud." The entire community was swept away when half a mountain disintegrated and fell upon them.

SAO JOSE — A gut-wrenching photo from this town shows a woman air-lifted from deep waters. She clutches her little dog. As the lift begins, the dog falls from her arms and presumably drowns. We are aware of one veterinarian here, with some 50 rescued animals situated in a gymnasium.

AGUA CLARAS — This city suffered a large brunt of the damage, but reports are hazy as to animal conditions. Many phone lines are still down.

PETROPOLIS — Despite the proximity of these towns, virtually untouched areas stand just miles away from demolished areas. Posse Petropolis, where our IDA-Kinship Circle team member lives, endured little damage. A short distance away in Petropolis, flash floods submerged everything in their path.

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KINSHIP CIRCLE AND IN DEFENSE OF ANIMALS JOIN FORCES:
Our animal aid response in Brazil marks the start of Kinship Circle’s partnership with In Defense of Animals (IDA). Kinship Circle and IDA share 30+ years combined animal disaster aid experience in over 35 countries. As disasters strike, our two nonprofit organizations will jointly assess impact on animals. We'll determine deployment logistics, in order to send trained disaster responders for search and rescue, medical aid, crisis sheltering, etc. The union of resources between two dedicated groups expands communication and action — so we can reach stranded animals quickly.

ABOUT KINSHIP CIRCLE:
KINSHIP CIRCLE is a nonprofit that promotes animal protection and freedom by rallying voices worldwide to seek legislative, industry and societal reforms for animals. Our primary focus is investigative research and action campaigns designed to end cruel practices or enforce/enact animal laws. Kinship Circle also advocates education as a pathway to change. We produce educational materials in over 50 topics for use in humane education settings, student projects, presentations, letters/articles, press kits...

KINSHIP CIRCLE ANIMAL DISASTER AID is our specialized faction that mobilizes emergency aid for animal victims. Our U.S. and Canadian disaster responders reflect a wide range of training and certification, including search and rescue, vet care, crisis sheltering, fire and water rescue, large animal rescue, technical rescue, wildlife rehabilitation...and more expert skills. In recent years, Kinship Circle has responded to: Chile Earthquake and Tsunami, Gulf Oil Disaster, Haiti Earthquake, Iowa Floods, Hurricane Gustav and Ike, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

ABOUT IN DEFENSE OF ANIMALS:
IN DEFENSE OF ANIMALS (IDA) seeks to end animal exploitation, cruelty, and abuse by protecting and advocating for the rights, welfare, and habitats of animals, as well as raise their status beyond mere property, commodities, or things. Founded in 1983 by world reknowned Dr. Elliot M. Katz, DVM — IDA has won precedent setting victories for animals in the U.S. and around the world, including: Closure of the Coulston Foundation, among the world’s largest chimpanzee experimentation labs; Creation of a chimp sanctuary/education center in the West African Republic of Cameroon; Ending New York University’s gruesome crack cocaine experiments on monkeys and Rockefeller University’s vomiting experiments on cats; Contributing to passage of a law that protects Taiwan’s 1.7 million stray dogs from cruelty, abandonment, and exploitation; Cancellation of a proposed seal slaughter off the coast of South Africa; Rescue of hundreds of dogs and cats in a devastating firestorm that swept through Oakland/Berkeley Hills; Undercover investigations to expose puppy mill cruelty; Development of a 64-acre abused animal sanctuary in rural Mississippi...and more!

Your Donation To Our Animal Disaster Fund = Lives Saved

• DONATE TO ANIMAL DISASTER AID FUND
  
  
• GIVE BY MAIL
  Kinship Circle
  Animal Disaster Aid Fund
  7380 Kingsbury Blvd.
  St. Louis, MO 63130

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