In a field hospital set up for animals in the southern city of Antakya, a cat meowed in half-hearted protest as he was gently laid on a table, examined, and injected with painkillers and antibiotics by a volunteer veterinarian and her assistant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The British Shorthair had been stuck in an apartment following two huge earthquakes on February 6th. After almost two weeks, he finally jumped to the ground several floors below, where somebody found him injured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The dust-coated cat could not use his back legs and was suffering from suspected hypothermia, so he was transferred to an incubator to warm up, where he continued protesting plaintively behind the glass. Once warm, he would probably have to be sent to a clinic outside the disaster zone where X-rays could be done on his legs and spine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere are lots of animals stuck inside rubble, many have been trapped for a long time,\u201d Zinnet Patan, a 49-year-old vet normally living in Istanbul, told Al Jazeera at the field hospital. \u201cThey get dehydrated and they have broken bones and wounds. The equipment is really limited here, so we only do first aid. Local vets are also the survivors of the earthquake and are often not able to help, so we are trying to help all kinds of animals.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a tent in a park about 1 km (0.6 mile) downstream from Antakya\u2019s devastated old city, Patan treats close to 100 animals a day. She administers vaccinations, stitches wounds, and helps animals give birth and care for their sickly young. Birds chirruped and cooed from their cages inside the small tent. \u201cPeople in this area really love pigeons \u2013 we once had 40 pigeons come in at once,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The historic city of Antakya in Hatay province has been devastated by the magnitude 7.8 and 7.6 earthquakes, which have now killed more than 40,000 people in Turkey and about 5,800 in Syria. It is thought that nearly 35 percent of the buildings in Hatay have collapsed, while about 30 percent are severely damaged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Amid the immense human suffering caused by the earthquakes, animals have been hugely affected, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Haytap, an animal welfare organisation that has experience working in earthquake zones and areas hit by wildfires, has taken charge of coordinating aid efforts and volunteers, who come from across Turkey and abroad. It set up the animal hospital on the first day of the disaster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Patan had been volunteering at the hospital for four days. She would be replaced by another vet and go home on Monday, and the steady stream of injured animals had not slowed. \u201cI work almost 24 hours!\u201d she said, laughing. \u201cI get woken up a lot during the night.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By the severely damaged seventh-century Habib-i Neccar mosque in Antakya\u2019s old city, Haytap\u2019s Hatay rescue team loaded more animals onto a truck carrying an assortment of cats, dogs, and rabbits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mehmet G\u00fcrkan T\u0131\u011fo\u011flu, who leads the rescue team, said Haytap volunteers are also working in three other earthquake-hit cities in southern Turkey \u2013 Kahramanmara\u015f, Malatya, and Osmaniye. \u201cIn Hatay alone, we have rescued more than 1,000 animals. It\u2019s a huge number and a big responsibility. We are working constantly,\u201d he told Al Jazeera. \u201cIt\u2019s not an easy job. We enter really dangerous, collapsed buildings \u2013 it\u2019s a risk to our lives. We are really tired, but when we rescue the animals, it gives us so much joy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The animals do what they need to survive, including eating their own faeces, and when they are rescued, they are often highly agitated. \u201cThe animals are very stressed, they scratch, they bite \u2013 but it\u2019s normal, they are protecting themselves and they are traumatised by the earthquake,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Michael Sehr, who normally works in a police animal rescue team in Germany, arrived in Antakya on Tuesday with his seven-strong crew to help. \u201cWe rescue animals big and small,\u201d he said. \u201cYesterday we went to a village and rescued a cow that had been trapped for 12 days.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00d6mer Semih \u00c7elik, a 30-year-old from the northwestern city of Bursa, was coordinating the field hospital site. He said the owners of many of the animals being treated died in the earthquake or lost everything and could no longer care for them. Animals can be permanently housed at a farm run by Haytap in Bursa, or they can stay there until they are re-homed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe got used to [rescuing animals] in other situations, but in Hatay, the situation is really tough right now so we\u2019re getting emotional more easily,\u201d he said. \u201cWe feed our souls by rescuing animals \u2013 it makes us really motivated.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said the field hospital in Antakya most urgently needed food. \u201cWe especially need bird seed \u2013 most people donate food for cats and dogs. And we need to carry boxes and crates, in every size \u2013 because we treat everything from mice to huge dogs,\u201d he said, pointing to an enormous black mastiff, whose owner could no longer look after him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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