Shelter reform in Turkey… 3.
This is a continuation of part 1 and part 2
3. It is time for Shelters in Turkey must put together proper adoption programs.
Adoptions are vital to the running of a shelter in a country where No-Kill is Law. Shelter managers should spend as much effort if not more, in trying to find good homes for the animals that they do in running the daily chores of the shelter.
If every dog and animal that dies in a loving home was replaced by a dog adopted from a shelter, adoption could give a massive blow to all those backyard breeders and Petshops doing business by breeding and selling dogs.
In North America studies show people get their dogs from shelters only 15% of the time for dogs, and less than 10% of the time for cats.
Not surprisingly there are no statistics of adoptions in Turkey but I would go as far as venturing that the adoption rate is less than 5% for dogs (if lucky) and not even 1% for cats. A real joke, and a failure of the system.
If shelter managers made as much of an effort at educating the population about adoption as they do in engaging in silly and hysterical cat fights, they could increase the number of homes available and create space in their overcrowded shelters, thus increasing the quality of life of the dogs unlucky enough to find themselves there.
Based on our experience the number of animal lovers in Turkey is far bigger than most people assume, and it is growing. But as more and more people are becoming interested in owning an animal, very few of those receives any kind of education about the situation of animals in this country.
It is time for shelter managers to put a real effort in improving their adoption programs.. and to make the process as logical and efficient as possible. It is absolutely idiotic for a shelter like Atasehir, where thousands of animals are wasting their lives in chains and suffering constant mistreatment by lazy and unmotivated municipal employees, to have an adoption schedule of two hours a day: between 13 hrs and 15 hrs. If you are seriously trying to find homes for those animals you should be working on it 24 hours a day, seven days a week, you should have proper websites, Facebook Groups, one of you should be in charge of answering emails on a constant basis, another one should be learning how to blog, to use Twitter, to create a network to find homes for your animals.
A special effort should be made to rehome handicapped animals, and when a suitable home cannot be found in Turkey you should be humble enough to seek help of rescue groups overseas.
It is dramatic to watch the collection of three legged dogs and blind dogs in Turkish shelters.
Instead, the adoption programs of the vast majority of Turkish shelters is, as of today, a ridiculous joke… and in the end the ones that pay the price are the animals.
Shelter managers, shelter volunteers, it is time to sit down and create a new strategy because the one you have right now is simply not working. Look around you, thousands of dogs in chains. The situation is dramatic, tragic, embarrassing, and even more so when most of you would never consider adopting one of those animals and focus your attention on golden retrievers. Those dogs should be in homes. It is your obligation to find a good home for each one of those animals. If you are not up to the task then you may as well pack up your stuff and go home.
Viktor Larkhill
v.larkhill@googlemail.com
what can ı say!! very well explained !
Some of our shelters in North America could read this as well. As much as many of them do to find homes, many are just not doing enough. Well said.
I went to Atasehir shelter on 4th of October. 3 blind dogs are still chained and are in terrible condition. So sad…
Why are those dogs chained?
This “Shelter Reform” series is very much important and has an incredible value for the education of people in Turkey.
It should be shared regularly. Thanks very much!
What they do in shetlers??? They KILL animals slowly, with incredible PAIN. Go to Hasdal Shelter with food and with hope, you will be welcomed as ENEMY!!!!
I would love to take animals with a disadvantage in life in my home. Giving them a few happy years with no worries and proper care. Why is it so hard for people to see that those animals need us even more.
We created the chaos ,we created the homedogs and cats but now when there are too many of them we just simply turn our backs, turn away from problems that we can solve.
My latest doggie came from Turkey and i love her to bits. This dog that nobody wanted in Turkey saved my life in Belgium while she jumped on top of me when a car drove by. Im telling you if she didnt do that i wasnt sitting here and writing this message.
From the first day this doggie came from Turkey to me we connected. She became one of my best friends, she always keeps an eye out for me,never leaves my site, always looking back if im following her, always looking up to me to see if im fine.when im sad, she is sitting next to me and comford me. She is even sharing her food with me, its her food but she always wants to share it with me.
This doggie is my soul protector, she made me even a better person.
I love her and I hope we will be together for the longest time.
So thank you Turkey for giving me the oppertunity to have this dog as my best FRIEND. She is amazing!!!!!!! she came from a shelter, but she was lucky that it was a good shelter, and victor you know my dog yourself cos you filmed her.
The point is, no animal should be living in a shelter wether it is a good one or a bad one. animals needs to be around us,in our homes save and protected.