Best Woof about Turkey: Experiencing a Turkish bath at Suleymaniye Hamami – the oldest establishment in Turkey! (Thanks to the team who permitted ‘paws’ inside for the first time – you guys bubble!

Worst yelp about the Turkey: Not chasing one!

Just when I thought that a ‘big family’ meant a 100 dogs in a shelter was a lot of woofs, I arrived in Istanbul! I spent 2 days here with a fascinating visit to the Yedikule Shelter under the powerful paws of Architect Meral Olcay – President and founder of this mighty mutt shelter. Approximately 2500 dogs call this place home – and because they restrict their adoptions to areas where they regularly check up upon, the adoption rate averages at around one and a bit a day. What’s even more surprising is that isn’t even the largest shelter in Turkey! There are in fact 63 shelters Istanbul alone and Buyukcekmele Shelter on the other side of town has more than 3000 dogs. It sounds crazy, but there are a lot of stray and abandoned dogs in Turkey and depending on the circumstances – this is, in many cases, a dog’s only hope.
Meral and her 15 -20 volunteers know the names of every single dog at the Yedikule Shelter – and no dog is ever destroyed or turned away. 7 dogs are groomed each day – and by the time everyone is finished, it’s time to start all over again. There are literally dogs everywhere you look – even outside the borders of the shelter itself! There is even a large cage with a red velvet chair where disabled dogs (disabled through car accidents, beatings or bullet shots) are ‘walked’ each day with the help of a specially designed cart. Through painstaking effort and rehabilitation, the dogs just seem really grateful to still be alive. It made me sniff – nothing can prepare you for the moving moment of a handful of volunteers spending so much time preparing a disabled dog for a few minutes of exercise a day. As one of the volunteers Tolga Oztorun says, ‘We are all crazy, but we love dogs’. This is one big family where life may not be perfect, but it’s sincerely cherished.
We rounded up our awareness campaign in Istanbul on the City Sight Seeing bus, which included a vroom-vroom at the Blue Mosque. The kids sang, the cameras rolled, and for just a few moments, dog adoption was on board the leader boards in Turkey.
A massive bark of thanks to Sirma for letting us use her City Sight Seeing bus for the World Woof Tour in Istanbul. (She is a very kind lady who asked nothing in return – Thank You Sirma!) To Bahar and her team at W Hotel Istanbul – Wow – when you say PAW ‘Pets Are Welcome’, it’s an under statement – One day when every dog is sterilized and there is no more need for any shelters I’m coming back to make one of your rooms my permanent kennel! To the team at the oldest Turkish baths in Istanbul – You guys were very cool to let me be the first canine since 1550 to woof into the premises to shake water all over the place. That’s Woof Spirit – Thank You! Lastly, to Meral, Nergis (my English interpreter), Harken (ROGZ) and all the kids and their teachers who showed up and sang to me on the Woof bus and for speaking such great English, you made this dog’s day! Thank you…

 

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