{"id":30209,"date":"2026-08-06T20:18:26","date_gmt":"2026-08-06T15:18:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=30209"},"modified":"2026-08-06T20:18:26","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T15:18:26","slug":"wildfire-near-athens-leaves-rescuers-scrambling-to-reunite-hundreds-of-animals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=30209","title":{"rendered":"Wildfire near Athens leaves rescuers scrambling to reunite hundreds of animals"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F2%2F2026%2F08%2F136649608.jpg?quality%3D90%26strip%3Dall\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>MEGARA, Greece \u2014 Sasa, an alert and floppy-eared mixed-breed puppy, did not return home when the remaining containment lines were lifted Wednesday in the wake of a wildfire that\u00a0swept across mountains and coastal areas near Athens.<\/p>\n<p>The pup was one of hundreds of pets and wild animals rescued by volunteers this week during the blaze, which prompted multiple evacuations.<\/p>\n<p>The fire\u00a0\u2014 at one point burning on five fronts \u2014 torched dozens of homes and more than 100 square kilometers (39 square miles) of land.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Two dogs are seen in a cage as rescuers and volunteers evacuate them to a temporary shelter set up in the Megara Stadium on Monday, August 3, 2026, in Megara, west of Athens. <span class=\"credit\">AFP via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>It was the latest scene of destruction during Europe\u2019s searing summer, where\u00a0massive fires\u00a0\u2014 including in countries accustomed to cooler summers \u2014 have worried animal welfare groups.<\/p>\n<p>In the town of Megara, 40 kilometers (25 miles) west of Athens, rescue organizer Elena Dede said the local volunteer effort saved more than 280 animals, mostly dogs, during scorching heat and high winds.<\/p>\n<p>Sasa and others were housed on an indoor sports court inside a collapsible wire cage with a rubber ball to play with and a metal water bowl.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module aligncenter wp-block-nypost-editor-primary-tag\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>\u201cThere was so much heat and the fire was so aggressive. It was changing directions all the time,\u201d Dede said.<\/p>\n<p>Richard Parr, director of the U.K.-based Center for Wild Animal Welfare, described these animal rescue efforts by firefighters and local charities as \u201cheroic\u201d but argued that hotter summers are increasing the risk facing millions of animals.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt the moment, all too often, it is ad hoc, and it falls on the shoulders of private individuals, small charities,\u201d he said. \u201cThe scale of the challenges they\u2019re facing in terms of the number of animals affected and the areas of fire is gigantic and completely out of step.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Volunteers and rescuers evacuate a dog to a temporary shelter set up in the Megara Stadium on August 3, 2026, in the Megara Region, west of Athens. <span class=\"credit\">AFP via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Rescued dogs rest at a makeshift animal shelter following wildfires in the Attica region on August 4, 2026, in Megara, Greece. Over 140 animals have been rescued since the wildfires began. <span class=\"credit\">Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The organization is campaigning for a dedicated European Union animal rescue service and funding to address the problem.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s just a massive mismatch between the huge scale of this problem and the resources and the capacity that are available to respond to it,\u201d Parr said.<\/p>\n<p>He also urged governments to consider setting up \u201cfire refuges\u201d for animals, such as ponds and rock piles that could offer shelter.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>A volunteer evacuates kittens as a wildfire rages in the Megara Region, west of Athens, August 3, 2026. <span class=\"credit\">AFP via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Elli Chountala (left) and Kleopatra Bitzogli, volunteers with the non-profit organization A Dog\u2019s Voice, tend to a dog rescued from the surrounding area at Megara Olympic Stadium in Megara, Greece on August 4, 2026. <span class=\"credit\">Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In Greece, the blaze has left rescuers with a logistical headache: where to return displaced animals like Sasa. <\/p>\n<p>Dede said local authorities were helping match missing-animal notices with rescued animals and find temporary homes until the process was completed.<\/p>\n<p>However, she said she was mindful that the dogs at the stadium were among the fortunate.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Firefighters work to extinguish a wildfire in the Megara Region, west of Athens, on Monday, August 3, 2026.  <span class=\"credit\">AFP via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cIt was really hard for every volunteer and every person involved to survive the smoke and the stress,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI will never forget the animals that we knew were left behind. I\u2019m just hoping they were saved and ran free.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>MEGARA, Greece \u2014 Sasa, an alert and floppy-eared mixed-breed puppy, did not return home when the remaining containment lines were lifted Wednesday in the wake of a wildfire that\u00a0swept across mountains and coastal areas near Athens. The pup was one of hundreds of pets and wild animals rescued by volunteers this week during the blaze,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30210,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/08\/136649608.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=1200","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30209","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pics-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30209","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=30209"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30209\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/30210"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=30209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=30209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=30209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}