Dogs, Bulls, Goldfish: Animal Rescuers In Turkey Are Saving Them All

With helmets and flashlights, the rescuers enter a collapsed house in the earthquake-hit Turkish city of Antakya. Their objective: to rescue Asghar and Nouma, two bulls trapped under rubble.

Authorities in Turkey have called off the search for human survivors three weeks after the country was devastated by a massive 7.8 magnitude earthquake. But rescue workers are still working round the clock to save dogs, cats, birds, goldfish and other animals still trapped under the rubble.

A cat takes shelter under the rubble of an earthquake-devasted building

"Thousands of animals are severely traumatised, hungry, or unsure of what's going on. Many families had to be evacuated before they could take their animals with them," says Sumanth Bindumadhav, senior manager at Wildlife and Disaster Response.

A rescue team with stray dogs, during an operation to search for a pet cat, in Antakya, Hatay.
Photo Credit: Humane Society International

Yenocak was one of the lucky ones as she and her family were rescued just days after the earthquake. But she is distressed as her bulls, who are normally noisy, hardly make any sound.

"To hear them so quiet, it makes me cry," she says.

For 11 days, Yenocak used a basement window to feed her bulls. She then contacted rescuers at Haytap, a Turkish animal protection association for help to save them.

Hours later, a rescue team of German and Austrian volunteers got her bulls out.

Among the animals rescued in Turkey are dogs, cats, rabbits, bulls, goldfish, budgies and reptiles.
Photo Credit: Humane Society International

A team of vets and volunteers from India, belonging to Humane Society International (HSI), say desperate barks and meows can still be heard coming from abandoned and collapsed buildings. They are working with the local authorities to rescue trapped animals and also respond to requests from locals to find their pets.

Rescuers are still working round the clock to help trapped animals.
Photo Credit: Humane Society International

"The animals we're finding still alive are often in abandoned and damaged apartments, where they've been all alone throughout this disaster. I can only imagine how frightening it must have been for them enduring four earthquakes over the past couple of weeks, and also experiencing the deafening drone of helicopters overhead," says Kelly Donithan, HSI's director of animal disaster response.

A volunteer rescues a cat from the rubble of an earthquake-devasted building in Jindayris, Syria.

The quake, which hit on February 6, has killed more than 44,000 people in Turkey and thousands more in neighbouring Syria.