While Thailand’s floods have impacted millions of people, the country’s animal population is also suffering in the wake of the disaster. Thousands of domesticated cats and dogs have been abandoned in flood zones after their owners have fled to safety, or have been left at shelters in dry areas by homeless owners unable to care for them.
Unfortunately, thanks to the logistics of Thai law, rescuing helpless pets from flood zones is a well-meaning but not entirely legal procedure. Rescue groups who break into abandoned homes to rescue pets may face future lawsuits from homeowners for “damaging” the property, even if the break-in was conducted to save an owner’s pet. Pet owners who have abandoned their animals are also legally entitled to demand their pets back, once the pets have been rescued by the efforts of volunteers, even if the pet owners in question have demonstrated dubious treatment of their cats and dogs by abandoning them. In this situation, property rights trump the rights of the animals involved.
Beyond possible legal battles pending around them, the rescued pets of Thailand’s flood zones face a troubling future. Injured, sick, and often deprived of food for days, the animals receiving shelter at a number of locations, including Kasetsart University, desperately need help.
Many of the shelters that exist are entirely volunteer run, and dependent on donations. As flooding continues to sweep through Central Thailand and Bangkok, those people attempting to offer help the floods animalvictims will need increased supplies of pet foods an medicines to both distribute to displaced pet owners, and to treat abandoned animals receiving shelter at volunteer-run institutions. Readers interested in providing support to such institutions may make contact here.
Image from: <a href=”http://www.shutterstock.com/gallery-685456p1.html?cr=00&pl=edit-00″>pornvit_v</a> / <a href=”http://www.shutterstock.com/?cr=00&pl=edit-00″>Shutterstock.com</a>
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