Rescuers brave Indonesia volcano eruptions to save pets
The Peninsula
Tagulandang, Indonesia: An Indonesian volunteer returns from a dangerous rescue mission to a remote island where a volcano recently unleashed huge eru...
Tagulandang, Indonesia: An Indonesian volunteer returns from a dangerous rescue mission to a remote island where a volcano recently unleashed huge eruptions, cradling an abandoned, emaciated dog covered in burn blisters.
Mount Ruang in Indonesia's northernmost region has erupted more than half a dozen times since April 16, stirring a spectacular mix of ash, lava and lightning that forced the island's residents to be permanently relocated and thousands more evacuated.
But while locals have fled, a team of volunteers travelled to Ruang by boat on daring rescue missions to save abandoned pets from the foot of the volcano that remains at its highest alert level.
"We know that they (the animals) are still living there. How come we let them die while we know they are still alive there?" 31-year-old volunteer Laurent Tan told AFP on Saturday.
Laurent, the owner of two animal shelters in North Sulawesi province capital Manado, is one of eight volunteers who have made the six-hour ferry journey several times to Ruang's neighbouring Tagulandang island following the eruptions.
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