The double earthquake that struck Venezuela on 24 June, with magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.5, has killed more than 1,700 people and injured around 5,000, according to official figures released by national authorities. Tens of thousands are still listed as missing, and search operations continue across the worst-affected states, including La Guaira and Aragua.

Amid the painstaking work of locating survivors, a series of animal rescues has been documented by international teams, offering rare moments of relief. Salvadoran search-and-rescue units, deployed with six aircraft carrying humanitarian aid, have recovered several dogs and cats from the rubble days after the tremors. President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador shared videos on social media showing a dog being pulled from debris in Caracas on 28 June, and later the rescue of a dehydrated dog named Giselle from a collapsed residential building in Caraballeda, La Guaira state, after a five-hour operation.

Other cases have been reported by Colombian and Paraguayan teams. The Colombian veterinary organisation Manejo Humanitario said a dog named Pinky was saved in Caraballeda, but that the mother and sister of its owner, who lives in Spain, died in the disaster. A cat was extracted with injuries from a collapsed structure, and local authorities in Aragua state said firefighters had rescued more than five companion animals in the Turmero area. In one instance, a dog named Chanel was located alive, though its owner remained trapped beneath the same building, according to Salvadoran officials.

Rescue dogs have also been central to the effort. Rambo, a Salvadoran canine certified under the international Arcón method and previously rescued from an abusive home, is working at the collapsed Coral Plaza building. Mexican military teams deployed a dog named Max, who was injured during operations and received veterinary care, Mexican military sources confirmed. Venezuelan teams are using dogs like Tsunami, a former abuse case now trained for urban search.

The provisional death toll is expected to rise as debris is cleared. Authorities have not confirmed a final number of missing persons, and the window for finding survivors is narrowing, according to civil protection officials.