Venezuela earthquake: Owner finds beloved dog after it was trapped in rubble for days
Hope came from the strangest places: A Venezuelan McDonald’s.
After a week of searching for the white puppy that went missing two weeks ago, Gabriela Alves found herself cuddling her six-year-old dog Buddy at the fast food shop on Thursday. earthquakes ruined South America It’s June 24th, folks.
The restaurant, next to the ruins of collapsed government housing, has become a de facto hospital for earthquake victims, as well as a center for finding and treating lost pets in the coastal city of Caraballeda, devastated by the natural disaster. Neighbors call it the “Hospital McDonald’s.”
“This is a miracle,” Alves said, wrapping his arms around the dog with a serum on one of its legs at the table next to the restaurant employees selling soft ice cream.
“We lost everything material, but at least we’re both alive.”
The makeshift hospital was born a day after back-to-back earthquakes killed at least 2,295 people and injured 11,000, according to Venezuelan officials.
Many more families were struggling to find their missing loved ones, including cats and dogs lost among the rubble.
Angel Matute and 70 other veterinarians, students, doctors and civilian volunteers traveled from the western city of Barquisimeto.
The team was looking for a place to sleep, store equipment and shelter from heavy tropical rain when they found one of the only operational facilities in the chaos. Golden Arches.
They opened a shop in the still-air-conditioned restaurant and began distributing medical supplies and treating human patients; They have also become a place to treat injured pets and search for dogs and cats that are still missing.
“For us, one pet means one more human life,” said Matute, who coordinated rescue efforts at McDonald’s, where volunteers also slept.
“There are animals that are more human than humans.”
Matute was among dozens of bustling volunteers treating dogs and cats along with search crews ordering burgers and fries on Thursday.
Her group, which has rescued 140 animals and treated 60 more, plans to reunite lost pet owners until their help is no longer needed.
Desperately searching for his beloved dog, Alves checked himself into McDonald’s Hospital.
He was at a family member’s home when earthquakes shook northern Venezuela. Hours later, he jumped on his motorcycle and raced frantically to his house to save Buddy, but all he found was ruins.
The 36-year-old Venezuelan said he heard that McDonald’s had become a hotspot for lost pets and started making rounds every day.
He would stop by the restaurant to check if volunteers had found any white dogs before returning home, shouting “Buddy, Buddy” hoping to hear a bark. He was met with silence for more than a week.
“We are all living one day at a time,” he said Thursday. “I came back today and I can tell you that I have truly lost all hope.”
Still, he persisted and walked through the ruins, retrieving clothes from his mother’s room, the only area of the house still accessible.
Then he heard barking in the distance, looked down and saw Buddy’s white ear through a crack in the concrete.
Alves screamed for help and nearby rescuers rushed to him. They cut a hole in the wall and pulled the dust-covered dog out from under the rubble. Alves cried as he wrapped Buddy in a pink blanket and licked his arm.
Hours later, veterinarians at McDonald’s Hospital checked Buddy for injuries after he had been trapped under debris for eight days.
“Right now, despite all the tragedy of the earthquake, this is a positive thing out of all the bad things,” Alves said, still cradling his dog. “He’s like a band-aid for my dog.”
