Where are all the doggies going?????

I have, this week, had YET ANOTHER call from a concerned Brit living in AltinkumWho has noticed that the street dogs are disappearing once again, with no one in authority being able to say where they are going!After many members of the Absolutely Altinkum internet forum site, asked where the dogs were disappearing to, I spoke to Burcin Topal, who is the Belediye liaison officer for the animals, and she informed me that the Belediye are actually collecting the street dogs, because of all the complaints.

This is IN SPITE OF THE MINISTRY AGENT TELLING THEM THEY CANNOT AS IT IS ILLEGAL! But more interesting, when I asked where they were being taken, I was informed, they are being taken to the shelter. NOT TRUE.

To date, since this conversation about 4 weeks ago, NO ALREADY NEUTERED, EAR-TAGGED DOGS HAVE BEEN TAKEN TO THE SHELTER, except those few aggressive ones that were deemed a danger and had to be put down, which amounts to about 6. I asked who was collecting them, and was told, Mehmet, the vet Ali Durmus’s assistant. I called Mehmet to try and throw some light on this matter, and he assured me that he is NOT collecting tagged dogs to take to the shelter.

So, WHO IS, AND WHERE ARE THEY BEING TAKEN? OR ARE THEY BEING KILLED AGAIN….ILLEGALLY????

The caller today said he has lived here for 5 years, and knew for a fact there were 28 dogs on the beaches between the harbour and the Tuntas Hotel at the further end of 2nd beach. He said now there are about 6. He called me to ask where the other 20 or so have gone. Absolutely Altinkum Forum members from all around the resort are concerned that their street friends that they have been feeding and looking out for have disappeared. ‘Choccy’ from the Hilltop bar, who was know to everyone round there, and has been there since before the Hilltop bar was the Hilltop bar, has gone.

What a dear, sweet and loving dog she was. Gone. I have had about 10 calls from concerned residents whose street dogs are no longer there. People already suspect that the council are killing them, as they call me generally to ask if they have turned up at the local shelter, and I have to answer NO.

So, it seems SOMEONE must know something, but of course, no one will admit to culling, as this is illegal and would really be a nationwide scandal, apart from whatever coverage we could get internationally too. There is already a huge internet petition, titled…”Welcome to Turkey, hell on earth for animals” to try and get European Tourists to boycott Turkey as a holiday destination, till something is done about the appalling treatment of animals generally. I still hear of local children setting cats tails alight, chopping off puppies heads as they “ practice “ for when they are ‘men’ and have to sacrifice the sheep, and just a few months ago, someone brought a little puss to the dog shelter who had been put into a bread oven…yes, believe it!!

So WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT THE DOG SITUATION??

Unfortunately, absolutely nothing without proof.  So, the Didim Friends of Animals charity members are calling out to all residents of Didim to be especially vigilant. Please carry a camera or camera phone everywhere. If anyone sees anyone catching, shooting, netting, or tranquilising, any dog that already has an ear tag, please photograph or video them.

It may be a Zabita person, or may not, but whoever it is, we NEED PROOF TO STOP IT. Whoever is doing it is doing it very sneakily, in the middle of the night or early morning, when they are not seen. Although one lady did say her husband told her the ‘council men’ came and took a dog away from outside her house one afternoon. She described it to me, but it did not turn up at the shelter. But no proof, as this is only hearsay.

In the meantime, we will suffer the dwindling numbers of our loyal friends once again, while everyone in authority tries to blame ‘local residents’ (what, they poisoned 20 dogs all from the same area??? Yeah!), instead of stopping what they are SEEMINGLY doing, which of course they cannot possible own up to as it is ILLEGAL.

Toby is a one year old male Alsatian cross. We are not sure what he is crossed with, but whatever it was, it had very short legs, as he is a little stumpy fella! He has a Turkish owner at the moment, who loves him to bits, but his neighbours have complained because he is kept in the communal garden, and they don't want him there, so he sadly has to be re-homed. His real name is Kont, but as I see him almost every evening when walking my dogs, I changed it to Toby, as I don't like the sound of Kont!!!

Also, the truly gorgeous pure cocker spaniel at the shelter is still there, and needing a home desperately. She is not a street dog, and has been dumped by someone, probably British, as she seems to understand English. She has a bit of kennel cough at the moment, and the vet says that if she could be taken away from the dog shelter, she would get better much quicker, and then she needs a minor operation on a hernia, which will be paid for by the charity. If anyone can offer her either a permanent home, or even a foster home for a few weeks to help clear up her kennel cough, please contact Gill on 0546 230 0340 or Vet Ali Durmus at Pet Care VETERINARY CLINIC.