Ayak’s Animals Group on FB and a couple doing their best for animals in Milas, Turkey
Turkey hosts many people of foreign origin who have adapted to this country and mingled with locals nicely and some of these people really contribute so much, in several different ways. One example is Linda Kaya and her husband who live in Turkey. Linda and her husband provide so much support for animals that as animal friendly people we thought we should share the story of this couple and what they have been doing for these innocent friends.
Linda and her husband Kaya live in a remote village outside Milas where they work together to provide food and welfare for the street animals there and the surrounding area. They have rescued and re-homed dogs (and cats) since they settled in Turkey 21 years ago. They still do their best to re-home street dogs that cannot survive on the streets. They have been doing this since they moved to the village they live in, 11 years ago. They have many rescued animals at own home all vaccinated, neutered etc.
Linda says “We feed strays in the village and have managed to save some dogs who have been victims of poisoning, shooting and accidents and obtained vet treatment for sick dogs. We have dogs neutered and spayed and administer worm and flea treatments etc.
My husband has worked tirelessly to change the attitude in the village towards street animals, and as a result in recent months, one of the tea-houses now feeds dogs and cats with food we supply.
We have also added a cat area just outside our house and at the moment around half a dozen cats visit each day to be fed. There are also two kennels outside the gate for any passing cat or dog to take shelter. We replenish food and water daily.
My husband goes every day to the local SANAYI (industrial zone) when he is not working where he feeds many more dogs with the help of a few men we have recruited as feeders. We supply the food. He has built kennels for some of the dogs on nearby waste ground. When he is unable to get to the SANAYİ, a friend there looks after the welfare of the dogs and is in daily contact with my husband who will arrange vet treatment when necessary. We also get vet treatment for other injured dogs at the sanayi and many of them have been vaccinated. We provide worm and flea treatment for as many dogs as we can.
At the moment, we have managed to neuter or spay almost all of the dogs at the sanayi and in the village with a couple of exceptions… pups who are not quite old enough, and two mothers still feeding. These are on the list to be done as soon as they are ready.
There will be more dogs to deal with of course, as sadly people continue to dump unwanted animals in our village or at the sanayi. I cannot imagine a day in the future when our work will be done. Our aim is to get as many dogs neutered/spayed as possible to contribute to lowering the population of street animals.
We are not wealthy people and live a pretty basic life and are only able to do what we do thanks to the generosity of our supporters. I have a group page on Facebook (link below) for those interested in reading about our work. It’s also a useful place to share information which can help other rescuers.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1607279819516748 “
We sincerely thank Linda and her husband for all the work they have been doing and sacrifice they have made all along to look after these street animals. What they have been doing is something very special and a good opportunity to remind we are human and these animals need our support to survive.
So we thought we should share their story hoping they would get to know more people to give this endeavor a hand.
