A Dog in a 10 Million Won First-Class Seat... Airline Says "Courtesy for Earthquake Rescue Dog"

Rescue Dogs Active in Turkey
Turkish Airlines "Minimal Thanks"

Search and rescue dogs dispatched to the earthquake-affected areas in Turkiye have become a hot topic for boarding first-class seats on flights worth up to 10 million won.

On the 12th (local time), foreign media such as the British Daily Mail and The Independent reported that Turkiye Airlines, 'Turkish Airlines,' provided first-class and business-class seats for search and rescue dogs sent from around the world.

A rescue dog seated in first class. [Image source=Turkish Airlines Twitter]

According to the report, a Turkish Airlines official said, "We did not want the search and rescue dogs to be placed in the cargo hold on their way back after doing hard work." Generally, pets must be transported in the cargo hold of airplanes.

He added, "This is the least gratitude we can show to our hero dogs," and "We plan to continue boarding Turkiye earthquake search and rescue dogs in the cabin as much as possible and upgrade their seats."

Earlier, on the 6th of last month, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck Turkiye and Syria, prompting countries around the world to send emergency relief teams one after another. Many rescue teams accompanied search and rescue dogs to save people trapped under building debris.

The search and rescue dogs were dispatched from countries such as Thailand, China, and Hungary, and South Korea also sent four search and rescue dogs: Tobaek, Tina, Tori, and Haetae. Among them, the story of Tobaek performing duties with bandages wrapped around him touched many hearts.

Search and rescue dogs have at least 10,000 times better olfactory ability and 50 times better auditory ability compared to humans, playing a role in investigating traces of people buried under the ruins of collapsed buildings. When heavy machinery is deployed, debris may collapse, endangering survivors' lives, so search and rescue dogs are mainly deployed in such situations.

On the morning of the 10th of last month (local time), in the city of Antakya, Hatay, Turkey, the rescue dog 'Tobaegi,' injured during rescue operations the previous day, continues the search operation with a bandage wrapped around its paw. [Image source=Yonhap News]

Meanwhile, Turkish Airlines has supported over 238,000 rescue personnel with more than 1,300 relief flights. It has also donated over 2 billion lira (approximately 139.5 billion won) to rescue activities, and as of the 21st of last month, Turkish Airlines succeeded in evacuating about 296,000 citizens with 1,646 flights.