missing pets – In Caraballeda, Venezuela, a makeshift “Hospital McDonald’s” has become a refuge after the June 24 earthquakes—treating injured animals and helping families reunite with missing dogs and cats. One woman’s week of searching ended Thursday when her 6-year-old do
CARABALLEDA, Venezuela — Hope arrived in Caraballeda in the most unexpected place: a Venezuelan McDonald’s that has become known as “Hospital McDonald’s,” where volunteers treat earthquake victims—and search for lost pets.
On Thursday. Gabriela Alves held her 6-year-old dog. Buddy. pressed close to her chest as a small IV sat in one of his legs. A table beside restaurant workers selling soft-serve ice cream had been turned into something closer to a triage station. complete with makeshift care for animals pulled from the disaster.
“It’s a miracle,” Alves said, wrapping her arms around the white pup. “We’ve lost everything material, but at least we’re both alive.”
Alves’ reunion came after two earthquakes struck Venezuela on June 24, devastation that Venezuelan officials said killed at least 2,295 people and left 11,000 wounded. In the same rubble and chaos, families were left hunting for missing loved ones of every kind—cats and dogs among them.
The “Hospital McDonald’s” began taking shape one day after the earthquakes. After the back-to-back quakes. a volunteer team arrived looking for shelter from the heavy tropical rain. a place to sleep. and space to store equipment. What they found—one of the only operational facilities amid collapsed housing complexes—was the restaurant next to the ruins.
Angel Matute and 70 other veterinarians. students. doctors. and civilian volunteers traveled from Barquisimeto. where the group then set up shop in the restaurant. It still had running air-conditioning, and the volunteers began distributing medical supplies and treating human patients. At the same time. the location became a place where injured pets were treated and dogs and cats were searched for across the wreckage.
“For us, a pet is one more human life,” Matute said. Coordinating rescue efforts in the McDonald’s, he also described the emotional weight of caring for animals when people are still trying to find each other. “There are animals that are more human than humans themselves.”
On Thursday. the volunteers moved through the restaurant’s churn of work—alongside search teams ordering hamburgers and french fries—treating dogs and cats while continuing the search for reunions. Matute said the group has rescued 140 animals and treated 60 more. They plan to keep helping owners find missing pets until their assistance is no longer needed.
For Alves, that kind of persistence mattered. She turned to “Hospital McDonald’s” after searching for Buddy for more than a week.
The 36-year-old Venezuelan had been at a family member’s house when the earthquakes shook northern Venezuela. Hours later, she rushed to her home on her motorcycle trying to save Buddy. When she arrived, she found only ruins.
She heard that the restaurant had become a place to look for lost pets, and began making daily laps. She would stop by to check whether the volunteers had found any white dogs before returning home and calling out, “Buddy, Buddy,” hoping for a bark.
For more than a week, she was met with silence. “We’re all living one day at a time,” Alves said Thursday. “Today, I returned and I truly can tell you I had lost all hope.”
Even after that, she kept searching through the damage, pulling clothes from her mother’s room—the only area of the home still accessible. Then she heard a distant bark. Looking down, she saw Buddy’s white ear through a crack in the concrete.
Alves screamed for help, and nearby rescuers ran to the spot. They broke a hole in the wall and pulled the dust-covered dog from the debris. Alves sobbed as she cradled Buddy, swaddled in a pink blanket and licking her arm.
Hours later, veterinarians at “Hospital McDonald’s” checked Buddy for injuries after eight days trapped in the rubble.
“Right now, with all the tragedy of the earthquake, it’s one positive thing in all the bad,” Alves said, still holding her dog. “He’s like my doggie Band-Aid.”
Venezuela earthquake Caraballeda Hospital McDonald's missing pets Buddy Angel Matute earthquake survivors veterinary volunteers June 24 earthquakes