Kat is reunited with her family almost a month after the earthquake in Turkey and Syria

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After nearly losing her life, a woman is reunited with her beloved cat after the earthquake in Turkey and Syria shatters her family.

Bahloul was discovered by a team of rescuers from Beta about a month after the 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck southern Turkey and northern Syria.

The gray cat was found about three miles from the family’s home in Hatay, just about 100 miles from the epicenter, Gaziantep.

Hatay, which borders Syria to the south, has the highest death toll in Turkey from the February 6 earthquake and the hundreds of aftershocks that followed it.

Bahloul is being held by his owner, Elif, for the first time in weeks (Photo: PETA) He was found wandering the streets alone (Photo: PETA)

PETA Vice President Mimi Bakhshi told Metro.co.uk how her team discovered a dust-choked Bahloul wandering around the rubble last Wednesday.

“He was starving and thirsty and has been wandering through the rubble for weeks,” al-Bukhaishi said.

The team worked hard to earn his trust, then safely trapped him and brought him to the wonderful Terapi Veterinary Clinic in Adana.

“We didn’t know his name at this point or his story.”

However, doctors discovered that the gray cat was microchipped — a rare occurrence among rescued pets, Bakhji said.

Bita was directed towards Elif, who was staying with her grandparents in the southwestern coastal city of Antalya.

Her father Kadir, who received microchips, said Pehlul helped him reunite with his family (Photo: PETA).

Elif was found buried under the rubble about 36 hours after the earthquake destroyed the house and turned it into a pile of concrete, distorted metal and shattered family ornaments.

Her father and uncle dug through tons of fallen floors, walls, and pipes to find Elif—her grandparents were among at least 53,000 people who didn’t survive.

Thank God, we pulled my daughter out of the rubble after 36 hours with my family’s efforts. Endless thanks to all the friends who reach out, call, ask, send messages, and just can’t get through

— Kadir Karahan (@kadirkarahan) February 11, 2023

But while Elif, who was wounded in the leg, is taken to a nearby town for treatment, her father Kadir wonders what happened to Bahloul, whom he calls his “son”.

Nearly three weeks after the earthquake, Bakhji reached out to the family to let them know their cat had been rescued.

“With a lot of anticipation, we called them via FaceTime,” she said. They snapped right away and were overjoyed to see Bahloul safe and sound.

The family has not given up hope of finding Bahloul, which is unlikely under the circumstances.

“Upon hearing that he was alive and in Peta’s care, they traveled to meet us at the veterinary clinic,” Bakhshi said, adding that they were back in Elif’s arms that same evening.

Mimi Bakhshi (left) was part of the PETA team that helped reunite Bahloul with his family the same day he was found (Photo: PETA)

This work includes many dark and difficult moments, and many stories do not have happy endings, but I will never forget the joy on their faces and the purr of Bahloul when he is reunited with his beloved Elif.

For every animal rescued like Bahloul, Bukhaishi said, many animals remain trapped or displaced.

“Like humans, other animals in the epicenter have been killed, injured and homeless – and have also been affected by the horror that their homes have been torn apart,” she said.

In the moments leading up to the earthquake, which struck in the early hours, family pets were likely “curled up in their warm beds.”

For the animals that survived, the tremors were only the first challenge. With their homes flattened and the loss of owners – or worse – every day is a struggle.

Aid groups are now struggling to comb the 200-mile quake zone to find it. Navigation is difficult when the roads are either twisted or blocked by debris.

Animal relief teams scoured the 200-mile quake zone to find injured animals (Photo: PETA)

“When we first arrived, every minute was a struggle for the animals in Kahramanmaraş, Elbistan and other cities that were badly affected by the disaster,” said Bakhji.

“Many of the survivors were limping through the streets, desperately searching for food and warmth, often with dreadfully painful injuries, most likely sustained when buildings collapsed around them.”

Al-Bukhaishi said information about missing animals is also patchy at best and often comes with a time lag.

This meant that Bakhishi and her team would sometimes travel to a site only to discover that it had already been cleared — with no animals inside.

Tough decisions come from rescues, too. “Overpopulation of companion animals was a major problem in the country before the earthquakes, countless cats and dogs relied on store droppings and the population now has no source of food,” Al-Bukhaishi said.

Asli, the dog is one of countless pets who have helped PETA rescuers – but it is feared that more are missing (Photo: PETA)

So in addition to arranging food drops in the hardest hit areas, we are also assisting with sterilization efforts to prevent more animals from being born in a world where every day they struggle to survive.

Upon arriving in Turkey, Bakhji said she witnessed “utterly devastating” scenes. “But among the rubble there were moments of hope,” she added.

A beta “kitten” named Talia was found dragging herself across Kahramanmaraş with a dislocated hip, in search of food.

Despite her ordeal, she greeted us warmly, happy to receive treats and cute pets. She has since undergone surgery and is expected to make a full recovery.

Soon after we arrived in Kahramanmaraş, we met the local rescuers. They entered a pet store in the basement of what was once a tower, and miraculously pulled out 40 parrots! she added.

The flock received treatment at a nearby veterinarian before being transported to a shelter near Ankara, the capital of Turkey.

“Their bright plumage was a welcome sight amidst the gray wreckage,” said Bakhji.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected].

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