On June 24, Venezuela was hit by two deadly earthquakes, magnitude 7.2 and 7.5. The second quake was actually the strongest earthquake the country has seen in over 100 years. As of July 7, 3,685 have died in the quakes, Venezuelan authorities said.
When the disaster hit Venezuela, an unexpected hero won everyone's hearts. His name is now flooding social media after he helped rescue at least 13 people from the rubble, including a 60-year-old man.
It was Tsunami, an 8-year-old Border Collie, CNN reported.
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Heartwarming Details Surface
Tsunami used his amazing sense of smell to help rescuers find at least 13 people alive under the broken buildings. Now, everyone from regular people to rescue teams all over the world is praising him for his help.
Tsunami, alongside handler Jorge Beens, was working as part of the K-SAR ECID rescue canine unit.
The dog used its strong sense of smell to find living people and show exactly where they were trapped under the broken buildings. Then, rescue teams dug through the wreckage and pulled survivors out.
{{/usCountry}}The dog used its strong sense of smell to find living people and show exactly where they were trapped under the broken buildings. Then, rescue teams dug through the wreckage and pulled survivors out.
{{/usCountry}}One of the people saved by the dog, named Tsunami, was a 60-year-old man. He had been trapped under the rubble for about six days.
“Our four-legged rescuer managed to save 25 people from the rubble of buildings that collapsed in the earthquakes,” the Venezuelan government said.
Tsunami To Retire After Last Mission
Before this, Tsunami also helped during other natural disasters. The dog worked at earthquakes in Turkey and Syria and also saved people after floods and landslides in Venezuela. However, the K-SAR ECID said that the earthquake recovery is Tsunami's last mission, and he will retire after that.
“He retires at the top of his game, proving his courage and giving everything in the field,” the group said in a statement as Tsunami started making headlines.
As Venezuela recovers from the earthquake, the stories of Tsunami and other rescue dogs remind us that kindness, training, and teamwork can turn a stray into a global hero, giving hope to families and communities dealing with disaster.
Jorge Rodríguez, the president of the Venezuelan National Assembly, said that 137 search-and-rescue dogs were involved in the operations over the last 10 days.