“Many animals were left wounded for days, without food or water, next to their dead owners. They sit there and wait. An animal does not easily leave the person who takes care of it. Also earthquake it’s something they don’t ‘understand’, it’s immobilizing and overwhelming.”

With these words, the President of the HAYTAP-Turkey Charitable Federation, Ahmet Kemal Senpolatdescribes in “K” the plight of animals that, after an earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale, were buried under the rubble, locked in apartments or wandered lost along the streets, some more, others less affected.

From Istanbul, where he coordinates the organization’s multi-layered activities, he notes that the human drama is unimaginable, but adds that many animals also face many, many more challenges.

“There is so much human pain, so much destruction, children stuck in ruins, that I want to modestly talk about what animals face. We prefer to operate in the field. Those who love animals will understand,” he tells K.

To deal with these problems, HAYTAP set up three makeshift hospitals in tents in the Greater Khatai area. So far, the organization has managed to help at least 600 animals that were buried under rubble or stuck in their homes. One way to save the latter, which are often located on the high floors of high-rise buildings, is to use cranes that the organization rents. Rescue work in this case is carried out by volunteers of the organization. In total, HAYTAP has 45 people working in the field and 25 at the organization’s headquarters.

As for rescued animals, Mr. Senpolat says it’s not just cats and dogs. “We have rescued parrots, aquarium fish, rabbits and even farm animals. We managed to free a cow that was surrounded by rubble and unable to move, as well as a large wolf dog stuck in a dilapidated house in which we had to break down the door.”

“First of all, I will say that not only our volunteers, but also teams that work for people, take on the difficult task of rescuing. When they hear or see a screaming animal, they pull it out from under the rubble at every opportunity. After that, we provide first aid in makeshift hospitals that sometimes resemble Noah’s Ark,” says Mr. Senpolat, adding that many of the rescued animals are then sent for adoption in earthquake-free areas of Turkey, such as Ankara and Istanbul.

This is also the second big part of HAYTAP’s business: adoption announcements and mobilization to take as many animals as possible from the disaster site in special vehicles. As for aid supplies to HAYTAP, they come from all over the world: from America, Canada, Korea and Hong Kong (in this case, money is sent to organizations). Neighboring countries such as Greece and Bulgaria are sending aid by road.

OUR Maria Martoglu, member and volunteer of the charity association “Katafygio Zoon- Animal Refuge” in Thessaloniki, is a communication channel between the Greek volunteers who collected aid and HAYTAP. According to her, in terms of animal rescues, “little miracles” also happened. “The cat got out from under the rubble after 120 hours. The police found her. Volunteer veterinarians also work in the field to help the animals immediately, in many cases putting gauze and special covers on their feet so they can walk. The most difficult operations are operations with farm animals, which are also more difficult to move.”

Importantsending aid from Greece

OUR Vasilis Tsiguras, Founder of Plus 2 Feet makes wheelchairs for both pets and wild animals, giving them a quality of life that was not possible before.

As the head of the mission that went to Istanbul, he describes: “We filled five vehicles with what HAYTAP requested. There are great needs in food, and in this part we did our best, collecting products not only for animals, but also for people. Help should come quickly, you can’t wait too long. We brought everything from dog and cat food, canned food for humans, milk and baby food, diapers and pads, gauze and bandages to portable cages, batteries, blankets and clothes.”

Online calls for help were made in Athens, Larissa and Drama from Plus 2 Feet, Pet Trip (transportation of pets throughout Greece), Taxi for Pets (taxi services for pets) and Pet Shop Ofelia” (treatment of animals in Larissa). Equally touching, according to Mr. Cigura, was the support for Drama’s “Me…nou” tavern and grocery store, which was founded Defective.

In conclusion, Mr. Senpolat wants to send the following message: “Give a big ‘thank you’ to the Turks to the Greeks. You also helped us a lot during the 1999 earthquake. The moments that we live with you are very emotional every time. Turkish society loves the Greeks, the alleged enmity is a political construction, it does not concern the peoples.”