Two massive explosions rocked the capital of Lebanon on the 4th of August, 2020. The catastrophe caused by unsafe storage of chemicals at the port in Beirut resulted in around 200 deaths and thousands of injured people. Sadly, it also caused the death of an unknown number of cats, dogs, and other animals within the densely populated city.
During the explosion, Nadia Al Faour, a journalist of USA Today, was with her pet Brownie at the animal clinic. The two-year-old dog had lost his appetite and was having a fever due to an undetermined illness. Nadia left her other pets at home, including Loulou, a German Shepherd, and three cats for this follow-up checkup.
Nadia survived the initial explosion by following her instincts and immediately ducking down the floor. Sadly, the succeeding explosion caused severe injury to the veterinarian, looking after Brownie. Nadia immediately thought about the welfare of her other pets and headed back home as soon as she could. She recalled that her efforts were like a salmon trying to swim upriver, going against the people fleeing away from the port since her home is towards the center of the explosion.
When she arrived at her apartment, Loulou was nowhere to be found. The senior dog was eventually discovered lying outside one of the windows blown out by the destructive explosion. It appeared that Loulou must have jumped out because of fear and shock and ended up dead six floors below Nadia’s apartment. Luckily, the three felines were safe; however, it took days for Nadia to coax them out from where they hid during the tragedy.
Losing a pet during this pandemic is doubly devastating, as they make our current circumstances more bearable. Loulou has been rescued by Nadia from the nonprofit organization Animals Lebanon. The said animal welfare group has been a tremendous help in finding the missing animals during the aftermath of the explosion. You are most welcome to support their mission and donate to their cause.
Credits to Nadia Al Faour
