IDF soldier with Billy, a dog belonging to murdered hostage Alex Dancyg (Screenshot/X)
18 months after the October 7th massacre, an IDF soldier discovered a missing family dog in the rubble of Gaza.
By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News
A pet dog named “Billy”, belonging to a family whose father was murdered on October 7, 2023, was recently rescued by an IDF soldier in Gaza.
Aviad Shapira, an Israeli reserve soldier in the Golani Brigade, told Channel 12 TV news that the Cocker Spaniel approached him during operational activity in Rafah.
In a post on her Instagram account, Shapira’s wife said that the dog emerged from the rubble of a destroyed building after hearing soldiers speaking Hebrew.
“I saw the lovely [dog] walking towards me. She just ran towards me and jumped on me,” Shapira told Channel 12.
Feeling a connection with the animal, Shapira began caring for the dog. During a recent break for the Passover holiday, Shapira brought the animal back to Israel.
Shapira took the dog to a veterinarian for medical checks, who discovered that the Cocker Spaniel was microchipped.
According to the information on the microchip, the dog, named Billy, belonged to the Dancyg family of Kibbutz Nir Oz.
The patriarch of the family, 75-year-old grandfather Alex Dancyg, was kidnapped from his home on October 7 and later murdered in Hamas captivity.
Shapira said that Billy would be returned to the Dancyg family in the coming days.
“We are in complete shock and overwhelmed with emotion to see her tomorrow,” Yaron Maor, Dancgy’s son-in-law, told the Ynet news website.
“We didn’t believe she had survived. We got the kids another dog of the same breed. Now the two dogs will live together with us. It’s a miracle from heaven.”
In August 2024, Dancyg’s body was recovered from a tunnel in the Khan Younis area.
The bodies of hostages Yoram Metzger, Chaim Peri, Avraham Munder, Yagev Buchshtav and Nadav Popplewell were also recovered during the mission.
All of the bodies had multiple bullet wounds. They were likely murdered by their captors to prevent rescue by IDF soldiers, who were operating nearby.
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