As rescue efforts following the 7.8 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes that struck southern Turkey and norther Syria enter their 10th day, spirits rise at miraculous discoveries but fade with time and winter’s biting cold.
Volunteers from Turkey’s Animal Rights Federation are among those at ground zero, plucking pets from ravaged cityscapes. Senay Tekinbas , the group's representative, told time.com about two dogs who spent a harrowing six days buried in the rubble. One of the dogs was clinging to its owner’s corpse when uncovered. Both dogs are now recovering in a makeshift facility.
“I hope it holds on to life. I hope we can give it new life,” Tekinbas said. She and others have helped establish field hospitals in four major urban areas. Animals receive treatment for injuries, malnourishment and hyperthermia and are temporarily housed until they can be united with immediate or distant family members. Tekinbas noted that food and other supplies are low because outlets are either closed or destroyed.
One shepherd mix slathered her human heroes with kisses after they punched through a 4th floor apartment door using mallets. Pamuk (Cotton), a terror-stricken poodle mix, lapped water from a bottle offered by a rescue worker. Her bloodied head and snout was all that stuck out of a pulverized heap. A crew dug out chunks of cement and peeled back twisted rebar to free her. Wrapped in thick tapestry, Cilek the cat (Strawberry) survived a building’s collapse in Hatay. She resisted efforts to pry her from an air pocket in a pile of debris by clinging to the very fabric that saved her. In Malata, a crowd rejoiced at the shriek of an unnamed pet cockateel nestled in a rescue worker’s cupped hands.
Volunteers from Portugal’s Guard Nacional Republicana (GNR) cynotchnical team can thank their four legged cohort, Kejsi, for a miraculous rescue. Kejsi barked playfully at a toy given to her as a reward for a recovery effort. From beneath the ruin, a trapped dog barked its muffled response. Workers quickly determined that the barking came from a basement upon which the building’s collapsed material had pancaked. They drilled through a brick wall to reach the dog who was dazed and confused from having been trapped for 200 hours. Within an hour, Tarçin (Cinnamon) was reunited with his human.
“Saving a dog is incredible, even more so for us, as they are our companions,” André Rosa, GNR team coordinator, told The Herald News.
Fireman Filipe Melo waxed hopeful at the prospect of future rescues: “I have to get Kejsi to bark more often.”
American Humane, a staple in disaster rescue since WWI, authorized an emergency grant last week to the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) to fund ongoing rescue efforts.
Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has come under fire for relaxing building standards blamed for the scope of the quake’s death and destruction. At press time, close to 40,000 people and untold animals have perished.