Cat reunited with tearful family nearly a month after Turkey-Syria earthquake

After nearly losing her life, a woman has been reunited with her beloved cat after the Turkey-Syria earthquake shattered her family.

Behlul was discovered by a team of rescuers from PETA nearly a month following the 7.8-magnitude quake that struck southern Turkey and northern Syria.

The grey cat was found some three miles away from the family home in Hatay, only around 100 miles away from the quake’s epicentre, Gaziantep.

Hatay, which borders Syria to the south, has among Turkey’s highest death tolls from the February 6 tremor and the hundreds of aftershocks that followed.

Behlul being held by his owner, Elif, for the first time in weeks (Picture: PETA)

He was found wandering the streets alone (Picture: PETA)

PETA vice president Mimi Bekhechi told Metro.co.uk how her team discovered a dust-choked Behlul wandering around the ruins last Wednesday.

‘He was starving and thirsty and had been wandering the rubble for weeks,’ Bekhechi 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.’

Clinicians, however, discovered that the grey cat was microchipped – something of a rarity among the rescued pets, Bekhechi said.

PETA was pointed towards Elif, who was staying with her grandparents in the southwest coastal city of Antalya.

Behlul being microchipped helped PETA rescuers reunite him with his family (Picture: PETA)

Elif was buried under her grandparents’ now destroyed home for 36 hours, her father, Kadir, said (Picture: PETA)

Elif was found buried under rubble some 36 hours after the tremor flattened the home into a pile of concrete, mangled metal and crushed family trinkets.

Her father and uncle had dug through tons of fallen floors, walls and piping to find Elif – her grandparents were among the at least 53,000 people who did not survive.

But while Elif, who suffered a leg injury, was taken to a nearby town for treatment, her father, Kadir, wondered what happened to Behlul, whom he calls his ‘son’.

Nearly three weeks since the earthquake, Bekhechi reached out to the family to let them know their cat had been saved.

‘With much anticipation, we called them via FaceTime,’ she said. ‘They picked up immediately and were overjoyed to see Behlul safe and sound.

‘As unlikely as a reunion was under the circumstances, the family never gave up hope of finding Behlul.

‘Upon hearing he was alive and in PETA’s care, they travelled to meet us at the veterinary clinic,’ Bekhechi said, adding they Behlul was back in Elif’s arms that same evening.

Mimi Bekhechi (L) was part of the PETA team that helped reunite Behlul with his family the same day he was found (Picture: PETA)

‘This work involves many dark and difficult moments, and many stories don’t have happy endings, but I will never forget the joy on their faces and Behlul’s purr upon being reunited with his beloved Elif.’

But for every animal like Behlul saved, many others remain trapped or displaced, Bekhechi said.

‘Like humans, other animals at the earthquake’s epicentre have been killed, injured, and displaced – they, too, have been affected by the horror of their homes being torn apart,’ she said.

In the moments leading up to the earthquake, which erupted in the early hours, family pets were likely ‘curled up in their warm beds’.

For the animals who survived, the tremors were just the first challenge. With their homes levelled and owners missing – or worse – each day is a struggle.

Aid groups are now struggling to comb the 200-mile-long quake zone to find them. Getting around is a tall order when roads have either buckled or been blocked by debris.

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

‘When we first arrived, every minute posed a struggle for survival for animals in Kahramanmaraş, Elbistan, and other cities badly damaged by the disaster,’ said Bekhechi.

‘Many of the survivors were limping through the streets, desperately searching for food and warmth, often with hideously painful injuries, likely sustained when the buildings around them collapsed.’

Information on missing animals is also patchy at best and often comes with a time lag, Bekhechi said.

This means that Bekhechi and her team would sometimes travel to a site only to find it had been already cleared – with no animals found inside.

Difficult decisions are coming out of the rescue operations, too. ‘Companion animal overpopulation was a major issue in the country before the earthquakes, countless cats and dogs who relied on scraps from shops and residents now have no source of food,’ Bekhechi said.

Asli the dog is one of the countless pets PETA rescuers have helped – but many more are feared missing (Picture: PETA)

‘So in addition to arranging food drops in the hardest-hit areas, we’re also helping with sterilization efforts to prevent more animals from being born into a world in which every day is a struggle for survival.’

Coming to Turkey, Bekhechi said she saw ‘utterly devastating’ scenes. ‘But among the rubble have been moments of hope,’ she added.

A ‘little cat’ PETA named Talia was found dragging herself across Kahramanmaraş with a dislocated hip in search of food.

‘Despite her predicament, she greeted us warmly, glad to receive treats and gentle pets. She’s since undergone surgery and is expected to make a full recovery,’ Bekhechi said.

‘Shortly after we arrived in Kahramanmaraş, we met with local rescuers. They entered a pet shop in the basement of what was once a tower block and, miraculously, pulled out 40 budgies!’ she added.

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

‘Their bright feathers,’ Bekhechi said, ‘were such a welcome sight amid the grey debris.’

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‘He was starving and thirsty and had been wandering the rubble for weeks.’