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Resilience footprints: Animal Welfare Center seeks owners of 70 pets rescued after earthquake in Cali
🇨🇴 Colombia /Disasters & Emergencies

Resilience footprints: Animal Welfare Center seeks owners of 70 pets rescued after earthquake in Cali

From El Tiempo · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Outcome reported
  • Cali's Animal Welfare Center is seeking owners for approximately 70 pets rescued after a 7.4 magnitude earthquake.
  • The center transformed into a command post, serving as both an adoption hub and a clinic for injured animals.
  • Volunteers and veterinary professionals from various cities and universities provided aid, with significant donations of food and medical supplies.

Cali's Animal Welfare Center is currently housing around 70 rescued pets whose owners have yet to be identified, following the devastating 7.4 magnitude earthquake that struck the region. The center, typically dedicated to abandoned or mistreated animals, became a crucial hub for emergency response.

In these moments, we have several clinics that are attending complex high-complexity surgeries, hip and leg surgeries, on the animals that arrived. In addition, many suffered lacerations in their internal organs.

— Lizeth ParraDescribing the severe injuries sustained by rescued animals and the medical interventions required.

During the crisis, the center functioned as a Unified Command Post, operating as both a collection point for donations and a veterinary clinic. This dual role was enabled by a pre-existing commission for animal risk management established in 2024. Seven collection points were set up across Cali and five more in surrounding municipalities, staffed by veterinarians, support personnel, and aided by veterinary clinics and ambulance services.

And the company Comportamiento Animal has provided us with support, walking them, giving them well-being, so that they are not just locked up in crates.

— Lizeth ParraHighlighting the efforts of a specific company in providing comfort and care to the rescued animals.

Over 200 volunteers, including veterinary professionals from Medellín, Popayán, and several universities, alongside environmental police and the Civil Defense, provided critical assistance. The effort secured 97 tons of food in the first week alone, with contributions from the Bogotá Mayor's Office and the Boyacá Governor's Office. Many animals arrived with severe injuries, requiring complex surgeries for lacerations and orthopedic issues. While 111 pets have been reunited with their families, the center urges owners to come forward to identify the remaining 70 animals at Carrera 56 # 7 Oeste - 445.

And she added that, despite the fact that 'most of the little animals have been reunited with their family (111), there are still about 70 who were rescued; that's why we need them to come to Carrera 56 # 7 Oeste - 445 so they can identify them'.

— Lizeth ParraAppealing to the public to identify the approximately 70 pets still awaiting their owners at the center.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by El Tiempo in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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