Dogs participating in rescues after the devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Syria got a special treat from Turkish Airlines: a ride in business class, instead of in the cargo section, according to Insiders.
“It was the least we could do to show our appreciation for the sincere and heroic efforts of these heroic dogs,” the company told the outlet.
A magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck parts of Turkey and Syria on February 6 and killed about 49,000 people on February 24. The New York Times. Two weeks later, an earthquake measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale hit the region add to the death totals.
Dogs from the US, Poland, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Croatia and Libya have all participated in recovery efforts, Insider noted.
A dog’s sense of smell can distinguish human remains from other types of remains (such as animals) and find living survivors trapped in the rubble, especially after live rescuers have done their job. These types of dogs usually have a handler.
Some countries, like Mexico for example, have a national dog rescue team, which became famous in 2017 after helping to search for survivors after an earthquake in Puebla, a state southeast of Mexico City.
Turkish Airlines shared photos of the dogs in transit with ukbusinessupdates.com, whom they called “our heroic friends”. The company flew the dogs back to their home countries, it added.
A dog from China flies home. Courteous company
A dog from Kyrgyzstan. Courteous company
A rescue dog from Thailand. Courteous company
Another dog from Thailand. Courteous company.
Aid has been coming to the country from several countries, aid agencies and the United Nations, but efforts to get aid into Syria have been difficult amid the country’s ongoing civil war, which has been raging since 2011, Insider noted.
The dogs flown home by Turkish Airlines did so for free, along with their handlers, and some were even treated to business class seats, Insider added.
