Pets rescued after Greece’s devastating fire find new…

PIKERMI, Greece (AP) – The kitten lay on the ground so perfectly still that passing volunteer rescuers had initially written her off as just another of the many victims – human and animal – of this week’s ferocious wildfires near Athens.

But then came a hint of life – the frail feline began crying out and slowly moving her tiny body, singed by heat and flames.

Rescuers turned her over to veterinarians at Vets 4 Life, a pet clinic in Pikermi just west of the coastal resorts of Rafina and Mati, sites devastated by the blaze.

Clinic veterinarians have so far treated around 70 animals injured in the fire, some four times normal numbers during this period. At least 83 humans perished in Monday’s deadly blaze, and rescue crews are still combing the devastated area of Mati in search of dead and injured.

“It’s just crazy in here, people trying to get help, looking for their pets, crying all the time and we’re trying to help the animals, we’re trying to take care of their burns, their wounds and it’s very difficult,” Vet Irene Mavrakis told the Associated Press.

Mavrakis was among those volunteers out on patrol, sometimes confronting the macabre sight of dead pets still chained up on their owners’ property.

Many of the cats and dogs that survived had suffered broken limbs, said Mavrakis. Others sustained more severe injuries including a cat brought in with its eyes burnt.

“It’s not only the trauma on their body, you see the animals are scared, they don’t trust anybody,” Mavrakis said.

She said one problem faced by area residents who fled the advancing flames was that they couldn’t bring pets to hotels where they relocated.

Most rescued pets at the clinic have yet to be reclaimed by their owners, Mavrakis said, with only five of the dozen dogs brought in reclaimed.

The rescued kitten is now set for a new life with local resident Evangelia Gkika, who has adopted her and renamed her Fire.

“I asked which is the worst animal from the fire and they showed me this,” Gkika said. “And it was love at first sight.”

Veterinarians Iron Mavraki, left, and Meni Tsakalidi treat a cat that suffered burns and other injuries in Pikermi, east of Athens, after a wildfire swept through popular summer resorts near Athens and claimed the lives of more than 80 people. (AP Photo/Boris Pilipenko)

This Wednesday, July 25, 2018 aerial photo shows burnt houses and trees following a wildfire in Mati, east of Athens. Frantic relatives searching for loved ones missing in Greece’s deadliest forest fire in decades headed to Athens’ morgue on Thursday, July 26, 2018 as rescue crews and volunteers continued searches on land and at sea for potential further victims. (Antonis Nikolopoulos/Eurokinissi via AP)

A worker digs under a damaged electricity pole following a wildfire in Neos Voutzas, east of Athens, Friday, July 27, 2018. Greek authorities said Thursday there were serious indications that a deadly wildfire that gutted a vacation resort near Athens was started deliberately, while experts warned that the devastated coastal town had been built like a “fire trap,” with poor safety standards and few escape routes. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

A burnt house in Mati, east of Athens, Friday, July 27, 2018. Greek authorities said Thursday there were serious indications that a deadly wildfire that gutted a vacation resort near Athens was started deliberately, while experts warned that the devastated coastal town had been built like a “fire trap,” with poor safety standards and few escape routes. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)