Very lucky girl who was kidnapped by Hamas returns home unscathed

A beloved Cavalier Spaniel kidnapped by Hamas during the Oct. 7th terror attack has finally made it home thanks to the help of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

The three-year-old dog, Billy, was kidnapped along with her owner, Rachel Dancyg’s ex-husband, Alex Dancyg, and brother, Itzhak Elgarat, on Oct. 7th while Rachel was hiding in a saferoom. Both men were later killed while in captivity.

Then, sometime last week, over a year and a half since the terror attack, Billy suddenly rushed into the arms of IDF reservist Aviad Shapira from the rubble of a building while his Golani Brigade unit was in Rafah.

Both Shapira and Billy can be seen below:

סיפור בלתי יאמן!
הכלבה בילי מקיבוץ ניר עוז שנחטפה ב7.10 שבה הביתה, שנה וחצי אחרי הטבח: כוח של גולני מצא היום ברפיח את הכלבה השייכת לרחל דנציג מניר-עוז (גרושתו של אלכס דנציג ז”ל שנחטף ונרצח).
בילי הקבליר קינג צ’ארלס, בת 3 וחצי, אותרה בזכות שבב אלקטרוני. pic.twitter.com/LXC3AFalhY

— matan tzuri מתן צורי (@MatanTzuri) April 15, 2025

According to The Times of Israel, Shapira proceeded to take care of Billy for a couple of days while he worked to convince his superiors to allow him to take the pooch back with him to Israel.

“After spending the Passover Seder with his family and with Billy, Shapira brought the dog to a veterinarian who tested her microchip implant and discovered that she belonged to the Dancyg family,” the Times notes.

Shapira then got hold of the Dancyg family and brought little Billy, the good “girl,” back to her family.

Watch:

הדמעות והחיבוק אחרי שנה וחצי: צפו במפגש של הכלבה בילי עם רחל דנציג והחייל שמצא אותה ברפיח. צפו בקטע מהתיעוד המלא שישודר ב-#חדשותהערב@Itsik_zuarets pic.twitter.com/Yx5Rpe0ZlI

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) April 16, 2025

“We are in complete shock and overwhelmed with emotion to see her tomorrow,” Rachel’s son-in-law, Yaron Maor, told Israeli media. “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.”

A “miracle from heaven” indeed.

“It’s a miracle,” Rachel herself told the Associated Press. “It doesn’t make sense … People didn’t survive. How did she?”

“I couldn’t believe it. I asked for a photo. I was really confused,” Rachel’s daughter, Lee Maor, added, referencing the moment Shapira had called the family with the good news of Billy’s finding.

Billy is one of many animals — reportedly including one parrot and three horses — who’ve been plucked out of Gaza.

But strangely enough, these rescues have prompted accusations that Israel is “looting” Gaza’s animals.

“They’re looting. They’re stealing people’s pets, they’re stealing people’s jewelry. They’re even posting videos of themselves doing it,” Richard Medhurst, a British-Syrian journalist who’s notoriously pro-Palestinian, said in a recent video published to Twitter/X.

As proof, he showed a clip of an Israeli officer cuddling a kitten.

“This is probably someone’s cat,” he then claimed. “Look at the condition of the animal.”

Israel Looting People’s Pets and Jewelry In Gaza

Watch here: https://t.co/wv61aRXIKp pic.twitter.com/qhUfGzzgSs

— Richard Medhurst (@richimedhurst) November 30, 2023

Meanwhile, last month, a pro-Palestinian news outlet known as the Middle East Monitor published footage to its Facebook page that it claimed showed “Israeli soldiers in the northern part of Gaza plundering camels and donkeys from local villagers.”

Watch:

Tal Mimran of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem told the Times that whether or not all this constitutes actual looting is unclear.

“The Geneva Convention prohibits ‘pillage’ but does not define it,” he said. “Whether taking an animal constitutes pillage would depend on multiple factors, such as: Was the animal taken from someone’s possession or the street? Was it taken with the intent of stealing it or rescuing it? Is it taken into the possession of the person who took it, or handed off to authorities for its rescue?”

But Roee Shpernik, the founder of the animal welfare nonprofit Glass Walls, dismissed the whole looting argument altogether.

“[Gaza] is a Third World place, where animals’ lives count for little, with few exceptions,” he said. “Animals being brought to Israel are rescued. No one’s stealing their animals.”

Senior Staff Writer
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V. Saxena is a staff writer for BizPac Review with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University.

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