[kirklancaster]

Salute a brave and wise little dog:

Dog hid inside oven for two days to survive wildfires raging through Greece

by Richard Hartley-Parkinson.

Rescue workers have spoken about how a dog survived the Greek wildfires by hiding inside an oven. Loukoumakis was traumatised to the point of being unable to move when he was discovered in the remains of Mati, a town that was all but wiped off the map by the fires. He had crawled into a brick-built hollow behind a garden barbecue area as the inferno raged around him in the town east of Athens last week, killing at least 91 people in one of Greece’s worst natural disasters.


Loukoumakis was found in a brick-built hollow behind a garden barbecue (Picture: Caters News)

He was scared to the point of not being able to move but was eventually coaxed out with some food


He was singed yellow from the smoke and flames of the fires and was struggling to breathe when he was found.

Diana Topali, who is looking after him, said: ‘Even its eyelashes are burnt, I wonder how this dog survived.’

Artemis Kyriakopoulou, an animal rescue volunteer, was out searching with others when she came across Loukoumakis as she tried to gain access to another garden and lured him out with a tin of dog food. ‘I saw there was something like an (outdoors) oven, and I figured if anything were alive, it would be in there,’ Kyriakopoulou, 21, told Reuters Television.

Hundreds of pets and strays are believed to have perished in the blaze, which swept through the seaside town in a matter of hours.

The town of Mati was devastated by the wild fires that ripped through the area. At least 91 people died in the fires that raged through the town


(Picture: AP) The bodies of victims of the fire are still believed to be among the devastation (Picture: EPA)

Loukoumakis, as he has been named by a vet, is believed to be a stray, aged about four and a half years. ‘He just looked like a burnt shaggy rug,’ Topali said.

Today Loukoumakis has been groomed, is on antibiotics and is slowly recovering. He will stay with Topali until he finds his forever home.

Kyriakopoulou added: ‘I’ve rescued a few animals from around here, most of them are so terrified they are completely quiet, so I need to check into the wreckage to find them.

‘This little guy was scared, burnt, starving and limping – I think he might have fractured his back leg. ‘It took me a couple of hours to convince him to come with me. ‘It’s so sad because we haven’t been able to find an owner – unfortunately in many cases, the owner has died in the fire. ‘I am soon heading back to Mati to look for more animals that might have survived.’


Read more: https://metro.co.uk/2018/08/01/dog-h...8/?ito=cbshare