Chennai : As the sun sets over the Bay of Bengal and the shadows of the surviving palms lengthen, Charles takes his sole surviving companion, a black dog, out for a walk on the Marina beach of Chennai . Strewn with rubble, thatch and a few carcasses, the Marina beach that was once teeming with crowds presents an eerie sight today.

Fifteen year old Charles managed to survive the wave that claimed over 150000 lives in a few seconds. While changing the face of the earth’s coastal areas where it struck, the tsunami has also changed relationships and attitudes of humankind. It has left behind orphans, homeless, injured and penniless. It has also left behind a large number of livestock that survived, but with no one to claim or care for them. Charles, who owned six dogs and a few cats has lost all his pets except a black dog to the tsunami.

Wildlife Trust of India’s (WTI) partner the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) has launched a relief operation in Southern Asia to help animals and people affected by the recent disaster. IFAW teams are helping local people in tsunami-devastated coastal fishing communities protect their abandoned livestock, and companion animals, by providing food, temporary shelters and vaccinating animals against diseases. When a team of veterinarians and relief workers supported by IFAW reached Foreshore Estate in Chennai, Charles went out of his way to bring in cats and dogs from all street corners to get them vaccinated against possible diseases.

IFAW has deployed emergency relief teams of veterinarians and animal care experts from Australia , China , United Kingdom and the United States to work collaboratively with local groups in affected areas in India , Sri Lanka and Thailand . The local groups working in Tamil Nadu are the Chennai chapter of People for Animals (PFA) and the Trichy-based League for Education and Development (LEAD).

“This is a unique operation where IFAW and local animal welfare groups have come together to help animals and people in this time of unprecedented need,” said IFAW President Fred O’Regan. “Animal welfare and human well-being are not separate concerns. They are inextricably linked and core to IFAW’s mission.”

As fears of disease outbreaks intensified due to unsanitary conditions created by the tsunami, a massive vaccination program began in the coastal villages of north and south Madras , India and stretching up to areas in Mahabalipuram. Over 500 cattle and goats have received vaccinations against such diseases as foot and mouth, black quarter, hemorrhagic septicemia and tetanus. Hundreds of abandoned dogs are being vaccinated against common canine infectious diseases including rabies and tetanus in these areas.

Off the Tamil Nadu coast, on an island near Cuddalore, in southern India , IFAW is caring for more than 50 cattle and a few hundred goats marooned on the barren sand banks without food and water due to the tsunami. Nearly 500 of the 1500 inhabitants of the now desolate island were washed away in the tsunami. Those few survivors who escaped could not take their livestock as they fled the island using broken fishing boats. The IFAW team is now camped on the island providing care and feeding these animals until they can be reunited with their owners.

Besides the apparent loss of human lives, a severe ecological damage looms large. A team of two from WTI, veterinarian Dr. Sanjib Deka and Program Officer, Kadambari Mainkar along with two scientists of the The Rainforest Initiative traveled along the Tamil Nadu coast and made some preliminary assessments of the damage caused to habitat.

From 5 th January to 11 th January the team covered 2000 km. The areas visited were the Gulf of Mannar Biosphere Reserve, Point Calimere Wildlife Sanctuary, Mutthupet Mangroves, Pichavaram Mangroves, Cuddalore and Nagapattinam. While the mangroves suffered no apparent damage, the town of Nagapattinam was the worst affected.

“Nagapattinam and the surrounding areas of Vallankani, Kallar, Akraipatti are completely devastated as these areas had the maximum number of settlements situated on the beach,” reported Kadambari. “Thousands of people have lost their homes, their families and their pets. The surviving animals are now feeding on the rotting garbage and debris everywhere”, she added.

Notwithstanding the aid that has poured in, it will take superhuman efforts to normalize life in these areas. The tsunami has washed away thousands of people and left more homeless but hope still prevails because the end of a day also heralds a new dawn when Charles sets off to work with his canine companions.

Pix credit: Idris Ahmed/IFAW