Unprecedented plan to use drones to rescue dogs trapped by lava on Spain's La Palma island
Also: Drone search widens for dogs trapped by La Palma eruption (The Guardian)
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Source: Agence France-Presse
Unprecedented plan to use drones to rescue dogs trapped by lava on Spain's La Palma island
OCTOBER 21, 2021 / 3:51 AM / AFP
La Palma Island, Spain — An unprecedented drone operation was being prepared Wednesday to rescue four dogs stranded for weeks between rivers of red-hot lava streaming from an erupting volcano on the Spanish island of La Palma.
The emaciated dogs are stranded in two empty water tanks in the town of Todoque, flanked by slow moving lava flows from the Cumbre Vieja volcano that erupted on September 19.
The molten rock has so far covered over 1,885 acres of land and destroyed around 2,000 buildings although prompt evacuations have helped avoid fatalities in the island, part of the Canary Islands off northwest Africa.
On its way to the Atlantic Ocean, the lava has spared a few areas by creating "islands" of land that remain relatively unharmed such as the spot where the dogs are.
Local animal association Leales.org sounded the alarm after it became aware of the plight of the dogs in early October, and arranged for two drone firms to drop of food and water for the animals, which have lost weight since becoming trapped.
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Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/dogs-trapped-by-lava-spain-la-palma-volcano-drone-rescue-plan/
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Source: The Guardian
Drone search widens for dogs trapped by La Palma eruption
Operators are searching for four to six dogs cut off by lava flows and will drop bait to entice them out of hiding
Sam Jones in Madrid
@swajones
Thu 21 Oct 2021 13.14 BST
Drone operators on the Canary island of La Palma have launched a high-stakes effort to search for and retrieve at least four dogs who have been stranded for weeks by the continuing volcanic eruption.
The eruption – which began on 19 September on the Cumbre Vieja ridge, one of the most active volcanic regions in the archipelago – has destroyed more than 2,000 properties, forced the evacuation of more than 6,000 people, and devastated La Palma’s banana plantations.
It has also left the dogs in the town of Todoque stranded by lava flows. Last Friday, a team of specialists from the Aerocamaras drone company arrived on the island and began preparing an unprecedented search and rescue operation. The plan is to adapt the drones, use them to drop food, and then airlift the dogs once they have got used to the presence of drones.
The first search flights took place on Wednesday but revealed no sign of the animals.
“The idea at the moment is to carry on searching because we didn’t see anything yesterday, and we were out with thermal cameras until 10pm,” a spokeswoman for Aerocamaras told the Guardian.
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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/oct/21/drone-search-widens-for-dogs-trapped-by-la-palma-eruption
= new reply since forum marked as read
Pups must be terrified! Hope they can get them out.
