CAMPSITE. A carabao drowns during a flash flood in the province of Antique on Aug. 29, 2023. ProVet Public Health Division chief Dr. Marco Rafael Ardamil, in an interview Wednesday (May 22, 2024), encouraged local government units to put up a campsite for animals in preparation for the La Niña phenomenon. (Photo courtesy of Galileo Magbanua)
SAN JOSE DE BUENAVISTA, Antique – The Antique Provincial Veterinary (ProVet) is urging the local government units (LGUs) to establish campsites for animals in preparation for the La Niña phenomenon this coming June to August.
ProVet Public Health Division chief Dr. Marco Rafael Ardamil, in an interview Wednesday, encouraged LGUs to prepare shelter, feeds, and other needs for their livestock and poultry in anticipation of the La Niña phenomenon, which could cause heavy rainfall and flashflood.
“Whenever there is heavy rainfall and flashflood, there is also damage on the livestock such as cattle, carabao, and goats for they get drowned,” he said.
Ardamil said the damage to livestock and poultry also affects food security because they are meat and dairy milk sources.
The province incurred PHP1.7 million in losses after 321 livestock and 3,353 poultry were killed, mostly due to drowning, during Typhoon Odette on Dec.17, 2021.
Two cattle in Valderrama were killed due to tropical depression Agaton on April 12, 2022.
Ardamil said the campsite need not be concrete and permanent; it could only be makeshift made of bamboo, established in an elevated area and could protect animals. (PNA)
