The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant. Max de Pree
Animal lovers and activists around the world share a couple of common believes :
- That love is more powerful than hate and greed
-That if we work together we would have enough power to change things for the voiceless
-That we are the solution .
Today, more than ever , these ideas spread , faster and faster ,they find a platform to be voiced through each sincere animal lover and acitivist.
The world is smaller than ever and it is ever changing.
What stays constant is the struggle to prove indeed that these ideas are reality. that they find structure and form in everydays actions.
27 January 2013
Turkey – Yeniciftlik ; a vacation site that is widely known between animal lovers for the increasing number of stray population.The reason of this is the families dumping the pets they brought during the holiday season.
Some of the long time residents of Yeniciftlik shelter
All stray population and carelessly dumped pets are taken to Yeniciftlik Shelter ; a place the municipality was proud of (!) until a couple of months ago after having worked hand in hand with some of the well known organizations and volunteers for months.
Volunteers feeding shelter dogs
Sadly , the good will of the municipality (!) came to an end on 27 January.The dogs they have been housing and feeding with the volunteers help in Yeniciftlik Shelter disappeared suddenly and before anyone could see a trace.
The shelter volunteers,unaware of the fact that the staff designated by the municipality had helped disappearing the 200 dogs that they fed, treated and tried to find homes for , came to the shelter that day too.
A vision to remember a lifetime : the shelter was a desert.
According to the shelter staff , it was not their fault. They had simply opened the gates and the dogs ( 200 dogs ) had bolted…
The truth reveals it-self a bit later when the phone calls are made : the municipalities budget to keep the shelter running ( with the help of the volunteers who provided medical care and hundreds of packs of dog food each month !) was cut … The first thing they could think of was to disappear 200 souls in a rush .
200 souls that would translate into 200 stomachs to feed for them.
It is tragic however not new.
Exactly 6 months ago on 21 June, just a few kms away from Yeniciftlik shelter , same number of dogs have been buried under soil . The incident was disguised in a fire incident ;
You can read about Eregli fire incident HERE
On this occasion we would also like to share here various articles from newspapers in Turkey sharing similar incidents that took place over many years :
Balıkesir – Shelter kills 280 dogs
…to count a few, however the list is long.
Has anything changed? Mass killing continues but authorities take the activists less seriously.
Whilst turkish animal lovers focus on dog fur trade and on the ridiculous fantasies of dogs being sold to EU labs , the government works like a serial killer.
Heartbreaking post and sadly all too common in Turkey, at the ones in Didim the dogs disappear overnight and are dumped miles away in forests to survive on their own