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2014-08-07
Floods in Bulgaria: FOUR PAWS on rapid response mission in affected area
A Bulgarian FOUR PAWS team has started a rapid response mission to help animals in need after heavy rains caused flooding in the town of Mizia (about 180 km north of Sophia) on Sunday. Since then, almost half of the town has remained flooded and over 900 people have been evacuated – most of them by helicopter, as the water is just too high to rescue them by boat. Many of the locals living around Mizia are farmers and had to leave their farm animals in flooded stables without any food supply. To help the animals in need and rescue those trapped by water, FOUR PAWS Bulgaria was contacted by the Bulgarian Red Cross to lend support in the area.
In a first step the Bulgarian FOUR PAWS rapid response team rescued animals from their flooded homes.
© FOUR PAWS | Yavor Gechev
Food supplies after water has retreated
Many areas are still flooded and animals in life-threatening situations. © FOUR PAWS | Yavor Gechev
In the next couple of days FOUR PAWS will be working closely with the Bulgarian Red Cross, the Citizen Protection Division of the Bulgarian military as well as local authorities to save as many animals as possible from inaccessible, flooded areas of Mizia. Recent weather forecasts have indicated that more rain showers can be expected today. However, water levels are currently sinking and transport by boat is already possible in some areas. For the next couple of days it can be expected that the water will continue to retreat, which will enable FOUR PAWS to provide more food for local farm animals. There are already queues of local animal owners and farmers urgently awaiting the needed food supplies.
Many farmes have been destroyed by the devastating floods. © FOUR PAWS | Yavor Gechev
© FOUR PAWS | Yavor Gechev