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IC George McKeehan kneels beside a dog at the emergency shelter where Kinship Circle aids Save Elephant Foundation volunteers. Photo: Kinship Circle, Thailand 2011 / Lexie Boezeman Cataldo
Photo: Kinship Circle, Thailand Flood 2011 / Lexie Boezeman Cataldo
Kinship Circle animal disaster responder Blaine Whealy, a firefighter-EMT in Atlanta, helps bring flood victims to safety at an emergency shelter in the Muang District of Bangkok. After 24-hour travel from the U.S. to Thailand, volunteers worked long after midnight on shelter set-up and intake. Photo: Kinship Circle, Thailand 2011 / Lexie Boezeman Cataldo
Out of harm’s way, puppies gotta play. Photo: Kinship Circle, Thailand Flood 2011 / Lexie Boezeman Cataldo
Kinship Circle IC George McKeehan, with rescued dogs at shelter, works past midnight with team members and Save Elephant Foundation. Kinship Circle, Thailand 2011 / Lexie Boezeman Cataldo
Volunteer workdays end after 2:00 a.m. right now. From lt to rt: Two woman from a group of Australian volunteers, Kinship disaster rescue vols Blaine Whealy, Tim Gorski, and George McKeehan in front. Photo: Kinship Circle, Thailand Flood 2011 / Lexie Boezeman Cataldo
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HOWLING FROM A PATCH OF DRY LAND
- DATE:
November 4-7, 2011
- LOCATION: Bang Pu Area. Bangkok, Thailand
- SUBMITTED BY: George McKeehan, Kinship Circle IC, Team #1
- TEAM: George McKeehan, Lexie Cataldo, Blaine Whealy,
Tim Gorski
The water span dwarfs Bangkok by 10 to 20 times. Satellite maps show a dark mass with unpredictible fingers that stretch from Ayutaya, into the city of millions. One district pumps out floodwaters. Another fills. A levee opens. Water spills into streets, homes and businesses somewhere else. Brown and mucky, it seep southward seep. Some say the sewage-filled waters won’t recede for months.
One newspaper said it would take Noah’s Ark to save them all. Dogs bark from sloped rooftops, 10, 15 or more uneasily balanced together. They wait on porches that poke out of the water. The last dry place. Others are submerged chest deep. When finally pulled out, pus-filled lesions line their bellies and legs. The skin rots, if underwater too long.
Animals are seen in phone booths surrounded by water. But the saddest portrait, says Tim Gorski — a Kinship Circle disaster responder and documentary filmmaker in Thailand when floods escalated — are those who paddle toward any surface taller than a meter and half. They cling to tiny islands and howl through the night. Marooned without food or unpolluted water.
FROM AIRPORT TO ANIMALS
Kinship Circle team members from Atlanta and San Francisco meet at Suvarnabhumi International Airport, where disaster responder Tim Gorski, already in Thailand, joins them for the long drive across sprawling Bangkok. A 40-mile trek can last several hours, due to flood-closed roads. At the volunteer hotel in Bangpood, Pakkred District, they convene with Darrick Thomson of Save Elephant Foundation (also a Kinship Circle member) to discuss first-day activities.
SEF has just acquired use of a property in southern Bangkok. The makeshift shelter in Bang Pu industrial park has large grassy areas, six canopy tents, and indoor space for supplies, veterinary and office work. Running water, toilets, a conference room and electricity are available. The team meets Paisaran ("Patty") Pholsomsuk of SEF who answers volunteer and animal emergency calls — around her hectic work schedule at the elephant sanctuary in Chiang Mai.
To house more flood animals, Thai resident volunteers and an emergency shelter manager are desperately needed.
WORK DAYS THAT ENDURE PAST MIDNIGHT
It is already dark when Kinship’s George McKeehan, Lexie Cataldo, and Blaine Whealy meet over 40 flood rescues at the shelter. Three SEF volunteers have cared for animals over the last three days. Fencing is cardboard panes upheld by bamboo poles and wooden stakes. Some dogs have outsmarted the makeshift fence with a few stategic leaps.
Dogs far outnumber cats at present, with just a few kittens who are sheltered elsewhere now. They are all shapes, breeds and sizes. From young to old. Health problems range from worms and puncture wounds…to a missing eye and skeletal injuries.
With big-guy firemen George (a Lieutenant) and Blaine on hand, Kinship Circle’s team delves into construction set-up, including fence reinforcement. They use plywood panels to rebuild a perimeter fence and develop a plan for intake, bathing, and clinic areas inside the structure. With two SEF staff overnighting at the shelter, volunteer workdays end after 2:00 a.m. right now.
 
Volunteer For Animal Disaster Aid In Thailand
Kinship Circle works with Save Elephant Foundation and Thai volunteers
to run an emergency animal shelter at an industrial property in Bangkok. Teams also do field/water rescue, food/water, transport.
INTERNATIONAL VOLUNTEERS
- REGISTER NOW for Kinship Circle Disaster Animal Aid
- CONTACT Bonnie Morrison, Disaster Director
KINSHIP CIRCLE SEEKS:
- Trained volunteers with experience in disaster rescue,
water/boat skills, animal handling, emergency sheltering and admin,
animal first aid, veterinary, photography-video.
- Flexibility to travel to disaster zones for approx. 2 weeks.
- Required: Current passport, international driver’s license.
- Self-sustainability in rugged disaster setting.
- Team members comply with FEMA Incident Command System (ICS) and Kinship Circle protocol.
THAILAND RESIDENT VOLUNTEERS
- To volunteer for animal flood victims contact:
Volunteer Information Line: 087-186-3804
Animal Emergency (ONLY) Line: 085-161-3988
Paisaran ("Patty") Pholsomsuk: mawin_4@hotmail.com
Tim Gorski: timgorski@hotmail.com
- THAI RESIDENT VOLUNTEERS CRITICALLY NEEDED:
SHELTER MANAGER: Experienced and/or very organized shelter managers are crucial — so that more animal flood victims can be temporarily sheltered and treated.
▫ Thai resident to oversee an emergency shelter for animals.
▫ Shelter in Bang Pu industrial park, with large grassy areas,
6 heavy canopy tents.
▫ Has indoor space for supplies, vet and office work.
▫ Running water, toilets, conference room, electricity.
EMERGENCY SHELTER VOLUNTEERS: Thai volunteers are urgently needed for animal intake, handling-care, shelter set-up and maintenance…
Please only contact volunteer coordinators if seriously interested. They are are strectched thin and do not have time to chat from a disaster zone.
Help Us Save Animals In Thailand’s Historic Flood
Kinship Circle teams were in Japan for quake-tsunami animals as recently as September. Our Animal Disaster Fund is depleted. Please open your heart to Thailand’s animals.
DONATIONS
- DONATE SECURELY ONLINE TO:
kinshipcircle.org/donation
Kinship Circle Animal Disaster Aid Fund, a registered 501c3 nonprofit
- DROP OFF DONATED SUPPLIES AT:
Thai Watana Panich Press
919 Bang Pu Industrial Estate
Soi 11B
Praek-sa rd. Muang District
Samut Prakan
DONATIONS ARE VITAL TO:
▫ Send disaster-trained volunteers for emergency
sheltering and field rescue.
▫ Acquire key supplies such as:
More cages
Fencing Materials
Truck, 1-ton dually 6.6 litre 4-wheel drive
Ball Hitch, to pull trailer and boat
Catchpoles: 4 & 5 ft
Slip Leads
Human First Aid/Medic Kit (for boat rescue)
Sturdy Work and/or Bite Gloves
Muzzles, various sizes
ID Collars, snap-on collars with write-on surface
Veterinary Medicines
…etc…
Documentary filmmaker and Kinship Circle disaster responder Tim Gorski was in Thailand when floods accelerated. Tim was badly bitten by a traumatized dog during boat rescue. His nose-to-lips wound required 25 stitches. Tim visits a hospital daily for infection treatment and rabies shots, but remains in Thailand for animal rescue. Photo: Kinship Circle, Thailand 2011 / Lexie Boezeman Cataldo
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