Environment

Two dogs rescued from Mexico sinkhole after nationwide petition

Mexico City, Jun 10 (EFE).- The government of the state of Puebla in central Mexico on Thursday rescued two dogs who had fallen into a huge sinkhole following a nationwide campaign that pressured the state’s governor, Miguel Barbosa, who initially ruled out saving them.

“Thanks to the responsible efforts of the State Civil Protection and Fire Department, Spay and Spike were successfully rescued after their fall into the pit in Santa María Zacatepec,” the Puebla government announced on its official social media accounts.

Earlier, the state’s governor Miguel Barbosa had warned that dangerous conditions were hampering the rescue of the pets who fell into the sinkhole, with a diameter of over 120 meters (393 feet) and a depth of 50 m (164 feet) at its lowest point, after forming in late May, when it was just five meters (16 feet) wide.

But in just a few hours, users started a petition on Change.org that acquired about 35,000 signatures and launched a social media campaign with images that demanded that the government of Puebla save the animals.

“There are rescuers who want to come to rescue them, without having the government pay them, they will do it from the heart. The government does not want to support us and does not want to give us permission to rescue the two dogs,” Spay’s owner, Fatima Ortega, told EFE.

The sinkhole formed on May 29 on agricultural land in the municipality of Juan C. Bonilla, just over 20 kilometers from the state’s capital, in an area dotted with a few small houses of the people who cultivate the land.

Initially only five meters in diameter, the sinkhole widened to 30 meters in just 24 hours, and has continued to grow since then.

The situation has attracted national interest because of the unusual appearance of the hole, which has been caused by unknown natural causes or by the exploitation of aquifers, according to researchers of the National Polytechnic Institute on site.

The phenomena has damaged five houses and poses a risk to people, which made the Puebla government hesitant to rescue the dogs and put the lives of the civil protection members in danger. EFE

ppc/pd/tw

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