Job Discussion Forums

[samuraiwriter]

Something important:

My wife and I have had enough. We want to help and we are going to help. We care for many stray animals (mainy cats) in our area (Yenikoy) and have looked into doing more. We visited Evsiz Hayvanları ve Doğayı Koruma Derneği and were inspired by their message.

Does anyone else feel the same way? Of course you do!

We see the dogs are tagged (vaccinated) and re-released. What about the cats? Does anyone know?

We can no longer sit back and only feed these animals which need so much more.

So does anyone have any experience in this matter?

Oh, by the way, leave the arm-chair comedy routines and sarcasm for another thread. Keep it on point, keep it serious, keep it helpful.

Thanks,
SW

[mongrelcat]

0535.2050987 �z�n Buyukada dog shelter. he may have contacts and infor elsewhere.

http://www.wagny.org/turkey looks like mostly about the dog situation. may be contacts on the website.


http://www.evsizhayvanlar.org/general/index.html a very good group concerned about, again, mostly the dogs.

my merhaba.com
has a message board and s subforum on animals. there are probably some like-minded people there.


cats are vermin in Turkey. except in Van, probably.

[samuraiwriter]

Thank you so much for the reply, great stuff to look into.

The idea that cats might be considered vermin in Turkey really upsets us. Stokes the fire even more to help them out, even if it is just the two of us.

We brought 4 vermin from the US because we adopted them from shelters and we would be damned if we were to give them back to death row. It was the best decision we ever made by the way.

[Shalana]

Please don't assume all the cats are strays and treated like vermin. The cats around my flat are fed and watered daily by people. I understand that this is not the case in every neighborhood, but there are exceptions.

[samuraiwriter]

We would never assume that, the idea that it may be a reality is sickening enough. We know you are right. We have seen many, many times in this city that cats are loved. But now we feel that they need more than just food and water. They need vaccinations against rabbies, neutering etc... and we need people to help all across this city. A few Lira, a few hours. If we can come together and help change... well isn't that what it is all about. As teachers especially, we don't do this for the money, we do it for the greater good. We should apply that ideology in this cause as well.

Thank you for the kind words.

[007]

BTW, are animal societies allowed in Turkey or not?

[samuraiwriter]

Yes they are.

BTW: Are you being a pri.ck?

Manners my friend, manners.

Perhaps you could pass along some of your infinite wisdom along to me some time "warrior."

[007]

[samuraiwriter]

007-

Sometimes I misread things and for that I am sorry.

I am also sorry to hear about the current state of affairs in your area. I do believe in time things will improve, as all things in the world.

Animals keep us sane, to see them suffer as they do here in Istanbul is hard to deal with sometimes. Today is one of those days.

Good evening to you.

[Golightly]

While it is laudable to consider homeless animals, I think more people worry about homeless people, especially children, in Turkey. Although familal systems are arguably stronger, when people fall, they fall out of the system seriously hard. In my time there, I heard stuff about some of those kids that I at first dismissed as unbelievable, until I talked with a couple of people who were trying to work with the street kids.
I think attitudes towards street dogs and cats vary according to the area you're in: However, an overarching policy of dealing with the situation that is compassionate is unlikely until Turkey is considerably richer, in terms of income to the central state system, than it is. Unitl then, there will be the occasional pogrom and the occasional outcry, but the animals will be left because they work as an extremely rudimentary waste disposal system in the poorer districts. Quite simply, they are not a priority for local, regional or national government.

Good luck, anyway.

And I managed to get to the end without any armchair humour or sarcasm at all.

Never mind, I'm sure Baba will be along with a massive fart soon.

[FGT]

I sympathise with your views. I also try to do what I can in my area.

I think dogs tend to fare worse than cats because of the different way they are viewed in Islam.
Neutering/spaying is even more important than vaccination. and then there's worming, de-fleaing etc etc. It's never ending!

[samuraiwriter]

What did my father tell me? "Pick your fights son."

The reason this post was initiated was to perhaps find other international teachers in the city with a Lira or two to spare and perhaps combine forces to help fund the organizations who rely solely on donations to help achieve their aims. Maybe even give an hour or two of their time to help out as well. As you said the gov't here doesn't seem too interested or doesn't have the needed bank to be as interested as they would want to be. Whatever the case may be.

We (a lot of us) have the means to help out here and there, we should also feel obligated to do so. It is not take, take, take... find a new job somewhere else in the world, move there and begin taking again. That is parasitic behavior and lets face it, many of the people living in these countries see it that way. We as international teachers should try to give a little back. Children, disabled, elderly, animals, homelessness, the ill, whatever. Just give back something, you do it at home don't you?

We (my wife and I) are interested in animals, even more specifically the street cats. Perhaps this is a cause people are interested in here, perhaps not. There are many avenues to raise awareness, this is just one of them. I can already tell you what I plan to do in my school during the next school year, besides just teach English.

Having read this forum for past year I fully expect sarcasm and humor. It is in fact why I find this forum pretty amusing to read at times. Fine. But on my end, for this particular thread, it comes across as immature and pitiful. Do what you will, say what you like. But remember there is a time and place for everything. We take this seriously and respectfully hope that others do as well.

Stepping off the soapbox now...

-SW

Think about it...

[yaramaz]

[Baba Alex]

* massive fart *

[scot47]

Charity ? Some of us do cats. Some of us do people.