They were a middle-aged couple, packing their small car with belongings in a rubble strewn street. The photographer captured the moment they were about to load their pet cockatiels, the man was bent over the cage as if reassuring the birds everything would be OK.

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I can't recall whether the photo was from Beirut or Tehran but that doesn't really matter. What was important was the quiet humanity of the image. A couple whose own lives had been upturned sacrificing scarce room in their car - space that would otherwise accommodate inanimate possessions - to ensure their precious animals were given an equal chance at safety.

Similar images have tugged at the heartstrings over the years. Ukrainians huddling in bomb shelters with their cats or tearfully refusing to be evacuated from frontline villages because they fear for the animals they'll have to leave behind; Israelis sitting out air raid alerts with their dogs; Palestinians for whom pets are a distant memory; and here just days ago a policeman risking his life to save a German shepherd from floodwaters in a daring helicopter rescue.

Alongside humanitarian efforts to give comfort and shelter to displaced humans is a raft of organisations dedicated to looking after the animals that have been separated from their owners, often abandoned in the rush to safety.

In Lebanon, Give Me A Paw recently rescued 12 dogs and two cats which had been abandoned in a pet shop damaged in an Israeli airstrike. Incredibly, one of those dogs was reunited with its owner who saw footage of the rescue online. It had been stolen four years earlier. The remaining animals are receiving veterinary care as Give Me A Paw looks for foster homes.

The Lebanese Association for Migratory Birds (LAMB) has taken into its care a horse called Amir, whose owner's home and barn was destroyed in an Israeli military operation. With help from the International Fund for Animal Welfare, it will see Amir gets the veterinary care and shelter he needs.

The Romanian League in Defence of Animals (ROLDA) has rescue teams operating at considerable risk in Ukraine. One of its charges - a dog called Tripod - was found with a catastrophic leg injury caused by an artillery shell. The leg was amputated, Tripod's strength was rebuilt, and he's now in foster care undergoing........

© Canberra Times