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A McDonald's restaurant in the coastal city of Caraballeda, in La Guaira state, was transformed into an improvised hospital for humans and pets after two earthquakes devastated northern Venezuela on June 24, 2026, according to a report by The Associated Press.
The establishment, located next to the ruins of collapsed state housing complexes, operates as an emergency veterinary clinic, a medical care center, and a reunion point for owners and lost pets. The neighbors have named it the "McDonald's Hospital."
The operation is coordinated by Ángel Matute, a veterinarian who traveled from Barquisimeto with a group of 70 volunteers —including veterinarians, students, doctors, and civilians— who were looking for a place to operate amidst the chaos.
The team chose McDonald's because it was one of the few facilities still operating in the area: it had air conditioning and provided shelter from the heavy tropical rains.
"For us, a pet is like another human life. There are animals that are more human than humans themselves," explained Matute, who also sleeps there with the rest of the volunteers.
At the closing of this edition, the group had rescued 140 animals and attended to another 60, while the search teams were requesting hamburgers and fries at the same counter.
One of the most emotional cases was that of Gabriela Alves, 36 years old, who this Friday was reunited with her dog Buddy—a six-year-old white dog—after more than a week of desperate searching.
Alves was at a relative's house when the earthquakes shook the north of the country. Hours later, he returned home by motorcycle and found nothing but rubble.
Upon learning that McDonald's served as a pet search point, he started stopping by every day to ask if anyone had seen a white dog.
"We're all living one day at a time. Today I returned, and honestly, I can tell you that I had lost all hope," he shared this Friday.
However, while rummaging through the rubble of her house, she heard a distant bark. She looked down and saw Buddy's white ear through a crack in the concrete. She shouted for help, and nearby rescuers broke a hole in the wall to pull out the dog, covered in dust, after eight days trapped in the debris.
Hours later, the veterinarians at the "McDonald's Hospital" treated him with intravenous fluids on a table in the restaurant, alongside employees who continued selling ice cream.
"This is a miracle. We've lost everything material, but at least both of us are alive," Alves stated, wrapping his arms around his dog.
The initiative extended beyond Caraballeda: a McDonald's branch in Macuto also stopped selling hamburgers to provide emergency veterinary services following the earthquakes.
The earthquakes on June 24—two tremors measuring 7.2 and 7.5 in magnitude, occurring just 39 seconds apart—are regarded as the strongest recorded in Venezuela since 1900, according to the United States Geological Survey.
The official toll at the close of this edition was at least 2,645 dead and more than 12,000 injured, although the UN estimates that there could be more than 50,000 missing under the rubble.
"At this moment, with all the tragedy of the earthquake, it's something positive amidst all the bad," said Alves, without letting go of Buddy.
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