On Saturday, May 23, the Larnaca - Famagusta Development Agency held an information and awareness action on the care of companion animals, birds and species of wildlife during extraordinary conditions resulting from the climate crisis.
An announcement by the Company states that "the action was implemented in the framework of the ACT4ALL project, with the assistance of the Cyprus Civil Defense and was hosted at the facilities of the Larnaca Civil Defence. The two bodies are partners of the project "Strengthening social resilience and citizen participation in the prevention and response to risks from natural disasters".
The action "involved members of animal welfare associations, members of volunteer groups or individual members of the local community with an interest in the rescue, care and care of animals, which was designed taking into account the ever-increasing crises that local communities are called upon to face as a result of the climate crisis, such as forest fires, extreme heatwaves and floods".
The presentations "initially focused on owned and stray pets where advice was presented on approaching dogs and cats during a natural disaster so that both the volunteer rescuer and the animal remain safe. In addition, a practical demonstration of first aid to dogs and cats was presented with a focus on CPR techniques in animals, proper wound care and the treatment of choking, heat stroke and hypothermia."
According to the announcement, "the presentations were made by Sonia Filippou and Rea Kirpi, veterinarians, of the K9 Management Studies program of Nicosia City Unity College with the contribution of the four-legged Oreo, Isaac, Diva and Linda".
As mentioned, "victims of natural disasters are also birds and species of wildlife, the care and rescue of which the local community is not familiar. More and more often we find wild birds ending up helpless and dehydrated on beaches due to extreme heat and water scarcity as wildlife species have been affected by forest fires."
For this reason, "during the action, there was an extensive discussion on the safe approach, care and rescue of such species, where practical advice, possibilities for intervention and practices to avoid by the volunteer rescuer were presented, with the safety of the animals and the volunteers themselves in mind".
It is noted that "the presentation made by the veterinarian of small and exotic animals and partner of the Game and Fauna Service, Konstantinos Antoniou, gathered great interest and a number of questions, indicating the information gap in this field".
The project ACT4ALL "is expected to implement other relevant actions, as well as 60 hours of training for 100 volunteers. ANTEL invites all interested parties to actively participate in the formulation of the themes of the trainings, by completing the Questionnaire for volunteers: https://forms.gle/sSo9Wa2HKyZ2jpwf8
And the Questionnaire for volunteers specializing in animals: https://forms.gle/BeQmpcDpNYXJTGrx9
The project is funded by the Cooperation Program "INTERREG VI-A Greece – Cyprus 2021-2027".
