Rescue workers saved a small dog named Pamuk on Wednesday in Iskenderun in Turkey. Pamuk had been trapped under the rubble since earthquakes hit Turkey and Syria on Sunday.
A video showed people in Turkey digging and clearing the debris around the dog to rescue him. Pamuk was being looked after by his owner’s neighbours when the earthquakes hit, according to the eyewitness who made the video. His owner was in hospital in the city of Mersin, around 200km west of Iskenderun, the eyewitness said.
Cat Cilek
When a rescue team found university student Kerem Cetin under rubble in Turkey’s Hatay on Tuesday, Kerem immediately asked them to save his cat Cilek (Strawberry) before pulling him out.
Kerem had wrapped his cat in a curtain. They were trapped between a collapsed wall and the ceiling on the second floor of a five-story building. Their rescue operation took five hours.
President Tayyip Erdogan told reporters Thursday during a visit to the earthquake-hit province of Gaziantep that more than 6,400 buildings had been destroyed. The human death toll in Turkey is 17,400. More than 3,300 people have died in Syria, according to the northwest government.
How many animals -dogs, cats, birds and other animals- died or were injured in Turkey and Syria is not clear.
Since Wednesday, animal welfare group Ernesto’s Sanctuary for Syrian Cats has been saving animals in Aleppo. They rescued a cat who had been trapped in his owner’s shop for days. “His beloved human will never come back to open,” the animal rescue group said.
“Sometimes we think that our heart is no longer able to digest all the pain we see, a happy ending encourages us to move forward because saving an innocent (animal) is a miracle,” the group added.
His human’s shop had been closed with him inside for days,because his beloved human will never come back to open.
— Ernesto’s Sanctuary for Syrian Cats (@theAleppoCatmen) February 9, 2023
sometimes we think that our heart is no longer able to digest all the pain we see, happy ending encourages us to move forward coz saving even 1innocent is a miracle. pic.twitter.com/qEU1xyGF2P
Follow our liveblog with daily news updates on animals in Turkey and Syria here
