Heartbroken man searches for his cats after earthquake in Japan

The video says it all. He is a cat lover and he wants his cats back. It is all that he cares about. He has lost his work but that's relatively unimportant because he's far more concerned about the living and life than the works that he created. He feeds cats that he hopes survived. He feeds all the cats lost in the quake, if they can find the food.

The 7.6 magnitude quake struck western Japan's Noto peninsula on the afternoon of New Year's Day, flattening homes, triggering a tsunami and cutting off remote communities.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Cat rescued from Turkey's earthquakes goes missing in the UK

NEWS AND VIEWS: The woman is distraught. She blames herself. Her story is interesting and at the same time educational. She tells it on the mumsnet.com website.

She appears to have adopted a rescue cat when she was living in Turkey. She describes her cat as an "ex-street cat". She kept him indoors after rescuing him. He spent two years inside her home in Turkey.

Domestic cat rescued from Turkish earthquakes. This is not the cat in the story. The picture is here to illustrate the page. Image now in the public domain.

During the earthquakes which were well reported he went missing for two months. He was found and rescued. He was kept in a tent for a week on a harness. He was then transported by car in a 20-hour journey to Istanbul. He was then looked after by a different person and then transported to the UK by road in a three-day journey to be reunited with his owner, the lady in question who is distraught and now living in the UK.

When the cat was returned to the UK, he apparently settled in initially. The lady has another cat who doesn't get on that well with the cat from Turkey.

She knew that she had to keep her Turkish cat inside the home for a few weeks before letting him out. The idea behind cat confinement when moving to a new home and a strange environment is to allow the cat to begin to own that environment and feel at home in it. This prevents him or her from trying to return to their previous home and getting lost.

The Turkish cat squeezed out of the cat flap as the other cat was coming through it. He returned to his home but he was asking to be let out all the time. He was howling according to the lady.

Against her better judgement she let him out. He came back a couple of hours later and so she let him out again but this time he didn't return and the days have gone by. At the time of her post on the mumsnet website he had been missing for four days.

She said:

"I just don't know what to do. I literally can't do anything other than just sit around all day crying and hating myself for being so stupid and not following the advice."

Her cat is micro-chipped so there's hope there. She has posted on social media and placed familiar items such as his litter tray and his bedding in the garden to try and attract him to it. She's going to print flyers and post those around the neighbourhood. She asks for help.

Lessons?

Educational? Unfortunately, this lady's life for a while was unsuited to a domestic cat. She travelled from Turkey to the UK after the Turkish earthquakes. This was discombobulating for her cat. It's not her fault but circumstances have created a very unsettled lifestyle for her cat. The earthquakes must have been traumatic for the cat.

RELATED: Live the life that your cat wants with consistency and routines.

In addition, the second cat doesn't appear to get on that well with the Turkish rescue cat. This unsettled lifestyle plus the other cat has resulted in the Turkish cat leaving the home. He might not come back but live outside and become skinny and dirty and suffer ill-health unless somebody rescues him (again for the 3rd time) and has the presence of mind to have him scanned for a microchip at which point he can be returned and reunited.

But the educational aspect of this is that domestic cats like and indeed need a settled lifestyle with routines and rhythms by their human caregiver. They want those reassurances. I wish her well and the same goes to her cat. She rescued him from Turkey so this is an excellent woman.

Infographic - videos on animal rescue from Turkey's earthquakes

Turkish Van cat rescued from rubble of Turkey earthquakes after 129 days

Update a few days later! He adopted the cat. Fabulous and here is the latest image:

Below is an earlier image (a video screenshot) after the rescue. They are made for each other. I just pray that the relationship stands the test of time. 

Turkish Van cat rescued from rubble of Turkey earthquakes after 129 days. Screeshot.

The caption to the video on Reddit.com is:

The cat, which was rescued in the 129th hour of the earthquake in Gaziantep/ Turkiye, did not leave the fire crews that saved it. They named it "Enkaz" (means rubble in Turkish) . Firefighter Ali Çakas said, "If we can't find the owner, I will own it."

A lovely little video. What a couple they make: handsome guy and equally attractive cat. I think it is a PR coup by the rescue department.

If I was being a little bit cynical which I am prone to be I would think that this was a set up job! The guy is too handsome and it looks like it was a video produced by the Turkish rescue team's public relations department! Great job though. I think I might be too cynical. Perhaps the PR department got hold of it and promoted the rescue but it is genuine.

 

Technical cat breed observation

An interesting aspect of this charming little video is that the cat is a classic Turkish Van with the inverted 'V' on top of head between the ears. The cat could be purebred although he or she is not officially a purebred cat. The markings are absolutely perfect. The thing is this: this is a Turkish Van cat in Turkey. 

I suspect that the cat is not registered with a cat association but he or she will be as purebred as the most purebred American created Turkish Van cat on the continent of America. 

In fact, it could be argued that the rescued Turkish Van we see in the video is more pure and more genuine than the selectively bred versions in America because the latter are very distanced from the original Turkish vans in terms of their DNA.

Shelter animals transported out from the path of Hurricane Ida

America has a wonderful system of transporting shelter animals away from disaster zones so that those shelters are freed up for animals caught up in the disaster and the resident animals are moved out of harm's way. This works so successfully because of the wonderful volunteers who carry out the work with passion and commitment and because there are efficient air services which carry out this work. 

Shelter animals transported away from the path of Hurricane Ida. Photo: People.com.

America is a large country and therefore a lot of the time transporting shelter animals out of the path of a hurricane means putting them on an aircraft and flying them hundreds of miles.

In this instance, Hurricane Ida was classified in Louisiana as a Category 4 storm on Sunday afternoon. Before it hit landfall animal shelters and rescues has made preparations by transporting their animals to areas outside of the storm's path.

One shelter which stepped into the fray and did their bit is Helen Woodward Animal Shelter based in California. They took in 40 cats and 25 dogs from a transport flight planned by the well-known charity Greater Good Charities, in less than 24 hours.

Their website tells me that they have three arms to their charitable work: empowering people, safeguarding animals and preserving nature. As for safeguarding animals they say that they transport at risk pets to safety among other services.

The charity contacted Helen Woodward Animal Center asking for help. The adoption services director of Helen Woodward Animal Center said that it was one of those moments when animal rescue becomes a life-saving mission. She said "without a place to put these dogs and cats, many of these orphan pets would face a tragic end. We couldn't say no."

They are now looking for temporary foster care for the 65 Louisiana cats and dogs in their care. This is the way shelters deal with spillover numbers. When they have too many cats and dogs, they can go to their volunteers who live in the area who willingly provide foster care services to rescue animals. It greatly extends the scope of a shelter. Foster carers provide essential work.

Another shelter which stepped up to the plate is Operation Kindness based in Dallas. They took the ground route and drove a transport vehicle to Louisiana, filled it with young shelter animals and took them out of the path of the storm. They took, in all, 20 dogs and 31 cats in the age range two months to 16 years from Jefferson Parish Animal Shelter.

These lucky 51 companion animals are now looking for homes in Texas. Applicants can apply through their website at operationkindness.org.

Note: This is a video from another website. Sometimes they are deleted at source which stops them working on this site. If that has happened, I apologise but I have no control over it.

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Many other organisations worked together to help protect Louisiana's shelter animals from this devastating storm. It is a good example once again of how animal rescuers can work together so effectively to save lives.

Greece forest fires: 'miracle dog' saved himself by hiding in an outside oven for 3 days

This is the story of a 'miracle dog' found alive hiding in an oven after one of the many devastating Greek wildfires that have torn through the country. In another article I have written about homeowners and occupiers evacuating their homes without taking their pets with them. I have questioned why. Were they given short notice? If so, why were they given short notice to evacuate? Did they have time to take their pets with them? Is there a culture problem here? So many questions. 

 Greece forest fires: 'miracle dog' saved himself by hiding in an outside oven. Photo: The Times.

But they are valid because something is wrong because the volunteers who rescued these animals; cats, dogs, horses and donkeys have said that typically the owners evacuated without their animal companions. What is going on? Surely there was time to take their pets and even horses with them?

It's all about preparation but they must have known the fires were coming or there was a possibility of the fires arriving at least a day or two in advance. I am disappointed with what I read.

The Times reports that rescuers were less than hopeful about finding survivors to the Greek wildfires causing death and destruction around and in the town of Mati. No less than 10 days after the fire broke out a white poodle-cross was found hiding in an outside oven. They have called the poodle the "Miracle Dog".

The dog's name is Loukoumakis. He was discovered traumatised and unable to move with singed fur. Why was he left behind? I would like answers to that question and I don't mind if I'm being rude in asking it.

The news media have simply avoided the central questions - the important animal welfare backstory. The questions I'm asking relate to proactive measures to prevent harm to companion animals. Everything that I am reading is about reactive actions by volunteer rescuers, which is far less efficient and sensible.

When you look at Loukoumakis' fur and his general appearance he looks neglected. His appearance would not have happened over three days living in an oven. It indicates to me that this dog was neglected and that neglect extended to leaving him behind when the fires approached the house.

I suspect that the problem is that there is a general sense of chaos and panic in dealing with these forest fires. I don't think it would have happened in Japan for instance where they have a more organised culture. Look at the Olympic Games which appear to have been highly organised. There is this rather laissez-faire attitude in the Mediterranean European countries which I believe perpetuates poor animal welfare. I would like to see change in the southern European states. Are they complying with EU animal welfare standards? I doubt it.

I know that in Greece their reputation with respect to the welfare of the street cats is poor. I have written about this many years ago. Greece is a member of the European Union. They should set the same animal welfare standards as other states in the EU. I sense that they do not.

Emaciated bobcat with burnt paws rescued from Dixie Fire, California

AUBURN, Calif. (KTXL) – An emaciated adult male bobcat with burns to the bottoms of all four paws is now in the care of Gold Country Wildlife Rescue in Auburn, the organization reported Sunday. The bobcat arrived from Plumas County, where the Dixie Fire has burned. Caregivers are “cautiously optimistic” about the bobcat’s prognosis....

Emaciated bobcat with burnt feet rescued from Dixie Fire, California. Photo: Fox40 FB page.

I don't have more because it is still the case that some American news media websites do not allow Europeans to read their articles. They could easily resolve this problem by complying with European Union regulations but they would rather bar Europeans from their website than do a bit of work.

And what is surprising to me is that this is the only story about cat rescue that I have found on the Internet coming out of the huge California wildfires this year. They happened last year too and they seem to be a perennial occurrence and they also appear to be getting worse. Global warming?

However, the news media appears to be disinterested in reporting on animal welfare. I would like to see some heroic stories of domestic cats being rescued or saved from the fire by their owners. But nothing is available to me on the Internet. This story about the bobcat is unsurprising and I would expect many other wild animals to have suffered in the same way. Obviously, the cat was without food because their prey animals had been killed by the fire. And equally obviously this cat must've been walking through hot undergrowth and burnt ground which is why their paws were burnt.

There are no videos about this rescue either. I am very good at searching for stuff on the Internet and if something was there, I would find it, I feel. Perhaps the biggest problem for the wild cats of California affected by these wildfires is the loss of prey animals. They will feed on a lot of relatively small animals living in the undergrowth and they have probably perished. The bobcat feeds on small prey animals such as snakes, lizards, birds, rodents, rats, the white-footed mouse, the pocket mouse and so on. I foresee a lot of death in these species of small animals due to the devastating wildfires.

Think of the companion animals killed by the floods in Germany

I feel compelled to write a quick note about the dramatic floods in Germany (and surrounding nations) which have killed around 160 people but the numbers will climb. And a shocking 1,300 are missing. They've put the floods down to climate change and a 1 in 1,000-year event. There are fears that there will be more of these events. Climate change or global warming is presenting as extreme weather not just a warmer planet.

Horrendous floods in Germany and Netherlands. A damaged road after flooding in Bad Münstereifel, Germany. Photograph: Sascha Steinbach/EPA.

Because about 160 people have been killed by these dramatic and devastating floods, it is a foregone conclusion that many companion animals have also been killed. News media is not talking about them because they talk about people first which I suppose is understandable. Update: 18th July: no news yet of companion animal rescue.

I have searched various news media outlets looking for stories about cats and dogs who have been rescued from these floods. I have not found any stories. I would like to remember those animals. Of course, I'm concerned about people and their relatives but I am equally concerned about companion animals. And, indeed, any animals including farm animals.

Pony rescued from the floods. I don't have details of the photographer. Sorry. There is more talk about the animals about 4 days after the floods but still very little.

If these floods are due to climate change, they've been caused by the behaviour of people. The companion animals are innocent victims of human behaviour. You might argue that people are the authors of their own suffering as a consequence of these climatic catastrophes. But the same argument does not apply to animals.

Note: This is a video from another website. Sometimes they are deleted at source which stops them working on this site. If that has happened, I apologise but I have no control over it.

It would be another failure of the human-to-cat and dog relationship if these floods are due to excessive amounts of carbon dioxide and other global warming gases being expelled into the atmosphere.

Here is an addition to the page. A couple of guys in flood water with cat carriers and their cats inside. This is the first photographic evidence that I have seen of cat rescue in the floods. These guys are in Belgium which was also badly affected.

A couple of guys in flood water with cat carriers; the first photographic evidence that I have seen of cat rescue in the floods. This is in Belgium which was also affected. Photo: AFP/Getty.

And here are two dogs in Belgium waiting to be rescued. The photo is from AFP/Getty:

In Belgium a database of dog and cat owners has been made available to the emergency services who are operating in regions where there was heavy flooding. This will enable rescue workers to reunite animals with their owners. They will use the online dog ID and cat ID database systems but of course the animals concerned would have to be micro-chipped. The database became anonymized because of the European GDPR regulations, which is why they have to be formally opened to the rescue services. Apparently, in Belgium, rescue workers found numerous lost pets who had been dragged away by the force of the floods. We don't know whether these pets had been killed or were alive.

One problem with the floods is that in Germany there was insufficient warning. This was a major factor in the loss of life because both homeowner or home occupier and their companion animals were unable to get out of the way of the flood waters.

We've all heard about California and the near 50°C temperatures that they have been suffering. These temperatures were also felt in British Columbia just north of California. Let's think of the animals in that state and province. Let's pray that they've got air-conditioning but air-conditioning contributes to global warming because you burn fossil fuels to run the air conditioning machines.

I will update the page if the news media report on any animal rescues and the meantime I would like to express my concern that as many dogs and cats survive as possible.