Operation Podencos The dogs trapped in the lava disappear from the La Palma pond
Of all the evictions that have occurred in recent weeks on the island of La Palma, none has generated as much expectation as that of the
four hounds trapped for almost a month between two water ponds in the town of Todoque
, one of the first populations that were evacuated after the eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano on September 19.
On Friday, October 8, some German volcanologists who were exploring the area with a drone located a first dog that seemed cornered in Todoque and contacted the Leales.org platform, dedicated to the protection of animals. "
The next day we saw new images: first we found a cat, then a Pekingese dog.
Only a day later we saw that there were two hounds, and a few hours later, studying the images, we saw two others also trapped, there next to ", a spokesman for the animal rights group explained to this newspaper a few days ago.
From the platform they then contacted Aerocamaras, a Galician company specialized in manufacturing, training and services with drones, the only way to reach the area where the dogs were after the frustrated attempts of the Military Emergency Unit (UME) and the Canary Islands Emergency and Rescue Group (GES).
"They have tried to rescue the animals, but the use of helicopters is unfeasible due to the materials released by the volcano.
Access by land is also difficult due to the encirclement of ash and lava that surrounds them.
Drones are the only viable way. for a possible rescue of the podencos ", they assured from Aerocamaras.
Aero chambers
On the 15th, a company team arrived in La Palma to try to carry out a pioneering rescue operation in Spain. With them,
more than two tons of state-of-the-art equipment valued at about 60,000 euros
. Iberia covered the costs of transporting the pilots and all the necessary equipment and the Peninsula company assumed the cost of the ferry transfer to the island.
The plan was to use a cargo drone that would transport its own logistics system adapted to the characteristics of the animals and a second support drone. Aerocamaras would bring food to the dogs through the drone and would inspect the area with a 30x camera and another thermographic camera and hoped to carry out the rescue of the animals once they got used to the presence of the devices.
The idea was to use food as bait and lift each animal individually once it entered the loading system.
This Wednesday, the CEO of the company, Jaime Pereira, announced, already on La Palma, that after the first tests on the island, they had obtained permission to carry out a reconnaissance flight in the Todoque area where the dogs are found. .
In the morning, they had managed to complete a 1,200-meter flight with one of the drones supporting a load of more than 15 kilos.
Aero chambers
As it is a unique operation in Spain and because it entails the risk of air transport of live animals, a special permit was necessary to carry out the flights that until now had been denied because saving the podencos was not considered a "priority" . The steering committee of the Volcanic Emergency Plan of the Canary Islands (Pevolca) finally authorized the rescue attempt on Tuesday, verifying that
the operation did not affect in any case the possible evacuations of the populations threatened by lava
, nor did it hinder terrestrial communications or put No human life is in danger, as drones can be piloted within 500 meters of the target.
A few hours later, however, Aerocamaras carried out the first reconnaissance flights in the area and no longer found a trace of the animals.
"We have entered with thermal cameras, with cameras with magnification, a speaker simulating sounds to make calls to the dogs, but for the moment we have not seen the animals," Pereira explained yesterday.
Leales.org experts believe the animals could have taken refuge due to the high temperatures.
And the Aerocamaras team confirmed that thanks to one of their drones equipped with a thermal camera, they had been able to verify that in the area there are still several containers with water at a temperature of around 17 degrees, so if they continue there, the hounds do not they would be dehydrated.
The rescue operation will be reactivated this Thursday and the search radius will be expanded to try to find any of the dogs.
"As soon as we see one, we will request rescue authorization. They can be hidden anywhere and we have requested permits to be flying all day," Pereira insisted yesterday.
"Until we find them and we can get them out."
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