I have lived in Turkey for 18 years – 10 years in Kalkan and before that in Oludeniz and Istanbul and I am involved in the group that Carole has mentioned. Neutering of stray animals was started in Kalkan in 1994 by two resident business women, one Turkish and one English. The numbers neutered in those days were smaller because Kalkan’s human and animal populations were much smaller. Over the years many more people have seen the logic behind ‘neuter and return’ and have given their help. In the last 10 years in particular, Kalkan has grown enormously due to tourism. Where as before it was a small village surrounded by acres of olive groves it is now a sprawling town, most of the olive groves have been replaced by luxury villas and apartments and in the summer there are an estimated 250 restaurants and cafes in the area. Access to Kalkan has also become much easier with new roads having been built. Is it any wonder then that the stray animal population has also grown? Kapsa – the charity mentioned above, was set up in 2008 because it became evident that more work had to be done to stem the ever increasing number of street animals here, however, the author of the post above would have people believe that the increase in the number of animals here is due to the presence of Kapsa and not the other way round.
It is a well documented fact that the taking and dumping of cats and dogs to other areas has been one method used all over Turkey for centuries for ridding villages of unwanted animals. Kalkan in this sense is no different from any other resort along the coast. But we now go out to surrounding areas offering a free neutering service and go into local schools with slide show presentations to teach the next generation about looking after animals and the need for neutering.
We do now have a winter feedng programme because after being well fed throughout the summer by restaurants, tourists businesses etc at the end of the tourist season the street animals suddenly find themselves with almost nothing to eat. We have dozens of volunteer feeders who feed many cats and dogs every day. But these people are expected to tell us about any unneutered animals on in their area. When dogs are neutered they are also vaccinated, photographed, tagged and registered, even those from outlying areas. In this way we are able to keep a track on numbers and their movements. Feeders also have to provide us with details of the dogs they are feeding (tag no. name and/or photo) this ensures we are not giving several different people rations for the same dog and it also helps us to see to it that all street dogs in Kalkan are being fed.

Just one last thing – yes our twice yearly coffee mornings with raffles and ‘bring &buy’ stalls (amongst many other things) are very profitable and have become popular events on Kalkan’s social calender for ex-pats and locals alike, but they are not quite as lucrative as Carole would have you believe. In the last year we raised a TOTAL of 46,000TL (approx £16,000) of which 24,034TL came from our coffee mornings (ie about £8,400)
the rest of the money came from donations, sale of Kapsa promotional goods such as notebooks, fridge magnets, postcards and cuddly toys. We also received a grant from the UK charity Animals worldwide. They may be able to help BIANCA too as they support TNR programmes around te world

Good luck BIANCA, and keep up the good work.

Any ideas when The Scottish Prisoner will be available for Canadians??

I’m Peathy’s (ex-Rene) new Mummy. We decided to adopt her to give her an oportunity of a better life with love and care. We believed she suffered a lot. I ‘ve had her for about 2 months and she is a sweet beautiful little doggie. She came to me very skinny but today she looks like completely different. She still has dificulties with her sight, especially with her left eye. In the beginning I also had the help of my parents. They also love her very much.
Still today, I wonder why her owner abandoned her. On the other hand, if it wasn’t for this reason I wouldn’t have the oportunity to adopt her. I’m very grateful to Ana Duarte and Anabela, from Bianca, the two persons directly involved in the adoption of my dear Peathy. But all of them, at Bianca, make a excelent work with the animals. They use their own resting time, money for the care and well being of so many animals.
At home, she’ s my whitty shadow as she follows me everywhere I go. I believe Peathy is a happy doggie now.