Flood damage update

Emmy's mom is writing this because Emmy is upset. We spent the day out trying to feed some of the lost and hungry dogs, They are appearing everywhere and gathering in groups. First we tried to get to Santa Rita, but we were thwarted about two kilometres from there by a broken bridge. People said everything there was dead and they were not going to rebuild the community. They apparently left horses and cows stuck in mud up to their necks to die slowly. I don't know why the registered animal charities here could not go in by helicopter and euthanize them. A horse in my road fell off a mountain side and lay in the road for three days dying. Gapa our local charity said that they could not do anything because he was in private property. We passed by him daily until he finally died. I have called them countless times about road accident victims without any results. We were told it was not just a boulder that fell a whole section of mountain fell on the tiny community. We were warned not to go any nearer due to the risk of disease with all the decomposition. Here is a picture on the way there.

We did not see a single animal anywhere near Santa Rita. After this we decided to get back on the road to Sao Jose. There was a huge amount of traffic with all the rescue vehicles and heavy machinery etc. We passed a lot of really sad sights again. Here are some.

This is the entrance to a house, but the house has gone. The smell in Aguas Claras just before Sao Jose is of putrid rotting flesh. Everybody is wearing face masks because it is utterly unbearable. They have decided it is impossible to retrieve the rest of the bodies, so they are just using bulldozers to push all the debris into the river. There are flocks of vultures everywhere.

 Here three or more houses were taken by the water.

The clean up will take a long time.

These are the temporary homes for all of the homeless. Pets will not be allowed.

This guy is directing the traffic wearing a face mask. We actually could not get to see the vet's dogs and cats she had around 40 hurt animals yesterday and was waiting for us. The roads are all blocked by bulldozers and cranes etc. We will return again Monday.

We came across many dogs. In this pack there were around 15. We fed them and watched them. These are not street dogs. When you work with street dogs you recognize them. These dogs are reasonably healthy and not thin. I think they are all lost flood victims, maybe not the poodle she was thin. These dogs were in a very quiet area. Some of them must have owners looking for them and others have no home, so they will just forget them. Some could be several kilometes from home and have no way of navigating back to their houses.

Just take a look at the lab. He belonged to someone. His appearance will degenerate gradually he has probably only been in the streets since the disaster.

We gave this pack a whole sack of ration. Our local dog food store was good enough to give us some bags too. They ate it all and then ate two packs of human biscuits too. They might not be thin, but they were very hungry. This maybe their first meal since the disaster. Obviously we cannot feed 15 more dogs daily in our situation. I don't know what will become of them. All this generosity here in Brazil will go on for a short time, but after that they will be forgotten. I heard from Dr Antonio that a flood victim dog had five offers for adoption. It had a broken leg, which he repaired. I see dogs locally hobbling along after road accidents with broken legs and nobody does anything.  I put Gracie up for adoption when she first came her and did not even get an enquiry. Street dogs are 365 days a year not just during disasters.

This was a particulrly sad little pup. All on her own. I wanted to take her home, but cannot take on anymore responsibility not knowing if, I will even have a home in the future. We fed her and left with heavy hearts.