After digging them out of a landslide with his bare hands, a Turkish vet saved the life of a dog and nearly her entire litter of pups.
Soner Büyümez was working on a farm in a remote region of Turkey shortly after the landslide earlier this month when he heard an animal howling for assistance.
The vet dashed towards the landslide and came across a stray dog buried in a small burrow up to her neck in dirt, unable to move.
‘I saw a dog was trapped in the ground. Only her head remained [above the soil],’ Büyümez told The Dodo, adding that the animal was in considerable distress.
The heroic vet was able to pull the mama dog to safety by scrubbing at the dirt with his bare hands and a small shovel, unquestionably saving her from a slow and painful death.
Despite her lack of injuries, the stray continued to howl after she was freed, leading Büyümez and a colleague to suspect that another animal had been caught in the sudden earthslip.
Büyümez and his coworker got down on their hands and knees and continued to haul soil and rocks out of the caved-in burrow, knowing they couldn’t leave without continuing their search.
After several minutes of digging, the pair discovered a tiny body with matted fur.
Fearing for the puppy’s life, Büyümez desperately pulled back the remaining earth to free the hound, who appeared to be in good condition.
Going back for more, the two good Samaritans dug for over two hours until they freed a total of eight pups, believed to be the entire litter of the lone stray.
One of the furry canines had sadly died, but the mother dog was eventually reunited with seven healthy and strong little furballs, thanks to Büyümez and his colleague’s quick thinking and hard work.
Büyümez said after the successful rescue that he believes the mother dog was surviving on her own with her pups and had managed to carve out a small home for her family before the burrow caved in during the landslide.
Fortunately, the dogs will no longer be on their own, as the vet has stated that he will take them in and raise them as his own.
‘Their general condition is very good. The mother and her puppies are protected,’ Büyümez said. ‘I will care for them as my own.’