This Turkish vet didn’t waste a moment after he heard an animal crying for help. His quick thinking and hours-long efforts saved a mother dog and her seven puppies who got trapped in the rubble after a landslide. What’s more, the hero vet offered the homeless animals a loving family.
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Devastating landslide
The vet Soner Büyümez was working on a farm in a remote region of Turkey when he heard a desperate animal crying for help. He ran towards the site and was confronted by a devastating scene. As a result of a landslide, a stray dog got buried in a small burrow up to her neck in dirt, unable to move.
He said to The Dodo:
I saw a dog was trapped in the ground. Only her head remained [above the soil].
Scrabbling at the dirt and rubble with his bare hands and a small shovel, he pulled the mama dog to safety. His dedication saved the distressed animal from a slow and painful death.
Unexpected discovery
The stray was restless and continued to howl even after she was freed from her soil prison. Büyümez knew something was not right. He and his colleague suspected that there could be another animal buried underground, Daily Mail writes
The pair of good samaritans decided to continue the search. They got down on their hands and knees to haul soil and rocks out of the caved-in burrow.
Their fervent digging paid off after they discovered another creature - a puppy with fur matted with dirt. The rescuers feared the puppy was dead and desperately pulled back the remaining earth to release the dog. To their relief, it appeared to be largely unhurt.
Determined not to leave anyone behind, and after another two hours of digging, these heroic men freed a total of eight pups, believed to be the entire litter of the lone stray.
A happy ending
Thanks to Büyümez’s dedication, quick thinking, and hard work, the mother dog was reunited with seven healthy and strong little furballs. Sadly, one of the puppies didn’t make it.
After a successful rescue operation, Büyümez said he believed the witty parent managed to survive and keep her family alive by carving out a little home before the burrow caved in amid the landslide.
And the best part of this story is that this canine family are stray no more. Their rescuer vet took them into his care ‘to raise them as his own'.
Büyümez said:
Their general condition is very good. The mother and her puppies are protected. I will care for them as my own.
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