Respect

[cjsmith]

'I'm Just For Animals': The Veterinarian Who Rescues Animals From Conflict Zones

The reality of Khalil's job can be dangerous. When asked whether he feels his life is at risk during rescue missions, he responds without hesitation: "Every day, every day." It can also be frustrating and all-consuming. He will often go three or four days without sleep.

But on another level, his work transcends the politics and circumstances that make it necessary.

"If you speak about humans in Gaza, people go, 'Ah, these are terrorists,'" Khalil says. "If you speak about Israel, 'Ah, these people take our land.' But when you speak about animals, everyone is able to put his classification on the ground and carry the crate with you... And this is the reality. That the animal has no passport, has no nationality, and is not a part of the conflict."

Comments

[siliconshaman]

There was a story I heard from my grandfather, about the animals in Berlin's zoo. Basically, the RAF and luftwaffe worked together to ensure that supplies were air-lifted into the city for the animals.. and towards the end, animals were air-lifted out in what they called Operation Noah. [nobody trusted the Russians to not eat them.]

But at one point, you had RAF planes being escorted by luftwaffe fighters, and vice-versa just because of the animals. Although, he also had a few things to say about a crateful of moneys getting loose... and the RAF had long-running joke about some of them still working as ground-crew.