Last week Turkey was shocked by  the gruesome murder of a little stray cat in Bornova, Izmir. His name was Yamuk.

Yamuk’s death was brutal,  painful in its randomness and, unlike the deaths of so many, it became public, for anyone to see. The killer Ufuk Gunaydin, was arrested and released after  paying a fine of 657 Turkish Liras (close to 450 American Dollars).

This event brought memories of another murder, one that took place over a year ago, in Istanbul, the killing of Ebru, the dog of the Marmara Hotel. In that ocassion there were no cameras to film the horrific actions, but the result was the same, a helpless animal dying in pain and reminding each and everyone of us that there are killers amongst us.

Turkish society has finally awaken to the bitter reality of animal cruelty, and stands united in condemnation, in demand for stronger laws to punish animal cruelty.

The media is finally listening, and the legislator in Ankara has got the message. The current state of affairs is not to be tolerated any longer.

The problem is, laws must apply to everyone. As of today, the biggest perpetrator of animal cruelty in this country are the municipalities themselves. Rogue Mayors all across the nation coninue to ignore the Law and continue organising poisoning campaigns. In most cities, starting by Istanbul, animal shelters are nothing but massive concentration camps for dogs run by municipalities and shelter managers who seem to be there for nothing but releasing their sadistic impulses.

It is time for the Mayors of this country to understand that the situation of the animals in their cities is not just a problem to manage, it is one of the most evident and obvious signs of their failures or success as leaders of the society.

So far most of them, starting by Kadir Topbas, the Mayor of Istanbul Greater Municipality are failing miserably.

Turkey has one of the world’s most progressive Animal Rights Laws. The entire country is No-Kill, something that places us at the level of Germany. The demonstration of Saturday in Istanbul, the biggest show of support this country has ever seen  shows that Turkey is ready for change.

Today I am filled with the hope that maybe, just maybe, one day Turkey will be regarded as a place where animals are treated with respect and compassion, and Mayors across the nation will understand that society holds them accountable.

Ghandi wrote: “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated”. I am sure each and every attendant to the demonstration yesterday will agree with me that, by those standards Turkey is still near the bottom of the ladder.

Change is at the reach of this generation, we are in the right path but we must all get to work.

For the animals

Viktor Larkhill

Coco's bullet

BİR KURŞUN

Coco trafik kazası geçirmemiş… Coco vurulmuş…

The Good Doctor

A BULLET

This will be extremely short, as sometimes, even I can be at a loss for words.

Today we found out the reason for Coco’s paralysis.

Coco did not have a traffic accident. Coco was shot.

She has a bullet lodged on her spine. A small little bullet from an air rifle. The would be killer aimed for the heart… instead, the
bullet got lodged on her spine and ended her life as she knew it.

Today Coco spent the day with me on my car, going from vet to vet and then accompanied to a couple of business meetings.  At some point, looking at her sitting quietly on the back of my car I had to make a big effort to refrain myself from crying.

Coco will be flown overseas for the best medical treatment available in the world. Chances for recovery are about 30 %.  It is either that
or a life spent on a wheelchair and having someone helping her pee and poo for the rest of her life.

Let’s Adopt! is all about Hope.  She will be giving the chance.

I will be covering all medical treatment and expenses. Contact me if you feel want to help me giving a new life to Coco.

All the best

Viktor Larkhill

v.larkhill@googlemail.com

Birkaç gün once Sahip Çıkalım kayıtsız kalamayacağımız bir yardım çağrısı aldı.

Son günlerde elimizde o kadar çok vaka var ki, bazılarına yetişemiyoruz. Neden mi? Çünkü biz birkaç gönüllü tarafından yürütülen bir grubuz ve yetişemediğimiz kadar çok işimiz var. Daha fazla gönüllüye, boş söz söyleyip durmak yerine olağanüstü şeyleri başarabilecek kişilere çok ihtiyacımız var.

Dün öyle bir yardım çağrısı geldi ki es geçemedik.

Dişi bir köpek yavrusu, ismi Kara. Köpek yavrusu istismar edilmiş ve korkunç derecede şiddete uğramıştı. Akciğerleri parçalanmış, çenesi kırılmıştı. Yavru acı içerisinde ağlıyordu. Hayatta kalamayacağını anlamak zor değildi.

Bu köpek yavrusu Erzurum’daydı, ülkenin uzakdoğusunda.

Erzurum’da olduğunu duyduğum anda aklıma hemen Jonah geldi. Jonah geçen sene Van’da kaza geçirmiş ve “hayvansever”lerin koordinasyon eksikliği ve internet iftiracılarının işe karışması nedeniyle hiç ekipmanı olmayan ve içindeki veterinerlerin köpekleri koyun ve inekler kadar tanımadığı bir hayvan hastanesinde acı içerisinde can vermişti.

Bu seferkinin farklı olacağı konusunda kendimize söz verdik.

Erzurum’daki insanlardan köpeği uçakla bize göndermelerini istedik ki buradaki hastanede tedavi ettirebilelim. Bu mümkün olmadı. Ne kadar çabaladıysak, ne kadar seçenek sunduysak da bir türlü yapılamadı. Köpek yavrusunu almak zorunda olduğumuzu biliyorduk.

Sorun şu ki Erzurum uzak. Çok uzak. Tam olarak 1.057 kilometre.

Daha sonra neler yaptığımızı ve Kara’nın Ankara’ya getirilmesini nasıl organize ettiğimizi uzun uzun anlatmayacağız. Bu, Sahip Çıkalım’ın bilgi birikimiyle oldu ve bizi özel yapıyor; şu kadarını söylemek gerekir ki hayvan hakları topluluklarındaki HİÇ KİMSE bizim bu kopek yavrusunu güvenli bir yere getirmek için yaptıklarımızı yapmazdı.

Hiç kimse.

Biz ise Erzurum’dan dün gece 2 köpek yavrusu kurtarduk, Kara ve Limon.

Kara Ankara’daki en iyi hayvan hastanelerinden birine gitti. Durumu ciddi şekilde kritikti. Akciğerlerinde çok fazla enfeksiyon vardı ve iç kanaması durdurulmaya çalışılıyordu.

Birkaç dakika once, 21:00’de öldü. Kazanamayacağı bir savaştı.

Limon’un sağlığı ve durumu iyi. Bulunduğu yerde kalsaydı hayatta kalamayacağını biliyorduk. Çok akıllı bir çocuk, akıllı olduğu kadar şanslı da çünkü ne olursa olsun bizim bakımımız ve korumamız altında olduğu için iyi olacak.

Limon şanslıydı, çok çok şanslı.

Eğer bu özel köpeği sahiplenmek isterseniz lütfen bizimle iletişime geçin. O kendisi için mükemmel aileyi arıyor ve biliyoruz ki mükemmel aile aramızdan biri.

Saygılarımla,

Viktor Larkhill

v.larkhill@googlemail.com

Yesterday,  Let’s Adopt received one of those calls for help that couldn’t be ignored.

In recent days we have been swamped with cases that, most of the time, we are unable to help with. Reasons? We are a group run by a bunch of volonteers and we are totally overwhelmed. We need more volunteers, people committed to achieve extraordinary things not just empty words.

Yesterday we received a call for help that we just couldn’t pass on.

It was a female  puppy. Her name: Kara. The puppy had been abused and hit with extreme violence. Her lungs were crushed and her jaw was shattered. The pup was crying in pain. We could quickly see she was not going to make it.

The puppy was in Erzurum, in the Far East of the country.

When I heard Erzurum I inmediately thought of Jonah, the pup that last year was crushed to death in Van and that, because of the lack of coordination of “animal lovers” and the interference of internet slanderers ended up dying in some under equipped and badly managed veterinarian hospital at the hands of a group of vets who, simply put, knew more about cows and sheep that they knew about dogs.

We promised ourselves this case would be different.

We tried to have the people in Erzurum to fly the dog to us so that we could treat him at our hospital. This proved impossible. No matter how much we tried, how many options we offered them, it just couldn’t be done. We knew we would have to go get the pup.

Problem is, Erzurum is far. Very far. Exactly 1.057 kilometers away.

We will not elaborate on what we did next and the way we organized to have Kara brought to Ankara, it is part of the Lets Adopt know-how and what makes us special, but just let me say this, NOBODY in the animal welfare community would go to the extent that Lets Adopt went to get this pup to safety.

Nobody.

We ended up rescuing two puppies from Erzurum yesterday night, Kara and Limon.

Kara went straight to one of Ankara best veterinary hospitals. Her condition was extremely critical. She had a massive lung infection and we tried to control her internal bleeding.

She died a few minutes ago, at 21.00. In the end this was a battle she couldn’t win.

Limon is a good state of health, he is in good shape. We knew he wouldn’t survive at the place where he was. He is an extremely clever boy, clever and lucky because no matter what happens he will be ok as he is under our care and protection.

Limon has been lucky, very very lucky.

Please contact us if you wish to adopt this very special dog. He is looking for the perfect family and we know this family is here amongst us.

Regards

Viktor Larkhill

v.larkhill@googlemail.com