People around the world have become heartfelt by the touching story of a rescue dog that gave his life after saving 7 people after a tragic earthquake that occurred in Ecuador last week.
It didn’t take long for this news to go viral, after the fire department located in Ibarra, a northern city in Ecuador went public with the death of their beloved canine. A four year old Labrador Retriever, Dayko had worked in their K-9 unit for over 3 years.
In a Facebook post, the department says, “The Fire Department of Ibarra would like to express a brotherly thanks to all the people who gave us their support, and not only in regards to the death of our beloved canine Dayko.”
ABC reports that Dayko died after suffering from heat stroke and injuries while confronting flames and danger to locate more victims. The dog ultimately had a heart attack, and attempts to resuscitate the dog by veterinarians and firefighters were unsuccessful.
A series of pictures have been posted to honor Dayko, which show him on a search and rescue mission in the aftermath created by the April 16th earthquake with a magnitude of 7.8.
The earthquake was named the worst in the history of Ecuador. Over 600 have died and over 12,000 were injured. On Monday, The United Nations declared that its World Food Programme will be distributing food to the 260,000 people who have gone hungry after surviving the catastrophe.