A fire broke out in the dog shelter established by the volunteers of an association in Turkey’s capital Ankara. Only one of the 5 dogs kept indoors due to bad weather conditions could be saved in the fire. The dog was rescued by shelter workers and was treated. The building, which was at risk of collapse after the fire, was demolished by firefighters.
Shelter worker Ercan Kurtar, who rescued the dog that was inside, stated that he used to stay with the animals. “I intervened directly when the fire started, I was able to save two dogs. After that, I couldn’t get inside because of the intensity of the flame. I couldn’t get them out. I rescued two of the dogs downstairs and there was a dog that wouldn’t come out of the kennel, so I took them out. The fire probably started from the stove. Because we lit the stove so that the puppies would not get cold. There were 6 animals, I was able to save two of them. Unfortunately, I couldn’t save the others,” he said.
Expressing that he is sad about the death of the dogs, Ismail Erdogan, the director of the Patiko Association, said, “It has been almost 2 years since we built this area. All of the animals in this area were rescued animals in need of care, paralyzed, disabled and elderly. I wish they would have died naturally outside instead of being burned to death here.”