SPCA donates $20,000 to tsunami-hit animals

The New Zealand SPCA has pledged $20,000 to the emergency fund set up by the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) for tsunami-affected countries.

SPCA national chief executive Robyn McDonald said yesterday that New Zealand animal lovers and animal welfare advocates were helping the countries round the Indian Ocean to recover from the Boxing Day tsunami.

"There is no shortage of animals in need of our help here in New Zealand but in this instance we are convinced that we must also do something to help the animals and people of countries which have suffered so badly," she said.

Most of the areas devastated have agriculture-based economies and are dependent on their livestock and working animals.

"There are also many domestic pets that, as with human survivors, have been left traumatised, homeless and unsupported. All too many are still hungry and sick and represent a threat as potential carriers of disease."

WSPA is co-ordinating aid to animal welfare groups in the tsunami-affected areas and is supporting local efforts to establish shelters and provide animals with food, antibiotics and veterinary help.

WSPA is the world's largest federation of animal protection groups, with more than 450 societies, including the New Zealand SPCA.

Kimberly Muncaster, of WSPA's New Zealand branch, said the organisation was grateful for the SPCA's funding pledge.

"Many of the human issues associated with the tsunami are sadly mirrored in the plight of the animals, and help is needed immediately to ensure we can deliver ongoing aid and hope for the future."

* The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade is continuing inquiries into 46 New Zealanders reported to be in parts of Asia devastated by the tsunami.

Another four people unaccounted for are presumed dead by their families.

Ministry spokeswoman Emma Reilly said a team of New Zealand police was working in the southern Thailand region where all four went missing.

"But we have no confirmation on the fates of these four."

The official New Zealand death toll remains at two.

Craig Baxter died saving his pregnant wife on Phi Phi island in Thailand, and former Paraparaumu woman Leone Cosens died in Phuket.

New Zealand-born Canadian citizen June Kander, 74, died in the village of Mirissa in Sri Lanka, but is not counted in the New Zealand toll.

The ministry originally had a list of 3800 New Zealanders and these have been whittled down to 46.

But Ms Reilly said there were no concerns for those people.

- NZPA