2 minutes..

2 minutes is the average time our readers spend reading our posts. Considering the incredible onslaught of information we are bombarded with every day, those two minutes are pure gold. I guess I’ll have to be very brief.

Holiday time is over. Most of our members are back to work.

We haven’t had any time off this summer, instead of going to Bora Bora as we originally intended (lol) we stayed put and we saved lives… we rescued, we treated, we found homes, we continously provided thousands of kilos of food to the abandoned dogs in Bolluca, we embarked on the reform of the shelter in Bolu, we helped pushing for change in Turkey. During the summer we have not stopped sending animals to their homes either (Rusty, George Clooney, Pufi, Leon, Cheetah and Hairy Steak, Ivan the Dog, Feather, Malka, Dash, The Brave, Lisa, Charlotte, and so many others…)

Unfortunately this massive effort has left the Simba Fund depleted. We now have no less than ten animals on our flying list, some of them to the USA (Marlon and Sasha, Oscar and his two brothers, ALL of them special needs), Monica, Vanilla, Boonie and Clyde… Those are just a few of the names.

We absolutely and desperatedly need to make an appeal to you for help, otherwise they simply won’t be able to make it to their forever homes..

When I wrote the post about Marlon I entitled it: Marlon wants to go home. We found his home.. now we just have to get him and the others there.

Please help us get these babies home… contribute to the Simba Fund: HERE.

Kind regards and many, many thanks on behalf of our babies…  Let’s get them home!

Viktor

George Clooney is now sleeping peacefully in a wonderful home in the North of Holland.

You may remember George’s story, he was a dog considered extremely dangerous by the “trainer” “behaviourist” … Buffff…   whatever…  Sharon Yildiz.

Just for you to understand how far Georgie  has gone and where he came from here is a picture taken the day of his rescue

From this…

…. to this…

For more information on this incredible story…  HERE.. and don’t forget to join the first true Global Rescue Group

Oh… sorry… before I forget…  I have something addressed to everyone that left Georgie down, from the trainer to the first foster that dumped him like a hot potato and supported him to be killed… to them… with love.

Sometimes you hear some members of Let’s Adopt! use a strange word in relation to our group. We use the word TRIBE. Today you are going to understand where this word comes from and what it means for us.
Today’s post is about possibilities. Possibilities afforded by technology and by a completely new and expanding communications environment.
I would very much like you to wath this TED talk by Seth Godin and reflect about its main idea.
I would also want you to reflect about the way you are using social networking tools. Are you making good use of them? Is your idea spreading? Are you a tribe leader?
Let’s Adopt! and its worldwide network is nothing but an spreading and unstoppable idea, the idea of No-Kill.
I really hope you enjoy what follows… go grab a cofee and soak it all in because, it will make you see the work of this group in a completely different light. EVERYTHING we do here is to spread and idea and build a Tribe.
After you’ve watched it, leave a comment in this blog, tell me if it made sense to you…

Enjoy…

Dear friends,

Today we are going to try something that, as far as we know it has never been done before, something that just a few years ago it could have never been attempted without a massive advertising expenditure.

pls read carefully and at the end PLEASE SHARE.

One of the most challenging aspects of our mission is to find foster homes. A network of foster homes is absolutely essential for the good fonctioning of any rescue organization.

A foster home is,  a temporary home where the animal gets chance to recover from the stress of being in a shelter or abandoned.  Additionally, the foster volunteer has the opportunity to work with the animal  to introduce him to family living (if its a puppy or a kitten) or to correct some of the behavior problems that may have led to him being abandoned.

Quite simply: Fostering Saves Lives.

So this is what we are going to do here today. Today we are going to use our entire network to build up our network of foster homes.

To do this we are going to need YOUR help. I need you to do three things:

1. Please feel free to use our poster, Foster Saves Lifes as avatar in your Facebook profile. You can just save the picture in this post. Alternatively you can download the small version  HERE

2. We need to have the involvement of your trusted veterinarians in this campaign. For this I would like you to download the Hig-Resolution Poster HERE, print it (in colour please) and ask your veterinary clinic to put it in its announcement board. I understand this may be a bit too cumbersome to some, but it is the fastest and most efficient way to have an inmediate distribution of this poster all over the world. It will also help us stablishing a link with our members trusted vets all over the world.

DOWNLOAD HI-RES POSTER HERE

3. Finally, I need you to share this post with your own networks. You can share it on your wall, you can email it, it doesn’t really matter, but I need you to please become personally involved in this campaign. We cannot do this alone we need you. The animals need you. PLEASE SHARE.

This campaign is being launched in our Global, USA, Canada, French, German and Turkish networks simultaneously and the homes will be available to our friends at Soi Dog / Let’s Adopt (Thailand), that are doing such an incredible job in the Far East.

If you would like to have the poster designed in your language to be used in your veterinary clinics just drop me a quick email on viktor@myletsadopt.com and Ill make sure it gets translated.

Come on.. let’s get to work.. this is very exciting! help us build a truly global foster home network.

Fostering Saves Lifes!.. Let’s get to work! That’s what we do! Save Lifes!

Start fostering today!. Contact me on: viktor@myletsadopt.com

Viktor

This post is going to force to reconsider each and every pre-conceived idea about a number of Animal Rights  Organizations, PETA in particular.  If you are happy with things as they are then I suggest you to stop reading NOW.

——-

On March 10, 2010 Nathan Winograd, the leader of the No-Kill movement and Founder of the No-Kill Advocacy Center reminded us all of the following statistics..

In 2006, an official report from People for The Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) shows that they took in 3,043 animals, of which 1,960 were cats, 1,030 were dogs, 52 were other companion animals, and one was a chicken. Of these, they killed the chicken, killed 1,942 cats, 988 dogs, and 50 classified as “other companion animals.” They found homes for only 2 cats, 8 dogs and 2 of the other companion animals.

By the numbers:

• PETA killed 1,942 of the 1,960 cats, finding homes for only 2.
• PETA killed 988 of the 1,030 dogs finding homes for only 8.
• PETA killed 50 of the 52 other companion animals (rabbits, guinea pigs, etc.), finding homes for only 2.
• PETA killed the chicken they took in.

That’s a 97% kill rate. (This was based on PETA’s own reporting to the Commonwealth of Virginia, which only requires “recordkeeping and reporting of only those animals taken into custody… for purposes of adoption.”) Despite $30 million in revenues, they found homes for only 12 animals. An additional 21 cats and 25 dogs were transferred to another agency (likely a kill shelter since PETA has a “policy against No Kill shelters.”) The rest were put to death. Why?

I had known for a long time that PETA was an advocate of the “final solution” for abandoned animals in the US, condoning and justifying the killing of millions of dogs and cats every year, but what I had no idea about was that an organization known for their exposes about animal cruelty in circuses and animal farms would bring herself to kill 2.300 dogs, most of them perfectly healthy animals.

It couldn’t be… it really couldn’t be…

But then it turned out that it was… the more research I did in the subject, the more people I spoke to, the closer I looked at the actual figures, the more terrifying and sinister things became.

I will continue quoting Winograd:

” In the last ten years, they have killed 21,537 animals: that’s roughly 2,000 animals a year every year for the last decade; or over five animals killed by PETA every single day. PETA has argued that all of the animals it kills are “unadoptable.” In fact, PETA’s attorney stated that in his letter threatening a defamation lawsuit if I did not back down. But this claim is a lie. It is a lie because the numbers historically come from the State of Virginia’s reporting form which only asks for data for animals taken into custody “for the purpose of adoption.” It is a lie because PETA refuses to provide its criteria for making that determination. It is a lie because rescue groups and individuals have come forward stating that the animals they gave PETA were healthy and adoptable. It is a lie because testimony under oath in court from a veterinarian showed that PETA was given healthy and adoptable animals who were later found dead by PETA’s hands, their bodies unceremoniously thrown away in a supermarket dumpster. And it is a lie because Newkirk herself admitted as much.”

And then It dawned on me. The very same reason why PETA’s involvement in Turkish animal welfare has been mainly limited to a few publicity stunts, and a couple of posters using footballers and singers is that, in essence, PETA’s solution to the stray dog issue in Turkey would be to round up all animals and kill them. And of course, they know this will never happen in Turkey not only The Animal Wellfare Law 5199 clearly established Neuter and Return as the only legal method to control stray dog population, the entire Turkish animal lover community is completely against euthanasia.

Ask others to stop killing whilst they themselves condone and participate in the largest massacre of companion animals in the history of makind?

Isn’t this a supreme act of hypocrisy?

We needed to speak to PETA and we were finally given the chance last week in Istanbul when we had a chat with Dave Mathews, PETA’s Vice-President.

Mathews, tall and slender cuts a dashing figure in the middle of Istiklak street in August. He arrived out of nowhere, jumped off the touristic tramway, literally grabbed the poster off the hands of one of the Turkish activists and offered his best smile for the camera.

Unfortunately for Matthews, the smile vanished the moment he realized that he was surrounded by members of Let’s Adopt!, and that, to his surprise the entire animal welfare community is united in its condemnation of euthanasia as a method of dealing with the stray dog problem.

Mathews justifications for mass killing range from the ludicrous to the tragic. He went as far as saying that “in poorer countries people dont take their dogs to veterinarians!”. Well, the USA is not precisely considered a “poor country”, so I guess that should solve the matter. No. When we proposed that Adoptions and the No-Kill Equation as the way forward Mathews completely rejected the idea as naive.

Where did it all go wrong with these people? If this what is left of PETA? Has the once mighty A dog killer in designer clothes…

Let’s Adopt!, is committed to the end of the yearly killing of millions of domestic animals, and if this commitment means to expose PETA for what they are, then so be it.

The Right to Life is the most basic and fundamental of all rights. An animal rights organization can never ignore that very basic right. By engaging in Killing activities and endorsing the execution of millions of animals a year PETA has effectively distroyed any credibility it may have as an Animal Rights organization.

A dead dog, a dead cat, has no rights any longer. He is dead! And from death, my friends, there is no way back.

Viktor Larkhill

P.S. Don’t miss this great post by Brett Sundermeyer… obviously the world has finally realised this nonsense.

Nokta has left us this morning…

She did so whilst resting peacefully in Cagri’s arms.

I cannot bring myself to write today. For those of you that never met her, here is her story…

“The tipping point is that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire.” Malcolm Gladwell

Turkey is a country of paradoxes. At the crossroads of Europe and Asia it has the region most dynamic economy, a secular state protected by the constitution.

Turkey also has one of the world’s most progressive Animal Welfare Laws. The entire country has adhered to the No-Kill principle thus it will never allow the holocaust for animals taking place in many countries in the Western Hemisphere.

Turkey will never be a massive gas chamber for dogs, no matter how much David “Buns” Mathews of PETA would like it to be (I’ll get to the PETA issue on tomorrow’s post).

But Turkey has its fair share of problems, and most of them stem from the fact that the Animal Protection LAw has no teeth, that the penalties for animal abuse, animal torture, animal rape, and all crimes commited against animals are embarrassingly low.

In Turkey you can organize not only the killing and torture of ONE animal, but a complete poisoning campaign that kills thousands of dogs and cats and traumatizes entire neighborhoods and NOTHING will happen to you. Furthermore, municipalities around the nation, realizing that fact, actively engage in massive killing campaigns, usually by poisioning in the streets, others by collecting the animals and dropping them in deserted locations to die of hunger and thirst.

And then you have atrocities comitted by private individuals, and those, go beyond anything that I can possibly put on words here.

Turkey is a country filled to the brim with animal lovers and animal rescuers. Some of the world’s most active animal rescuers live here, thousands and thousands of people care and provide for street animals and do so with admirable commitment and zeal.

It is time for the turkish legislator to ensure justice for animals.

Real Justice, real sanctions, real detrimental penalties that make people think twice before performing a cesarian operation for a dog on the streets and leaving the mother and the pups to die.

I believe Turkey has reached, or its about to reach, the tipping point. As Malcom Gladwell puts it “that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire”.

I believe the campaign started by Tuna Arman, a turkish animal lover and comedian has come at precisely the right moment, in a country that is clamoring for justice.

For the first time, thanks to social media, we have the tools to make their voices heard.

The animals are desperatedly in need and the people are ready for it.

Animal Justice.

Please join Tuna Arman and the entire Turkish Society in our demands for Animal Justice HERE.

Viktor

Click on the Parrot’s head for a full transcription of Sharon Yildiz’s assessment of the Dog you can see in this video…

Alternatively, you can read the whole exchange HERE.  A word of caution: You are going to be exposed to the ideas of a very very cruel and insensitive individual. Please be warned.

This is our last post on Sharon Yildiz’s “issue”. In our view she has been completely discredited in front of the animal welfare community. We can only hope she won’t ever be allowed to be in contact with a dog again.

A few days ago we paid a visit to the Turkish headquarters of Continental Tyres. It was a business visit, animals, for once,were not in the agenda.

As we were getting out of the car in a scorching summer day, we were approached by a smiling and friendly face. A pure breed turkish stray dog.

With tremendous confidence, Conti, as we later found out her name, approached us and, wagging her tail accompanied us right up to the front door.

It was the nicest reception we could have been given, and it spoke volumes not only about the company but about the people working in it.

Have you ever paid a visit to a turkish company?

In a country where hundreds of thousands of animals struggle to survive on the streets, most turkish companies do their very best to make sure no animal finds refuge in their premises. Over the years we have received hundreds of calls asking us to somehow remove a couple of strays found living in the garden, in many cases we have had to take some sort of action in order to protect them from a threatening security team. Our worst experience took place at the Istanbul Stock Exchange where, we literally had to negotiate directly with the Chairman in order to secure the safety of the animals.

It is a company civic duty to return some of what it takes to society, to engage in social responsibility causes, to try to better the environment where it operates. Unfortunately most companies have become to inhuman that they won’t do anything unless it generates some sort of profit, being in the form of positive cashflow or in advertising/marketing terms.

… and this is why Conti is so special… because offering a warm place, shelter, food and water to her offers absolutely no commercial justification.

It simply is, the right thing to do.

We left the company with a very positive impression, the team is charming and open to new ideas. Good people, they know what they do and they do it well.

But you know what? Our decision to get a set of Continental tyres will not only be based on factors like handling or grip, the deciding factor for us and just about every animal lover that reads this story, will be knowing that Conti, the stray dog “works” there.

May she be there for long…

Can you imagine how great it would be if every turkish company took care on ONE animal? Leave a note for Conti here…