The disaster responders could tell when they were getting close to their destination. Driving south to Antakya—a city revered for its cultural history and home to 400,000 people—they saw a few damaged buildings. But as they approached the city, almost every building was crumbling. Once inside Antakya, they had to weave around piles of debris in the road. They saw dogs and cats wandering the streets and countless tents housing residents and emergency responders.
Two weeks earlier, on Feb. 6, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck southern Türkiye and northern Syria. Just hours later, a 7.5 magnitude earthquake hit. Over 57,000 people were killed and millions more were impacted. In Antakya, residents were left with no electricity or safe drinking water as they endured the trauma of aftershocks.
As news of the disaster broke, Humane Society International provided emergency financial assistance to local groups Working Animals Rescue Foundation and Homeless Animals Protection Society, enabling them to dispatch veterinarians and transport supplies to affected areas. HSI disaster responders also deployed to Türkiye, where they searched for missing pets and injured animals and helped run one of the three clinics set up by local veterinarians—many of whom had faced unimaginable losses.
Veterinarian Savaş Akdeniz was trapped in his home with his girlfriend and two friends for 33 hours before being rescued. One of his friends died. After traveling to a nearby city to bury her, he and a few loved ones returned to help, setting up the clinics alongside others in the veterinary community. During the first few days, “conditions were really rough,” Akdeniz says.
A veterinarian and veterinary technician worked nonstop at the first clinic and were exhausted when HSI/Mexico campaign director and veterinarian Claudia Edwards arrived to help. Additional responders from HSI also eased the workload, caring for animals rescued by our team or brought in by residents. Cuts, infected wounds, dehydration and starvation were among the most common issues.
In the field, responders set up pet food and water stations and searched for lost pets. They investigated desperate barks and meows coming from collapsed buildings and responded to reports of animals stranded in crumbling buildings, on rooftops and on balconies.
Rescue efforts proved difficult: Many animals hid in rubble-strewn locations too dangerous for responders to enter, and aftershocks—including a 6.4 magnitude earthquake on the team’s second day—scared animals farther out of reach. Responders often had to visit a location multiple times before successfully rescuing an animal. But they kept returning, and every day they reunited people with their pets.
One family spent nearly all their waking hours looking for their cat, Jugo, after their home was damaged. For more than two weeks, responders tried to rescue Jugo. During their first attempt, he slinked off into a nearly collapsed building. The team left a humane cat trap and returned day after day, but aftershocks kept Jugo at a distance.
When Edwards left Antakya, Jugo was still running loose. Subsequent teams from HSI continued to help the family search for their cat. Edwards went home to Mexico but could not stop thinking about Jugo. About a week later, the family called her: They had used a hair tie they found in the rubble to entice Jugo to play and grabbed him when he came close. Edwards was elated and continues to stay in contact with the family, receiving pictures of Jugo playing and taking naps.
Another pet owner, Rumeysa, was woken by her cat, Leyla, just before the first earthquake hit. Rumeysa fled her building before it collapsed by jumping out a window but was separated from Leyla during the chaos. Rumeysa had injured her leg and was transferred to Istanbul for treatment but posted a plea on Facebook: Could anyone help her find Leyla?
After seeing Rumeysa’s request, HSI responders made multiple visits to her home but could not find Leyla. Kelly Donithan, director of animal disaster response for the rescue team, asked Rumeysa to record audio of herself calling Leyla’s name. The trick worked, and Leyla came out to investigate. HSI cared for her at the clinic while Rumeysa traveled to Antakya, leg in a cast, to reunite with Leyla.
Stories like Rumeysa’s helped keep morale up. “Working here and helping animals greatly helped me and my colleagues’ mental health. Thanks to this work, I feel I have a purpose,” says Akdeniz. Donithan agrees. “You’re just faced with so much devastation and loss,” she says. “What I found to be so incredible was the dedication of the people to their animals.”
Donithan saw this dedication in the street dogs who came into her tent at night to cuddle, accustomed to affection after years receiving care from locals. Veterinarians and rescuers have helped over 1,500 animals at the clinics, with HSI funding vehicles, kennels and advanced equipment so they can operate long-term. And the commitment to animals extends beyond city limits: Around 2,000 Turkish residents volunteered to adopt rescued animals without owners.
Our team knew they could not undo the tragedy people had faced, but they could provide a sense of home and comfort by reuniting people with their pets. While messaging with Donithan, Rumeysa—who had worked as a nurse at a nearby hospital and lost friends and colleagues during the earthquakes—said, “My everything is gone. I don’t have any socks. There is only Leyla.”
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