Story By: Buli Liang, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Asia Wire Report
Video Credit: AsiaWire/PETA Asia
These images show the horses, dogs and baby chickens which have been left to die on Taal Island after the volcano’s activity left them with a severe lack of food and water after their owners evacuated the island.
Activists from PETA Asia landed on Taal Island in Batangas Province, in the Philippines on 13th January to capture footage of the deserted animals left on the island and try to rescue them.
In the clip, the activists can be seen rescuing horses – which had reportedly been used to transport tourists – from the island, while the body of a dead cow can be seen floating in the water.
Other images show barking dogs being rescued and fed, with one skinny pooch desperately eating from a bag.
PETA report horses, cows, sheep, dogs and chickens were left on the island without clean water and food, leaving them suffering from dehydration and starvation.
PETA’s rescue team has been on the ground in the evacuation zone since Monday morning, trying to minimise the fallout of the volcano’s eruptions by providing abandoned dogs and other animals with food and veterinary care.
They claim the majority of animals are locked inside gated compounds, chained or caged. And their activists successfully rescued three dogs and one cat from Taal Island before being forcibly evacuated by the authorities.
PETA Asia spokesperson Nirali Shah told Asia Wire: “The current situation on the island is that there are many dead animals. There are survivors, but they’re in desperate need of help. The island smells of rotting corpses, but there are still scared dogs, horses, cows, and other animals there who need to be rescued.
“Priority number one is getting the green light for NGOs to conduct drops of food and clean water on the island. Then—at PETA’s expense and at its team members’ own risk—large boats must access the island and rescue the animals for urgent veterinary care.”
The group is calling on the Filipino military to allow families to evacuate their animal companions and has asked any vehicle owners to help evacuate people with their animals.
The Taal volcano began spewing lava, triggering earthquakes and emitting huge plumes of ash in recent days triggering fears of a serious eruption.
An exclusion zone with an 8.5-mile radius is reportedly being enforced by the authorities at the volcano.
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