Today we are launching phase 2 of our campaign against Kadir Topbas, the Mayor of Istanbul.

I DON’T VOTE FOR ANIMAL KILLERS

Here is the logic… for years Kadir Topbas has shown the entire city of Istanbul that he is a man that won’t stand by his promises. It doesn’t matter if the promises are made to a group of animal lovers, to the press, to EU officials. Doesn’t matter. It’s just empty words.

Two weeks ago we launched the largest animal rights protest this country has ever seen, it was attended by thousands of people on the ground and followed on TV and Press by millions in this country. That protest was not the end of our campaign.. quite the contrary.. it was the beginning…

I DON’T VOTE FOR ANIMAL KILLERS is a statement of principles. Something that each and every single animal lover and honorable citizen not only of Turkey but of any country stands for. There are of course those that are happy with the current situation, the heartless,  lying politicians that somehow manage to find their way onto municipalities not only in Turkey but the world.

With this campaign Kadir Topbaş reaches true international status and comes to represent the face of every single politician that, quite simply, chooses extermination and death instead of life and the implementation of viable solutions. The bearded man in the poster is not a person in particular, he represents each and every municipal employee massacring animals, whenever this may be.

This won’t be a short term campaign… we are fighting against someone that has lied and deceived the public repeatedly for years and has done NOTHING to stop this atrocity.

We have designed our poster in Turkish, English, French, German and Bulgarian. To begin with we would ask all our readers and members of Let’s Adopt around the world to please use one of this posters as their profile picture and spread it all over their social networks.

It is time to stop the horror in Istanbul, and for this we need YOU.

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This is one of the most heartbreaking stories of Hasdal.

This german shepherd arrived with small injuries in his legs caused by thorns and grass of the kind you encounter in the fields/forest. They were very painful, the dog couldn’t stand on his own, but they were not life threatening.

Knowing that Ismail Ay, the veterinarian of Hasdal would NOT bother treating those injuries and that the infection would quickly spread through the body we requested to take the animal to a private clinic immediately. This request was refused. Ismail Ay wanted to deal with the case himself… he then proceeded to drop the dog in an isolation cage and told the volunteers to stay away.

Days later even Ismail Ay was horrified when he entered the cage. The most disgusting smell inmediately hit him on the face and spread throughout the shelter. It’s was the smell of rotten flesh and death. The dog lied there in a pool of blood ozzing from his legs. He was howling in absolute pain. Massive infection had spread throughout the body. Ismail Ay then finally gave an order: Take that disgusting dog away from here!

The dog was rushed to a private clinic where he died soon afterwards. There was nothing anyone could do. He died a horrifying death caused by the professional negligence of Ismail Ay, the veterinarian at Hasdal.

Call Kadir Topbas, the Mayor of Istanbul NOW. Let him know the entire world is looking at this same in their computer screens and DEMAND the immediate stop of all operations at the Hasdal shelter.

Kadir Topbas direct line: + 90 212 45521400
Email: baskan@ibb.gov.tr

WE NEED YOU, THE ANIMALS OF TURKEY NEED YOU TO COME TO BATTLE WITH US….

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On April 17, 2007, Ms Verheugen, European Parliament Vice President Günter Verheugen’s wife and ambassador of good will for Pro Animale, accompanied by the organization founder, Joanna Votke, visited Istanbul Mayor Mr Kadir Topbaş to try to convince him of the necessity of the proper implementation of a city wide program of Neuter and Return. Their visit was prompted by a scandal exposing widespread mismanagement and mishandling of public funds, a scandal that would eventually lead to the replacement of Arif Eker, the Head of the Istanbul Municipality Veterinary Department.

In that meeting Mr. Topbaş promised to take control of the situation and to set a special working task to improve the situation.

June 23, 2007,  Günter Verheugen, the European Commissioner visits Istanbul on an official trip accompanied by a EU delegation.
During that trip he mets Mr.Topbaş. After a series of pleasantries typical of such encounters Mr. Verheugen, a politician known for his direct style tells Mr. Topbaş how disappointed he is about the lack of progress after the April meeting. Mr. Topbaş, red-faced and visibly embarrassed promises Mr. Verheugen that he would personally make sure things will improve, that he will take control of the situation.

Mr. Topbaş forgot to honor his promise…. Instead he appointed Hasan Gencdal, a civil servant with strong political connections that would proceed to turn the Istanbul Municipality Neutering Program into one of the most visible and publicly embarrassing scandals ever to involve the city of Istanbul. Since his appointment, Mr. Gencdal has been fired 6 times. Time after time his political connections have put him back at the seat of the Istanbul Veterinary Department.

Three and a half years later…

January 23, 2011… Istanbul streets witness the largest demonstration for animal rights the city has ever seen. Large posters depicting Kadir Topbaş right next to some of the victims of his Municipal Rehabilitation center of Hasdal are paraded all over Istanbul. The demonstration is covered by every single media outlet, every newspaper and media station reports on the scandal. Haberturk, in it’s Istanbul edition calls Hasdal a “cronic disease of Istanbul”

Two days later, on Tuesday January 25, a small delegation of animal lovers a meeting with Mr. Muzaffer Saraç, the Head of the Municipality Health and Social Services department. Mr. Saraç’s reaction is identical to Mr. Topbaş‘s back in 2007, he is shocked and embarrassed, and promises to take immediate action. In grand and public manner he makes a series of promises, he announces a new open policy for Hasdal.. everyone is welcome to visit the shelter anytime, photographs are allowed on the premises, drastic change is to be implemented at the shelter at once. People are going to be held accountable, those responsible will be fired at once. He invites us to a second meeting on Friday 28 to discuss concrete steps to improve the situation at the shelter.

Friday, January the 28, in barely three days Mr. Saraç  forgets about his promises. The situation at Hasdal remains unchanged.

Don’t you see a trend here? We do… it’s a never ending cycle of lies and forgotten promises, lies to European Officials, lies to the Turkish citizens.

We have no more time to waste. Let’s Adopt! is moving to phase 2 of our campaign against Kadir Topbas.

The campaign will be unveiled on Monday. The Slogan: I DON’T VOTE FOR ANIMAL KILLERS. The goal, to harness the combined voting power of the entire animal lover community of Istanbul and its extended influence in order to counter the current administration chances for reelection in the next Municipal Election.

This will be a campaign unlike no other, it will be no-holds barred and we are going to need YOUR HELP to make it happen.

Stay tuned for our announcement on Monday. This is going to be the fight of our lives.

Viktor Larkhill

What better time than a miserable and rainy day in Istanbul to protest against Kadir Topbaş atrocities at the Hasdal shelter?

In the past we have seen demonstrations asking for better treatment of the animals across the nation, demanding a more humane treatment of the animals in Turkish society. Those are lofty goals and of course we support them.

But this is not why we gathered in Istanbul in this Sunday morning. This time was different. We were there to present a case, the case of the Stray Animals of Istanbul against ONE person, Kadir Topbaş  the Mayor of Istanbul.

The atrocities committed by Kadir Topbaş Municipality in their Hasdal shelter, the neutering of animals in atrocious conditions, the substandard veterinary care, the abuse physical and otherwise of the municipality towards animals and volunteers alike, the dumping of tens of thousands of dogs into the forests of Istanbul, in a practice reminiscent of darker times of our history.

The animal welfare law in Turkey is good, it aims high, it is optimistic and it has the heart in the right place. But it fails miserably. It fails because it is not enforced properly and nowhere this is is more evident than in Turkey’s largest city, Istanbul.

Kadir Topbaş and his team at the Hasdal shelter are running what amounts to nothing less than Dog Genocide. The videos recorded with a hidden camera and released last week are just the tip of the iceberg. In Hasdal, day after day, dogs are abused, operated inadequately and disposed into deserted areas like garbage, in a practice that is costing not animal lives, but human lives in the form of traffic accidents. We were there to denounce this practice that not only creates untold suffering and pain for the animals, it also shames our country as a whole.

Enough is enough!.

Tomorrow we will request a meeting with Kadir Topbas in order to try to find a solution to this problem. The public has been lied to before but the situation has reached a point where it needs to be solved, and it needs to be solved by implementing the Law correctly.

The Istanbul Municipality program needs to change radically. How?  Here is how:

1. Through the correct implementation of the program of Neuter and Return.

2. Through the implementation of Hi-Volume – Low Cost Spay and Neuter for privately owned pets

3. Through working with Rescue Groups., not fighting against them.

4. Through establishing a program of foster care.

5. Creating a comprehensive adoption program, not an imaginary one like the one the Municipality wants the public to believe it has right now.

6. Setting up a real community of support to the shelter.

and finally, and most importantly

7. Through finding a compassionate shelter director. Someone with the ideas and drive necessary to run an operation like Hasdal in an efficient and humane way, not just another puppet with political aspirations and a career stained with blood.

Let’s Adopt! and the other few quality animal organizations in this country are willing and able to help.

Let’s turn Hasdal into something to be proud of instead of the disgraceful and shameful symbol of cruelty that it is right now.

Too many lives have been lost already…

Viktor Larkhill

Let’s Adopt!

P.S. More pictures of yesterday demonstration HERE

Dear friends,

This is my last post before our demonstration on Sunday and I am indignant.

Just been on the phone with a journalists at the biggest newspaper in this country. She said they couldn’t publish anything on our
demonstration until now because they are very busy but that they will publish an article on this very important issue AFTER the
demonstration and only if it is successful AND only if we manage to bring some Pop Stars!!!!

I hung up the phone on her.

So there you have it. That is the sad truth. Turkish Media is far more interested in showing the picture of aging or slutty (or both!) popstars than about helping this country getting rid of one of its most embarrassing and visible problems, one that deeply shames millions of us in Turkey and abroad. One that is costing lives and millions of euros in negative publicity.

That doesn’t matter. The Press wants silicone tits.

The Press doesn’t give a damm toss about the lives of animals like Lilo, or Pasha, heck, the press doesn’t care about the turkish people either. Journalists are creating a generation of brainless idiots that care for nothing other than who is Tarkan sleeping with.

It’s a shame.

So we cannot count on the press, or at least in most of the Press….. but that’s  ok.

Social movements rarely, if ever have the support of mass media. Social movement always begins from the individual, from people like you and me that are fed up, angry and clamoring for change.

The animals of Turkey only have YOU to speak for them.

This is how society changes… this is how we, together, will solve the stray dog problem.

Screw the press. See you on Sunday at 11 at Gezi Park, Taxim, Istanbul. We’ll do our best to bring a couple of popstars for you.

Note: Thank you very much to HaberTurk and our friends at Today’s Zaman for the coverage they have given to our cause until now. We hope to continue having their support in the future. Our apologies for today’s rant my friends…

Sometimes nature has a way to remind us of our insignificance.
Lisa is a wonderful woman living in Rio. Her life is dedicated to helping the dogs living in the city. She rescues, treats, fosters and rehomes unwanted and abused animals.
It’s a hard life, but its also filled with love and satisfaction.

Last week her life and the lives of hundreds of animals in her village took a brutal turn for the worst.
Torrential rains unchained the worst floods in the last decade. The entire region is destroyed, hundreds died, the Army has had to get involved to help restore the most basic infrastructure.

On top of the  30 to 40 dogs she usually hosts Lisa has opened her home to over 100 animals displaced by the floods. Many of them arrived to her place by her own foot, following their instinct in the search for protection.
We need to help Lisa. The Municipality has promised to help her but for now she is pretty much on her own. Only a bunch of friends are helping her caring for the rescued dogs.
They are in serious trouble.
I have promised her our community would help. To do so the Simba Fund has created a special Chip in where the funds collected will be transfered directly to Lisa’s account.

This is not something we usually do, but in this case I couldn’t see any other way to help her.
So, please, watch this video again and think of what Lisa is going through. At a time when the vast majority walks away with whatever they can get, Lisa stayed behind to help those who have noone else.
It’s our duty to help her…
Please, more than ever, contribute to the Simba fund today. Any amount will help, 5, 10, 50 USD… it’s the entire community effort that will provide relief to Lisa and the dogs of Rio.
Please contribute to the rescue of the dogs of Rio by contributing through this Chipin. We have set up a goal of 10.000 USD… surely must more will be needed but this will be a start… Thank you!

Update 27 April: Vida, one of our most dramatic rescues, an animal that had been disposed in the middle of the fields like trash, nearly died, experienced a wonderful recovery and she is now ready to go a wonderful home.

Please read the rest of the post to understand exactly what Vida went through…

Our conditions for adoption:

1. Vida MUST have an existing animal.
2. Vida MUST live inside the home, not on the garden.
3. Vida MUST be fed a RAW diet (www.rawfed.com)

and finally…

4. The family will be a non-smoking family. Second hand smoke kills and makes miserable the lifes of both humans and animals. Vida’s life has been miserable until now.. at least now she will enjoy a clean crisp air in her new home.

Note: The comment section in our blog is closed. The goal is to increase the number of posts shared on Facebook and Twitter. I would please request to share this posts in your profile and adding your own personal commentary in your wall.. I believe this will increase the spread of our appeals. Please SHARE

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It’s an early morning in Istanbul.

The Istanbul Municipality van drives through a lonely road in a village far away from Istanbul. In the back, shaken and terrified, 5 stray dogs violently hit the walls with each bump of the road. The barks and screams can be heard by every villager en route.

Upon arriving to an isolated location the Municipal drivers brutally unload the frightened animals onto the side of the road.

Two of the animals are in good condition but the other three barely have any strength to move.  Mila is one of them. Too weak to move she lies on the grass, waiting to die.

We were there.

The entire event was caught on camera as part of an on-going investigation by Let’s Adopt! into the atrocities commited by Kadir Topbaş Hasdal shelter and the Municipality’s well documented practice of dumping dogs in the forests and deserted locations.

The events of that morning, together with undercover footage obtained by Let’s Adopt! proves, beyond any shade of doubt, the blatant disregard for the Law by Kadir Topbaş team and the constant and sustained lies of the Municipality to the Press and the general public.

It was barely weeks ago that the brutal killing of a cat made the entire turkish society get up in arms in rejection of animal cruelty.
The events and practices that have come to light show a different kind of cruelty, one no less brutal and affecting to a much larger number of animals, and cast serious doubts over the credibility and honesty of Kadir Topbas and his administration.

In recent months the European Union has granted the Istanbul Municipality large amounts of money in order to improve their sheltering practices, with a shelter currently being built in Istanbul with European Union funds.

European Union officials declare to be totally unaware and shocked by these practices. The scandal threatens to bring European Union funding to a halt.

Kadir Topbaş and the Istanbul Municipality deny any wrongdoing and claim the footage and the scandal to be fabrications. We let you be the judge of that.

Viktor

P.S. Mila died this morning after spending a week in intensive care.

The second dog, that we have named Vida, was rescued, she is in a critical condition.

It all started last Friday with our release of a hidden-camera recording taken at the infamous Municipal shelter of Hasdal (Istanbul). This exceptional document, as it exposes the terrible reality of Turkish shelters. It shows in a direct and impacting way the brutal behavior of turkish shelter workers, the abhorrent manner in which animals are treated there and the horrific reality of what in Turkey is called, euphemistically “Animal Rehabilitation”.

Then, on Saturday, Haberturk, one of the leading newspapers in Turkey published the horrific conditions in which animals are operated in the shelter of  Çerkezköy, near Istanbul.

The  Turkish animal lover community is torn about how to handle such disclosures.

On one side many of them feel compelled to downplay the seriousness of the situation in an effort to hide the truth of the horrors in front of the international community. Nobody likes his country shown in such poor light.

On the other, many of us are determined to continue fighting and exposing this shameful reality in the hope to improve the situation.

As most of you know last year we focussed most of our efforts in rehoming as many blind and handicapped animals as we could, most of them coming right out of shelters like the ones shown in those images.

This year the priority of this group will be to completely expose and shame the people responsible for the situation in Turkish shelters. We are going to push for a complete overhaul of the turkish shelter system.

This country is No-Kill by law but in fact it is a vast Killing field.

I give you my word,we are going to do our change that, sadly, most of you will not like what you will see. Don’t forget one thing, the
readers of this blog are, or should be, above all, animal rescuers and animal protectors. If you don’t feel this way you are simply in the wrong place.

Call Kadir Topbas, the Mayor of Istanbul NOW. Let him know the entire world is looking at this same in their computer screens and DEMAND the correct application of Turkish Animal Welfare Law 5199
Kadir Topbas direct line: + 90 212 45521400
Email: baskan@ibb.gov.tr