Population organizes to save lost animals from the flood in Rio Grande do Sul’s capital city

Brasil de Fato

The commotion with the horse rescued from a rooftop of a submerged house in the city of Canoas after four days illustrates the plight of animals affected by the floods in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. According to the state government, by the end of Wednesday afternoon (8), the Military Brigade, Civil Police and Fire Brigade had rescued almost 9,000 animals, a figure that does not include rescues made by local administrations and citizens.

Porto Alegre and its metropolitan region have two scenarios when it comes to rescuing animals: there are groups of volunteers working directly to rescue animals and try to find their owners; other groups rescue, receive the animals and mobilize to take them in and also try to find their owners. Among the many initiatives, Brasil de Fato RS presents two.

Temporary shelter near Guaíba Lake 

The Guaíba lakefront, near the Gasômetro Power Station, has become a point of arrival for boats carrying people and animals rescued from isolated areas of the capital city, Porto Alegre, and from the town of Eldorado do Sul. The group created a shelter for rescued animals that keeps working through the night. The group’s main communication channel is Instagram account @resgatadosdasilhas.

Initially, there were around 50 people, all volunteers, but the group has grown to over 100 people. The profession volunteers have doesn’t matter, just the willingness to help. However, the group needs more vets to help with the work.

Temporary shelter for animals rescued from floodings in Porto Alegre / Photo: Volunteers.

They are also asking for donations of water, dog collars and leads, muzzles, chest collars, blankets, towels, beds, pots, plates, clothes for medium-size and large-size dogs, cleaning materials, as well as medicines and veterinary care items (dipyrone, flea and tick control drugs, dewormers, antibiotics and anti-inflammatory drugs, absorbent cotton, gauze, adhesive plaster, micropore, saline solution and hydrogen peroxide).

Laura Freitas, an engineer, started working as a volunteer on Saturday (4). According to her, it’s difficult to say how many animals arrive at the site every day. “We’re at the edge of the lakefront. People just arrive holding animals – injured animals, dying animals – and they drop them off where we were concentrating. The estimate is that 300 animals arrive every day. It’s a huge number. We’ve probably surpassed a thousand animals sheltered, mainly dogs and cats,” she says.

She says that volunteers are asking for donations to keep the service, but the shelter is temporary. She points out that they are facing difficulties finding a destination for the animals. “We don’t have a partner shelter. We get a new place every day, but the place becomes overcrowded. So, we relocate and wait to see what happens.”

According to her, 90% of all animals rescued are cats and dogs. “It could be that an animal has no owner or was already an abandoned animal. It may be that the animal doesn’t have an owner because we’ve been told it has no owner but, after a while, the owner shows up. Some owners have nowhere to go, no way of taking their pets and end up leaving the animal with us hoping they’ll find it again later in a shelter. And some animals have an owner and the owner comes looking for them because he or she wants to take them,” she explains.

Many animals arrive sick, hungry and thirsty / Photo: Volunteers

Laura says that since the beginning, volunteers have been trying to find the owners of these animals through photos. On the group’s social media accounts, you can see the moment owners find their pets. However, she points out that the situation is getting tougher every day. At the beginning, there was an organization to control all the animals that arrived and left the place. However, after they had to move because of the worsening flooding, they moved to a place without a fence and “from then on, it became a totally uncontrolled environment.”

According to her, as well as donations to deal with the current situation, there is another, bigger, medium- and long-term concern. “There is no space, no large shelter in Porto Alegre, let alone a shelter that has a partnership with the city hall to hold these animals,” she warns. In the places that agreed to serve as temporary shelters, volunteers fear that people will later ask for animals to be removed. Wherever the shelter continues, “there will be a need for more staff, more vets”.

In Laura’s opinion, this scenario is beyond the control of civilians, which is why she is asking for government support. She stresses that all the volunteers are working wholeheartedly, but the group has no way of taking on the responsibility looming over the future.

“We’re waiting for the government to contact us, people with greater public reach, with a plan for the next few years, for what’s going to happen, mainly to manage it, to find a place in Porto Alegre to shelter all these animals, because it’s going to become – and already is – a public health problem,” she says.

Volunteers ask for specialized rescue help

On the other side of the city, in northern Porto Alegre, residents joined forces to rescue thousands of animals still stranded on rooftops and flooded houses. The group’s point of support is Avenida 21 de Abril, in Sarandi, from where they depart in private boats, speedboats and jet skis.

Animal protector Keissy Dagostin, from the Toda Vida Importa project, is one of the volunteers who has been working since Friday (3). She says she mapped out thousands of animals to be rescued using a friend’s jet ski. She asks for specialized help because, according to her, the region is not relying on rescues by firefighters or civil defense staff.

Keissy with pig rescued in Sarandi / Photo: Instagram/@projeto_todavidaimporta

“We need people who specialize in this kind of rescue. I’m all bitten up. My hands are all bitten up because we’re rescuing animals with no protection. As much as I’m a protector, we don’t have the equipment needed to do this,” she says. She also points out that many people are still in flooded areas and don’t want to leave their houses: “We respect their decision, but animals don’t have a voice. The animals need to leave. They want to leave. They’re desperate. They’re dying.”

As well as emergency donations, she says the group needs people to give animals temporary homes. “A lot of animals are coming in. We have to send them somewhere, because the families aren’t in their homes,” says Keissy. She explains that volunteers are taking note of where the animals were rescued from so that their owners can come looking for them later.

“It’s really well organized, but we’re also asking owners who still have animals at home to come here. We’re making a list, getting the names of the streets, everything right. There are many houses where the street number is already covered up, and we can’t find it. Therefore, pet owners have to come here to go on the boat together,” he says.

She regrets the many lives already lost. In one case, she came across a horse floating on the water. “I’m a protector – this hurts me. I took medicines to stand up and have the strength to be here. But we need support. All due respect to our mayor and governor, but Sarandi needs help.”

The group needs donations of rescue gloves, transport boxes, ropes, towels, pet beds, leashes, vests, pots, chains and bowls. These materials can be delivered to the Surf House store, the group’s support point in Sarandi (Avenida 21 de abril).

There is also a need for pet food and blankets, but they ask that these items not be sent to the Surf Store, as it is difficult to access. Keissy asks for donations of dog and cat food and blankets to be delivered to the Rubem Berta neighborhood (Alberto Rangel St. 542), a volunteer support point that facilitates the group’s work.

Donations can also be made via Pix (instant money transfer mode), only to the following “keys”: (phone) 51 992377498 and (email address) keissydago@hotmail.com. More information about animal rescues and the Toda Vida Importa project is on the Instagram page @projeto_todavidaimporta.