Rapid Mobilisation of Animal‑Welfare Teams
On 13 January 2020, as Taal Volcano began spewing ash, animal‑welfare organisations converged on Batangas province to rescue livestock and pets left behind in the grey‑blanketed towns. The Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS), PETA Asia and the local volunteer network Guardians of the Fur established makeshift shelters, distributed feed and veterinary care, and launched appeals for cash, food and leashes to sustain the operation.
First Reaches and Field Findings
By Monday morning PAWS vans had penetrated Talisay, a lakeside municipality under total lockdown because of ongoing tremors. Volunteers discovered two dogs still chained beside a house; the animals had survived on rainwater and scraps. PAWS posted on its website alongside a video of the emaciated dog later named Marble: “We heard him howling pitifully across the road.” The post added, “There were two of them, chained dogs (and two chickens, who were, at least, free), among the hundreds of animals left behind by their owners who have evacuated.”
PETA Asia staff, wearing protective masks, swept through Balete and Laurel, calming horses used for tourist rides that were spooked by sulphur smells before loading them onto flat‑bed trucks. Guardians of the Fur, a Batangas‑based group formed during the 2018 typhoon season, concentrated on Agoncillo and San Nicolas, ferrying more than 150 chickens and a dozen cows whose owners had fled on fishing boats across Taal Lake.
Temporary Holding and Health Checks
All rescued livestock were temporarily housed at the provincial capitol grounds in Batangas City, where veterinarians examined them for burned eyes and clogged lungs. Volcanic ash—powdered rock under two millimetres wide—irritates bronchial tubes when inhaled and can solidify into cement‑like sludge in moist lungs. Because animals breathe faster than humans, they ingest more ash per kilogram of body weight. Cows that graze low to the ground take in additional ash clinging to grass, risking gut blockages. Horses develop hoof abscesses when wet ash packs into the frog of the foot and traps bacteria. PAWS volunteers fitted dogs with improvised dampened cloth masks to filter dust, while PETA staff rinsed horses’ legs every two hours.
