In the bustling streets, amidst the chaos of everyday life, a stray cat silently weaved her way through the obstacles, searching for solace and companionship. Her weary eyes told a tale of longing, a yearning for the warmth of a loving home. She had become skilled in the art of survival, but her heart yearned for moreβshe yearned for a human connection.
One day, fortune smiled upon her as a compassionate individual noticed her presence. It was as if they were destined to cross paths, for their souls resonated with a shared desire for companionship. In that moment, a bond was formed, and a rescue mission was set into motion.
With gentle patience, the rescuer approached the cat, extending a hand of trust and reassurance. The cat, cautious yet hopeful, tentatively accepted this offering of kindness. It was a pivotal moment, as the cat allowed herself to be embraced by the love and compassion that had eluded her for so long.
Understanding the urgency of the catβs situation, the rescuer wasted no time in providing the necessary care. A trip to the veterinarian confirmed the catβs health and ensured she received vaccinations and necessary treatments. The journey to a better life had begun, and the catβs spirit seemed to awaken with the promise of a brighter future.
Back at the rescuerβs home, a safe and comfortable environment awaited the cat. A cozy bed, nutritious meals, and a dedicated space filled with toys and scratching posts were all provided, tailored to meet her needs. Slowly, the cat began to shed the scars of her past, embracing the love and security of her newfound haven.
As the days turned into weeks, the catβs transformation was nothing short of remarkable. Her wary demeanor gave way to confidence, and her guarded heart opened up to trust. The once-lonely feline now reveled in the joy of human companionship, purring contentedly as she curled up on the laps of her newfound family.
Word of the catβs rescue spread, capturing the attention of kind-hearted individuals searching for a feline companion. After careful consideration, a loving family came forward, eager to provide the cat with a forever home. It was a match made in heaven, as the cat found herself surrounded by warmth, love, and a sense of belonging she had longed for.
The story of rescuing a cat who patiently waited for a loving home serves as a reminder of the power of compassion and the profound impact a safe and nurturing environment can have on the life of a stray animal. It reminds us that there are countless feline souls out there, yearning for love and companionship, waiting for their chance to be rescued.
May this story inspire us to open our hearts and homes to these deserving creatures, offering them the love and care they crave. Together, let us create a world where every stray cat finds solace, where their patient wait for a home is rewarded with the warmth of a loving family, and where the bond between humans and animals flourishes in a sanctuary of compassion and understanding.
The dogs helping find earthquake survivors in Turkey
Trained rescue dogs are helping to find survivors buried underneath layers of concrete and otherwise undetectable.
Hours after two huge earthquakes and hundreds of aftershocks struck southeastern Turkey and northwestern Syria on February 6, some much-needed rescuers began to arrive in Turkey β K9 teams from around the world that had come to lend a hand to GEA, a Turkish volunteer rescue team.
K9, a homophone of canine, is a dog specially trained to assist security forces and emergency teams β in rescues, drug enforcement or other operations. These dogs came from, among other countries, El Salvador, Germany, Mexico, Qatar, South Korea, Switzerland, Ukraine and the United States.
The much-welcomed rescuers, who can find victims by scent alone, are needed to help the Turkish K9 teams in desperate operations where buildings as high as 14 storeys have collapsed, making it difficult to find survivors by sight or sound.
REDOG, a K9 volunteer team from Switzerland, is on the ground in the Turkish city of Iskenderun, working with the local GEA team, an all-volunteer search and rescue group.
Since arriving on February 6 near midnight, the team of 10 people and six trained dogs together with GEA have so far found 39 people alive under the rubble.
The dogs are trained to sniff out a human scent, stand at the spot and bark loudly to alert their handlers to the spot where they have found it. A second dog is then released to see if it can confirm the findings.
If the two dogs confirm, this allows human rescuers to concentrate their digging efforts on that particular spot until they find the person.
βI think itβs one of the most emotional moments of my life β¦ the moment when one of our dogs signals to us that he found some people in the rubble,β REDOGβs vice chief for rubble search Matthias Gerber told Al Jazeera.
The dogs work all day in teams of three at rubble sites, taking turns to work 20-minute shifts, followed by 40-minute breaks.
In one case after their dogs signalled the location of where people were buried, human rescuers began digging at the spot and soon heard knocking coming from behind the rubble from the victims trapped inside, confirming what the dogs had already pinpointed.
βEight hours later of hard work, they saved four people alive from this position,β Gian Forster, REDOG team leader who works with three dogs, told Al Jazeera.
Every time a REDOG dog finds a person, he or she is praised and rewarded with a toy or food.
βHe really likes to find people because he gets rewarded every time,β Forster said. βThe main thing is that the dog has fun and likes to search for the people.β
If the survivor isnβt buried too deep, the dogs can pick up on the scent quite quickly. But some buildings in Iskenderun have six floors that have collapsed with 2-3 metres (4-6 feet) of concrete pancaked in between each level, making it a challenge to find people buried more deeply.
βIf it takes time for the scent to come up, we have to go [to the spot of debris] and remove some [floors of] rubble and try again. Itβs quite a hard process if the person is buried that deep,β Gerber said.
Describing a recent rescue, Gerber said: βWe arrived at the rubble field and we started searching on top of the roof of the building, and we didnβt get any scent there. And then Gian thought about how the wind is coming from the west, so we searched the east side of the rubble and there, the dogs [detected] the scent from the person.β
The dogs working with REDOG on the ground in Turkey β among them labradors, German shepherds, Belgian shepherds, border collies and golden retrievers β have up to seven yearsβ experience working in rescue missions and have helped find survivors after disasters in Japan, Nepal and Albania.
But, Gerber said, in the last 30 years of his rescue dog work, the current mission in Turkey is the most challenging and tragic that he has experienced, referring to the scale of destruction.
βFor our dogs, itβs very hard if there is so much rubble on top of the victims to find them. Itβs a big obstacle for us. Itβs good if we can come back to the same rubble site after they removed some floors of rubble and search again, because then weβll have a chance to find people alive even if theyβre buried very deep,β Gerber said.
Murat Kurum, the Turkish minister of environment, urbanisation and climate change, has said that more than 41,700 buildings in 10 affected provinces in the countryβs southeast had either collapsed, urgently needed to be torn down or were severely damaged, according to state news agency Anadolu.
At least 1,791 buildings in 10 provinces that were affected have been identified as being severely damaged or requiring immediate demolition.
βItβs horrible what happened here. All these collapsed buildings, all these people who lost their relatives, their homes. Itβs horrible,β Gerber said.
βWe are happy to help here with our dogs, to get people out alive. Itβs really important. It really moves me that we can help here.β
So far, of the 2,000 calls that GEA has received, REDOG, working with the GEA, has answered about 200 of them, he said.
California-based NGO National Disaster Search Dog Foundation (SDF) has trained seven of the 12 rescue dogs deployed from the US currently searching for survivors in Turkey.
Denise Sanders, director of communications and search team operations, told Al Jazeera that the dogs are βso much better at detecting scents than any technology that we haveβ.
βThey run over the top of rubble and do whatβs called air sensing. Theyβre picking up those scent particles in the air and then following their nose quite literally to the strongest scent source, and that would be the point of the potential victim,β Sanders said.
Knowing from past experience working in the aftermath of earthquakes such as in Haiti, she said dogs have shown that they are able to sniff βvery distinct scents that are very dispersed in the airβ, as deep as 6-9 metres (20-30 feet) below the surface.
βIn Haiti in particular, we had collapsed buildings that had been six, seven storeys tall that pancake-collapsed β¦ We know that the dogs were able to locate [the survivors] and alert,β Sanders said.
For a dog to be trained and skilled at finding survivors, they naturally need to have drive, determination and βboundless energyβ, Sanders said.
βThis is not your pet that you toss the toy for in the back yard a couple of times and they kind of get tired and lay down. These dogs will go until they drop, until you tell them itβs time to stop.
βThat kind of resilience and determination is exactly what we needβ¦ theyβre [on the ground] for one, two weeks and they need to cover a massive area, and check so many different sites and run over so many different mountains of rubble.
βThey donβt necessarily make great pets [due to their high energy]; they are not able to settle quite as well as the average dog, so we really try to channel that into a job that they love.β
The K9 rescuers are dedicated to their work, and they face as many dangers as their human partners do. Proteo, a German shepherd working with the Mexican rescue team in Kahramanmaras, died this past week when the remains of a building he was searching in fell on him. He has been honoured as a hero by the Mexican defence ministry.
The members of the Mexican army and air force. We deeply regret the loss of our great companion, the dog: Proteo. You fulfilled your mission as a member of the Mexican delegation in the search and rescue of our brothers in Turkey. Thank you for your heroic work.
Leave a Reply