Welfare of Animals in disaster
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The event had the participation of more than 40 participants, including representatives from 14 WOAH Members from Europe and North Africa.
The event aimed at ensuring the continuity with the pilot project carried out in the Balkans from 2018 to 2021 by closely analysing challenges and achievements gained over the time by the WOAH Members involved, in order to increase their capacity to address animal welfare issues during natural disasters by developing Contingency Plans and operate on the basis protocols and procedures.
The intense works allowed to take stock of the current WOAH Members’ capacity to develop Veterinary Services contingency Plans, by discussing the lessons learned during the multiannual pilot project in the Balkans and rising the awareness on the importance of developing multi-hazard response frameworks addressing possible different scenarios (I.e., fires) in other areas of the region. Participants were also trained on how to develop and test operational protocols/procedures for the management of animal welfare issues during natural disasters, and contributed to identify the objectives of the regional “Multi hazard workshop on contingency planning for animal welfare in natural disasters” to be organized in 2024.
The event was very well taken and proved to be an excellent opportunity to share knowledge and best practices in order to strengthen the Veterinary Services capacity to be prepared for, respond to and recover from veterinary emergencies, and most of all to operate in a united and coordinated manner, in accordance with the WOAH standards on Disaster Management and Risk Reduction. It will pave the way to the implementation of the 4th Action Plan initiatives on DMRR and further contribute to strengthening the Veterinary Services’ operational capacity to deal with animal welfare emergencies from an “One Health” perspective.
The workshop was kindly hosted by Portugal and generously funded by Spain, the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and France.
Please find more information in the meeting report.
| Day 1 – all day (CET) | ||
| Time | Activity | Facilitator(s) and contributors |
| 09:00 | Registration of participants | |
| 09:30-09:45 | Welcome address and opening remarks | Dr Susana Pombo-Portugal’s Delegate
Dr Estelle Hamelin – WOAH SRR Brussels |
| Chair E. Hamelin | ||
| 09:45 – 10.30 | Plenary lecture on “Communication & social media during disasters“ | Daria Ortiz Suardy (EC/DG ECHO)- Remotely |
| 10:30-10:45 | The WOAH Platform Activities on DMRR in Europe– Latest achievements and future plans | P. Dalla Villa (WOAH) |
| 10:45-11:00 | Coffee break | |
| 11:00-11:15 | The Spanish experience on the development of a Contingency Plan for the management of veterinary emergencies during floods. | T. Villalba (MAPA, Spain) |
| 11:15-11:30 | The CASCADE simulation exercise on floods and earthquakes in Portugal | Yolanda Vaz/ Elisio Oliveira (Direção-Geral de Alimentação e Veterinária and Autoridade Nacional de Emergência e Proteção Civil Portugal) |
| 11:30-13:15 | State of the art on contingency planning for the management of animal welfare issues during floods | Balkan countries representatives
|
| 13:15-13:30 | North Macedonia progress on the development of Veterinary Services – Contingency Plan + operational instruments (manuals/protocols/procedures) | Milenko Simovikj, North Macedonia – Contingency Planning, Food Safety Agency |
| 13:30 14:30 | Lunch | |
| Chair P. Dalla Villa | ||
| 14:30-1515 | Plenary lecture on ” Climate Change-Disasters and Animals “ | Jimmy Tickel (EmVetNet) |
| 15:15-15:45 | Wildlife management during fires | Rodney Vile – State of Victoria, Australia |
| 15:45-16:00 | The Portuguese experience in livestock and pet animals’ assistance during fires | Maria Correia (Direção-Geral de Alimentação e Veterinária) – Portugal |
| 16:00-16:15 | Coffee break | |
| 16:15-16:30 | The Greek experience in animal assistance during fires (livestock, pet animals and wildlife) | Katerina Marinou – AWFP Greece |
| 16:30-16:45 | The French experience in animal assistance during emergencies (livestock, pet animals and wildlife) | Sabine DIDIERLAURENT |
| 16:45-17:15 | QA and panel discussion | All participants – moderator |
| 17:15 | End of the day | |
| 20:00 | Dinner hosted by Portugal | |
| Day 2 – all day (CET) | ||
| Time | Activity | Facilitator(s) and contributors |
| Chair E. Hamelin | ||
| 09.00- 09:45 | Plenary lecture on “One Health approach to emergency management” | Hayley Squance, Joint Centre for Disaster Research, Massey University, New Zealand – Remotely |
| 09:45-10:00 | WOAH Members’ capacity to deal with animal welfare emergencies during natural disasters in Europe | P.DallaVilla (WOAH) |
| 10:00 –10:15 | National experiences in animal assistance during emergencies (livestock, pet animals and wildlife) in North Africa | Dr Bakkar – LIBYA representative, Remotely |
| 10.15-10:30 | Coffee break | |
| 10:30-11:00 | Group exercise on how to develop and test DM protocols/operating procedures (Session I – Introduction to the methodology and best practices)
|
Gary Vroegindeway (LMU) |
| 11:00-13:00 | Group exercise on how to develop and test DM protocols/operating procedures (Session II: DM protocols/operating procedures development and testing +rapporteurs feedback and discussion) | Gary Vroegindeway and All participants (Rodney Vile + Jimmy Tickel + Paolo Dalla Villa as facilitators) |
| 13:00 –14:00 | Lunch | |
| Chair P. Dalla Villa | ||
| 14:00 – 14:15 | Supporting Livestock-Based Response in Emergency through the LEGS Training Programme | Cathy Watson (Coordinator at LEGS, United Kingdom) Remotely |
| 14:15-14:30 | Preliminary results of the IZS-Teramo project on the “Development of risk indicators for disasters impact assessment on animal health and welfare” | ML Danzetta, IZS – Teramo – Remotely |
| 14:30-15:15 | Animal Field Triage Protocols for Livestock and Horses Caught in Disasters & Triage Game presentation and play | Anne Dubbink, Utrecht University The Netherlands – Remotely |
| 15:15-15:30 | Coffee break | |
| 15:30-16:15 | The role of the NGOs in disaster management – | Celine Sissler-Bienvenue (IFAW) (Staci McLennan will also attend)
Adam Parascandola (HSI) Remote contribution Jackson Zee (Four Paws) Remote contribution |
| 16:15- 16:30 | Planning of the “Regional multi hazard workshop on contingency planning for animal welfare in natural disasters” (2024) + Wooclap on next topics to be addressed | P. Dalla Villa (WOAH) |
| 16:30-16:45 | QA panel discussion and conclusions | All participants + WOAH |
| 16:45 | End of the day | |
