Turkish rescuers save trapped dog three weeks after devastating earthquake
Rescuers pulled a dog alive from a collapsed building in southern Turkey three weeks after the deadly earthquake.
Rescuers have pulled a dog alive from a collapsed building in southern Turkey three weeks after last month’s 7.8-magnitude deadly earthquak.
The teams from a local municipality in central Turkey saved Aleks the dog on Wednesday and delivered him to Haytap, a Turkish animal protection association in the city of Antakya.
A video from DHA news agency shows rescuers reaching between two large concrete slabs and calling to the trapped canine.
“Is he coming?” one rescuer was heard saying, crouching inside a small hollow in the debris of the collapsed building.
“Aleks, come, my dear,” one rescuer calls to the dog. “Well done, my son.” Images then showed the rescuers embracing the dog, who appears to be alert and in good health, and offering him water.
“Every living thing matters to us, human beings or animals,” one local was quoted as saying by the privately-owned DHA agency after the miracle rescue.
Rescue workers have saved hundreds of trapped cats, dogs, rabbits and birds cherished by the locals in Antakya, one of the cities flattened by the disaster.
Haytap has rescued dogs, rabbits, cows and even birds from the rubble in Antakya, after receiving calls from tearful owners or neighbours.
In the organisation’s tent, vets are providing care and treatment for the wounded animals.
Animal rescue stories are a balm for the country, which has been left in shock by the worst natural disaster in Turkey’s post-Ottoman history.
The earthquake has killed over 45,000 people in Turkey and thousands more in neighbouring Syria and completely devastated hundreds of thousands of buildings.
Update on bird trapped in Coles for weeks
A wild cockatoo initially trapped in a Coles supermarket has fled to “explore” the wider shopping complex, as fears about safely freeing it continue.
‘Only way’: Trick to stop magpies swooping
An Aussie comedian has revealed his unconventional method for surviving the most “terrifying” time of the year unscathed.
Major breakthrough for extinct Aussie icon
Scientists say they have made a breakthrough in their quest to recreate the Tasmanian tiger, nearly a century after it became extinct.