A beaming Vickye Giraldo holds her rescued kitten tight against her chest outside her ruined home in quake-hit Cali, Colombia.
The country's third-largest city was pummeled by a 7.4 magnitude earthquake on Monday, along with swaths of Colombia's coffee region and western coast.
With at least 273 people dead and thousands more injured, rescuers dig tirelessly through the wreckage, searching for survivors before time runs out.
The critical 72-hour window to find people alive came to a close on Thursday, but Giraldo and others are drawing hope from their reunions with furry friends.
"It's an indescribable moment," the 56-year-old lawyer told AFP, planting a kiss on her cat Polux's head after rescuers pulled the animal from the detritus of its owner's apartment.
Giraldo had lived with two dogs and two cats in a building that now slants dangerously to one side.
One dog made it out alive, while the other did not survive and Giraldo's other cat remains missing.
"These have been very hard days, thinking we might not be able to rescue them, but in the end it's a dream come true. It really is," she said, tearing up as she cradled Polux in her arms.
Another Cali resident and animal lover, Andrea Paredes, has not given up hope on reuniting with her dog and cats.
Her husband "managed to grab one little dog" before fleeing the shaking building, Paredes said.
The quake destroyed over 12,000 homes, official data shows, making thousands of families destitute.
Applause met rescuers on Thursday after they rescued a dog from another collapsed building.
A team of veterinarians rushed to assist the visibly feeble creature, giving him water before carrying him away on a stretcher.
"Pets are like children. I insist on that," volunteer Nelson Vidales told AFP.
"I know there are a lot of people thinking about humans, but the time must come when pets are looked for too. That's what I'm here for," he said.
