Daily Times

After Türkiye’s southern region was hit on Feb 6 by twin earthquakes, millions of lives were affected – and not just people, but animals too. Pets who lost their owners after the quakes are seeking new homes. The Gaziantep Zoo, home to thousands of species, is rehabilitating its animal residents while veterinarians are also treating cats and dogs rescued from the rubble of thousands of leveled buildings.

Veterinarian Berna Saricicek told Anadolu that they’ve built a field hospital and have been working to save lives in the earthquake region since the first day. “We came to check on our own institution on the first day of the earthquake, and when we realized that there was not much problem here, we looked into whether there was a problem in surrounding cities or nearby regions. They said there was a major issue in (Gazientep’s) Islahiye and Nurdagi (districts). We traveled to Maras on the third day of the earthquake because most people died there, and we fed and treated all of the animals there,” she said.

Saricicek said they brought in 25 dogs and 15 cats from the region while cats, dogs, birds, parrots, rabbits and many other animals went to the field hospital for treatment. She noted that teams were still working in Nurdagi and Islahiye. “Afet (the name of a dog), who lost her family in Hatay, was turned over to us by AFAD teams on the sixth day of the earthquake. They rescued her from the rubble, and we believe she was there for six days because she was dehydrated and was quite cautious and frightened. But she has finally restored her health as a result of our arduous efforts,” she added.

Saricicek said they help reunite pets with their owners once they learn they are alive and willing to look after them again. “Yet there are those that have lost their owners, and we are striving to assist them in finding a new home. If they want to adopt, they apply to us, and we follow our adoption procedure. We sign an adoption agreement. We welcome guests every day between 2 and 4 p.m., seven days a week,” she said.

On Feb. 6, magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 quakes struck 11 provinces – Adana, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Elazig, Hatay, Gaziantep, Kahramanmaras, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye and Sanliurfa. More than 13 million people in Türkiye have been affected by the devastating quakes as well as many in northwestern Syria. Türkiye is dealing with the aftermath of the devastating quakes that have claimed at least 45,089 lives in the country’s southern region.