KAPSA and the street animals of Kalkan urgently need your help

[foreverkalkan]

They may be strays but they act wild

[Hoca]

There is one thing that is a fact in all of this is that there is to many stray dog''s be them street dog''s or owned by people who turf them out for the day to annoy others.
No amount of neutering will reduce the population so removing them is the only option surely.
Remember a lot of Turkish people are very afraid of dogs and may decide to sort the problem themselves in a far less humane manner, and who can blame them.

[Alfaman]

I have followed this debate with interest as our sixth visit to Kalkan in June was made much less pleasant than previously by dogs knocking our table when dining on the harbourside, fighting over their territory outside the Merkez, begging for titbits and roaming the village in intimidating packs. The neutering argument seems to rest on a village "supporting" a fixed number of neutered strays until they eventually die out.The removal, kennelling and, if not collected by the owner - humane putting down is, however, what we in the UK have decided on, backed by necessary laws to back it up. For just one English authority''s advice on strays see
http://www.southlakeland.gov.uk/default.aspx?page=309.
An annual survey by the Belediye or volunteers of dogs on the streets would prove whether or not the neutering measures are working or another method needs to be considered.

[foreverkalkan]

Hoca and Alfaman, I agree with you both, but you won''t get any reply''s

[MrBodrum]

I 100% agree!! My parents are off to kalkan for the first time tomorrow morning and i know the "dogs" will be a spoiler to the holiday!  Such a shame as everything else about Kalkan is perfect!

[Lougie]

I''m going to Kalkan for new year & my only concern is the dogs, I was hoping they would go away for the winter as there would be no tourists to feed them but reading other posts it seems they will be there in force, worst than usual probably, this is the only thing I''m not looking forward to but I won''t be afraid to kick one of them up the back side if they go for me or one of my family members & then I''ll just run!!

[Alfaman]

Having re - read the South Lakeland link, it can be misread in the sense that it does not explain what it means by "disposal". For example Eastbourne Council''s website explains "Our Dog Welfare Officer and kennels go to great lengths to ensure that any stray dogs not reclaimed by their owner after seven days are re-homed to avoid the need of putting them down.  In the last ten years only nine dogs have had to be put down, all of which were not suitable for re-homing due to either ill-health or their temperament."
So dog lovers and Kalkan''s environment should both be satisfied if such a system could be put into place.  As North Warwickshire''s website says: "Dogs should not be let out unaccompanied, as they may:
foul indiscriminately
attack other animals / people or be attacked
be stolen
cause road accidents
be caught by or given to the dog warden, or Police
The owners of a dog which causes or inflicts damage may be liable for a claim for compensation in respect of it."
Surely a good reason not to continue tolerating roaming dogs in Kalkan?
 

[Alfaman]

P.S. having re read the posts, Lantana is excused from rehoming any more dogs - unless she wants to set up a commercial kennels!

[Lantana]

Thank you Alfaman

I actually agree with the posters who suggest that the stray dogs must be managed more pro-actively. The problem is how and by whom. Turkey is  a large country with very limited resources. It does not have the resources to effectively provide services to all its human population, so stray dogs come very far down the line in terms of priorities and the allocation of resources. So talk of dog wardens, shelters, dog pounds etc are completely unrealistic. There is neither the money nor will for that to happen at present.

There is no national animal welfare organisation along the lines of the RSPCA. Animal welfare is largely in the hands of people who have been concerned enough to take matters into their own hands, sometimes informally, sometimes through associations.  In cities such as Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir (the three of which I have experience) all animal welfare is overseen by concerned Turkish  ( and occasionally foreign) citizens and largely funded by them from their own pockets with varying degrees of support from the local Belediyes.

If everyone who wrote on this site about how concerned they are about the stray dogs in Kalkan  and suggested that ''something must be done'' gave Kapsa twenty pounds, something could be done.

Unfortunately, rarely is that re-homing. It is almost impossible to find homes for stray dogs here. All the foreigners living here who are concerned about the stray dog situation have taken dogs into their homes. We never intended to have eight dogs.  In each case, we took sick or injured dogs off the street, paid to have them treated and then could not find them homes, so they now live with us. It costs us a small fortune, in food, monthly tick and flea treatments, annual vaccinations and vet bills.  In the last three months our dogs have cost us £800. Now multiply that by all the dogs in Kalkan and you get an idea of how much money is needed to try and just contain the situation.

I do appreciate how frightening it can be to see a large group of stray dogs and how some people may be very  alarmed by these dogs. Many of us who live here all year round, know the majority of these dogs and even have names for them.  But because we don''t find them frightening and consider them ''friends'' doesn''t of course make any difference to the people who find them intimidating.

There is no easy answer to the problem. Even if every dog on the streets of Kalkan was rounded up today and destroyed, by the time most of you come back next year for your holiday, a new dog population will have taken their place and these dogs will not be neutered and socialised in the way the existing animals have been.

Stray dogs are a problem all over Turkey, in Ankara, in the very affluent suburb where we lived, there were packs of up to twenty dogs on every piece of land. Every few months the Belediye (illegally) put down poison. For days afterwards we would find dogs dying in agony. For a week or two after there would be no dogs, within a month of each cull, there were more than ever.

So please if you want to see an improvement in the situation, do consider making a donation.

Lantana

[Cosetta]

Very nicely put, Lantana.  People should put their money where their mouth is!

[Alfaman]

It''s a problem for businesses and residents, not visitors who see no reason to "put their money where their mouth is" -other than changing to a destination without a dog problem! (and the dogs chasing each other round restaurant tables and fighting outside Merkez certainly were''t "socialised").

[Lougie]

Sorry to stick my beak in again but I went to Istanbul in January & I think I saw a total of 2 or 3 dogs the whole time I was there, Istanbul is probably 100 times bigger than Kalkan so whatever method they are using must be working??

I agree that the animals shouldn''t be poisoned, it is unnecessary & after all it''s not the animals fault.

There are some lovely dogs in Kalkan who we too have made friends with (only after a few drinks though when we are feeling brave) but there are also some viscous ones, it would be great to have a system like in England where dangerous dogs are humanely put to sleep but as Latana mentioned there is not the money etc to do this & it''s not England & not our country!

It is a shame that there is no easy solution to this as it may put a lot of people off Kalkan, especially families with children.

[Hoca]

I would gladly give £20 pounds if i thought it would be used to remove some of the existing dogs from the street. You may want to look at the article on the front of today''s "Posta"

[foreverkalkan]

I agree with you Lougie and Hoca, I would give money too if it wasnt just to feed and neuter them but to get the numbers down, not by culling every animal maybe just the vicious/sick/old etc and getting locals to be responsble for they own, I dont know what the answer is but there must be a way

[The Reds]

I think the early morning dawn chorus from our local `scoundrels`(thats what my daughter calls the dogs) is getting on the nerves of the local Turks. For the past couple of days shot gun/gun shots have been echoing over to Akbel. I`m sure there not shooting at them, but in the general direction to get them to move on.
But for how long?