Greece forest fires: domestic animals left behind to be rescued

COMMENT - OPINION: The reports that I'm reading about the devastating Greek forest fires is that owners are evacuating their homes without taking their cats and dogs. They've been ordered to evacuate (too late?). The big issue is how much time did they have to get out. If they had adequate time there is no reason why they shouldn't have taken their cats and dogs with them. But they appear to have regularly evacuated without them and relied upon volunteers to come in after to rescue the pets. The same applies to horses. Rescued cat. The image is deliberately dark to hide burns if they exist. Image: keeptalkinggreece.com. It seems extraordinary to me but I don't want to be overly critical, that they did not have adequate time to round up their pets and take them out of the disaster that was unfolding. If they genuinely were pushed for time due to inadequate notification or inadequate preparation then perhaps it could be accepted that they had to evacuate very quickly.