EMERGENCY APPEAL! The impact of pandemic has been in more ways than anticipated
The number of covid cases is increasing, and the condition is deteriorating by every day, so the number of new issues we face every other day is growing. As one of corona’s worst-hit countries of the world, India’s official numbers are far from on-ground reality. Especially in Andhra Pradesh, where a new mutant that is 10 times stronger than the usual one has spread like a wildfire across the state, with Visakhapatnam being one of the worst-hit cities. There is a covid affected individual in almost every household in Urban Visakhapatnam. People are also apprehensive about taking the test because of long lines at the testing center thereby reducing the official numbers to a large extent. Even the state is experiencing a vaccine shortage, leaving the public despondent and opting to stay at home. Hundreds of people are dying as they couldn’t find hospital beds or liquid oxygen to survive.
The affected individuals work in all sectors of the economy and in all departments of the government. The workers of the municipality are affected and a few of them are in serious condition leading to a complete shutdown of the department. There are no rescues or vaccinations done by the government currently in Visakhapatnam. Only VSPCA alone is attending emergency distress calls and performing vaccinations at their maximum capacity in the entire city even entering into hotspot areas.
Running two big shelters with more than 1300 permanent resident animals requires constant procurement of raw materials, medicines, and food items. But, with this pandemic hitting everyone in the food supply chain the situation had turned very uncertain. We have already faced issues where a few of the vendors were affected due to covid and couldn’t supply us with the required materials. It increases pressure on the shelters to manage such issues as the animals are waiting for us to feed them and treat their injuries. Animals don’t understand these situations, so it is we who have to make sure we cater to their needs on time.
To address this problem to some degree, we began stockpiling dry goods such as dry hay, biscuits, and medicines. However, due to extreme financial constraints, we can only stock up to a certain degree. We need your help to stock up on more vital supplies so that our shelter animals do not go hungry or suffer from health problems as a result of the pandemic.
