As Gaia Bonini, a member of our Animal Rescue Team and director of international disaster response, was finishing up her deployment to remote western Alaska, where typhoon-related flooding devastated whole communities, she was also developing plans for how to best help animals in the wake of record-setting Hurricane Melissa in the Caribbean.
And immediately before this, our Humane World for Animals Mexico team was still wading through the contaminated waters coursing through streets after record rainfall deluged Veracruz and surrounding regions.
In mid-October, as the waters rose and devastating floods impacted five states across Mexico, our Humane World for Animals Latin America disaster manager leapt into action after hearing from local communities that they needed help. When our team of veterinarians and disaster response specialists arrived in the regions of Poza Rica and Álamo de Temapache, in the state of Veracruz, they were heartbroken.
“After the water receded, homes, streets and entire communities are left coated in inches of contaminated mud,” Gaia told me. “Animals are foraging for food in this muck. This not only affects their health but exposes them to diseases like leptospirosis, which can spread between animals and people. Caring for these animals isn’t just about compassion, it’s essential for the health and safety of the whole community.”
Our team met with local organizations and the veterinary association for the area and assessed the needs in the wider communities affected as well as the people and their animals displaced and living in temporary shelters. Over several days the team treated nearly 500 animals and provided 738 kilograms of food.
Felipe Marquez/Humane World for Animals
Our team in Latin America offered veterinary care and distributed food to animals and their families who were affected by the floods in central eastern Mexico. Felipe Márquez Muñoz/Humane World for Animals
“Entire neighborhoods were submerged,” Felipe Márquez Muñoz, disaster response program manager for Latin America, reported. “Animals were struggling to survive. We’ve seen cows stranded on rooftops and dogs coated in oil after the floods.”
Already, the disaster has resulted in more than 70 human fatalities, with dozens still missing, and has also displaced thousands of people and animals from their homes.
“After a disaster, people lose so much, but their bond with their animals gives them hope,” Felipe Márquez added. “By providing food and veterinary care, we’re helping protect that bond and easing their burden in a really difficult time.”
So many people undergo trauma during these catastrophes. Felipe Márquez remembered one woman telling him that, when she realized the water was rising, she immediately grabbed her rottweiler and took him to the roof of the house. Afterwards, she couldn’t fathom how she had the strength to carry her 30-kilogram (66-pound) dog all the way up there.
Felipe Marquez/Humane World for Animals
Before the team had even finished its deployment in Mexico, another group of team members headed to Bethel, Alaska, to support Bethel Friends of Canines in providing care for and rescuing dogs from the flooded villages of western Alaska due to Typhoon Halong.
Meanwhile, while still in Alaska, members of the team were reaching out to contacts in the path of Hurricane Melissa and preparing to respond to destruction in the Caribbean. Gaia Bonini, along with other members of our Animal Rescue Team, will arrive in Jamaica to assist local communities this week.
In Mexico, the need for relief work in Veracruz continues. The team is supporting the community by contracting local veterinarians to provide continued care.
Humane World for Animals
Year after year, these intense deployments, one after another, and often simultaneously, are becoming increasingly the status quo. Natural hazards are occurring with greater frequency, geographical scope and intensity.
I’m reminded of 2023, when we were sending emergency funds in the wake of wildfires in Maui and Greece, while coordinating a response to flooding in Delhi and Beijing, all at once. This was just six months after devastating earthquakes destroyed parts of Türkiye and Syria, and our disaster response team deployed to Antakya, Türkiye, an entire city left completely unrecognizable after the quakes.
And a year ago, in October 2024, our organization answered the call to help animals and people displaced by Hurricanes Helene and Milton in the United States and Hurricane John in Mexico, as well as disasters in India, Viet Nam, Nepal and Ecuador, where we sent team members or funds to help local organizations. Our supporters and donors are essential in making this relief work possible, and for that we are endlessly grateful.
Earlier this fall, regions of India and Pakistan contended with the worst flooding seen in decades. Humane World for Animals India provided nutritious food, medicines and funding for temporary shelters for over 18,000 animals, including dogs, goats, buffaloes and cows.
Also this year, we pledged $1 million in aid to Los Angeles after wildfires decimated whole neighborhoods.
The list could go on. If there is a silver lining to these storm clouds, it’s that this team of devoted responders at Humane World for Animals never ceases to astound me with their compassion, strength and grace under pressure. They selflessly and unflinchingly head into the most heart-wrenching zones to help animals and communities in their most vulnerable moments. In times of intense challenge and struggle, may this team inspire us all to practice more of that kind of devotion and kindness.
Kitty Block is president and CEO of Humane World for Animals. Follow Kitty Block on X.
