DAVAO CITY – The Provincial Veterinary Office of Davao de Oro has rescued 23 dogs and 27 cats from landslide-hit Barangays Masara and Mainit in Maco, Davao de Oro.
RESCUED pets onboard a military truck in Maco, Davao de Oro. (PVO Davao de Oro)
They were unintentionally left behind by their owners who fled to safer grounds when the local government ordered a forced evacuation when a massive landslide hit Barangay Masara on February 6.
PVO Assistant Department Head Dr. Headyn Cenabre said these pets rescued on February 14 were immediately provided food, supplements, and medical treatment.
Cenabre said they are temporarily housed in an impounding area in the neighboring town of Mawab, Davao de Oro.
“Our rescue operation still continues because we haven’t covered the whole area and 𝑤𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑦 𝑑𝑜𝑔𝑠, 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 ℎ𝑢𝑛𝑔𝑟𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑠𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑑. If there are human survivors, there are animal survivors too,” she added.
As of 7 p.m. on Thursday, February 15, the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction Office of Maco reported that 92 bodies have been retrieved from the landslide site.
Search and retrieval operations continue to locate over 36 others who are reported missing in the nine-hectare landslide site.
MDRRMO Maco also said that at least 55 houses were buried in the soil and debris with an equivalent height of at least 40 meters.