Animal Vulnerability in Spanish Shelters: Emergency and Disaster Situations. Filomena is Also the Name of an Animal

Abstract

Disasters do not affect everyone equally. Vulnerability of each individual is constructed socially and culturally. If concepts such as social class, age or ethnicity are important, belonging to a certain species is decisive when the disaster strikes. This work addresses the concept of vulnerability of animals residing in Spanish shelters, in emergency and disaster situations. To do this, it ethnographically reconstructs the stories of 4 animal shelters during the storm “Filomena” over Spain, at the beginning of 2021. The article emphasizes the need to include non-humans in the humanitarian narrative, as well as in the development of technologies, such as laws, action protocols and response plans, which guarantee their safety, promoting a responsibility of both the public administration and the private entities. Based on the case study of the storm Filomena in Spain, this paper aims to show the vulnerability of companion animals residing in shelters and animal NGO`s, opening a way for their incorporation in the management of emergencies and disasters of any kind, which is applicable to all regions of the planet, with a special focus on Latin America, the Caribbean and Spain.

Keywords

• estudios humano-animal
• humanitarismo
• vulnerabilidad
• animales en desastres