Join us in Hasdal

Türkiye’de bir söz vardır,  “Türk’ün Türk’ten başka dostu yoktur” derler…peki…ben bu sözü kesinlikle saçma buluyorum.

Şimdi çok dürüst olacağım.

İki yılı aşkın süredir, tüm kalbimi ve ruhumu bu gruba adadım. Gece yarılarına kadar çalıştım, sonbahar, kış, yaz demeden…gün be gün…tam iki yıldır.

Olağanüstü şeyler başardık ve taklit edilen, takip edilen bir organizasyon kurduk. Çoğunuzla tanıştım, harika arkadaşlıklar edindik.

İki yılı geçti, sayısız hayvan kurtardık, çoğu burada, Türkiye’de yuvalandırıldı ; en zor vakalar, Gülümser ve yurtdışına gidecek olan diğer hayvanlarımız gibi Türk ailelerinin istemedikleri, sahiplenmeyi kabul etmedikleri hayvanları yurtdışına gönderdik, oralarda yuva buldular, sahiplenildiler.

İki yılı geçti, insanları ve kurumları çok büyük ölçüde eğittik. Her yönden hayvanları koruyup kollayan insanlardan oluşan bir aile, bir kabile kurduk.

Tüm bunlarla beraber, şu an benim için menzilimizi ve etki alanımızı sınama vakti;  vakit, tam şu anda, niyetlerimizi ortaya koyma ve buna göre karar alma vakti.

Bildiginiz üzere, geçen hafta, bizlerden 100 kişi,  İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyesi’nin yasadışı faaliyetleri ve şehrin sokak köpekleri için sonu gelmek bilmeyen katliamları protesto etmek için  Hasdal’daydı. Gösterinin sonunda, taleplerimizi belirten bir liste okuduk onlara. Listeyi BURADA bulabilirsiniz. Televizyonlar ve medya olayı ekrana taşıdılar…Haber, tüm günlük gazetelerde yayınlandı.

Bu hafta, bu olayı tekrarlıyoruz, ama bu sefer ben de orada olacağım, bu çok büyük bir bahis olacak. Cumartesi günü, İstanbul’da hayvan hakları adına gelmiş geçmiş en büyük gösteriyi biz yapacağız. Eğer, gösteri, düşük katılım sebebi ile amacına ulaşmazsa, ben çekileceğim ve bu grubun yönetimini SİZE bırakacağım, hayvanseverlere, grubun amacına, en üst performansına ulaşması için.

Çok iyi farkındayım ki; bazılarınız, bu grubun başarılarını görmezden gelerek, yalnızca benim bir yabancı oluşuma odaklanmayı tercih ettiniz. Bu, yapılacak en saçma şeydi. Bu cumartesi, hep beraber, iki şeyi birden yapıyor olacaksınız…Bir taraftan, umuyorum ki, hayvanları koruyacak, bir yandan da bu gruba destek çıkacaksınız.

Madem öyle…Cumartesi, 11.30′da…Hasdal’da. Orada görüşürüz.

Ve lütfen…gelin ve yalnız gelmeyin. Karınızı, kocanızı, çocuklarınızı, ailenizi, arkadaşlarınızı, hayvanları seven tanıdığınız herkesi sizle beraber getirin. Ülkesinden gurur duyan ve haberlerde ardı arkası gelmeyen bu gaddarlıkları okumaktan, görmekten utanan, tanıdıgınız herkesi getirin.

Eğer, iyilik adına değişim istiyorsanız gelin…ve eğer gelmiyorsanız, lütfen bana bir daha nasıl da iyi hayvanseverler oldugunuzu anlatmayın; çünkü siz ve ben biliyor olacağız ki ; bu doğru değil.

Viktor Larkhill

v.larkhill@googlemail.com

Join us in Hasdal

There is a saying in Turkey who says that the only friend of the Turk is a Turk … well… I find that saying absolutely ridiculous.

I’m going to be very honest here.

Over the last two years I have given my heart and soul to this group.

I have worked till late at nights, winters, spring, summers.. day after day for two years.

We have achieved remarkable things, and built an organization that is imitated and followed. I have met many of you, built great friendships.

Over two years we have saved countless animals, the vast majority of them were rehomed here in Turkey, the most difficult cases, those cases that no turkish family would accept were sent abroad, cases like Gulumser, or any of the animals in our foreign rehoming list.

Over two years we have educated the public and institutions at large, and built a tribe, in many ways a family where people supported the animals and each other.

It is however time for me to truly test the extent and reach of this community, it is time for me to assess its resolve and to take a decision accordingly.

As you know last week about 100 of us went to Hasdal and protested against the Istanbul Municipality for their illegal activities and the continued massacre of the Istanbul stray dogs. At the end of the demonstration we made a list of demands. That list can be read HERE.

TV and Media picked up on the event … every single newspaper reported about it.

This week we are repeating the event, but this time I’m going to place a very risky bet here. On Saturday we will organize the largest demonstration for animal rights ever to take place in Istanbul. If the demonstration fails to attend enough people I will stop the running of this group and leave it to YOU, animal lovers, to make it reach its full potential.

I am very aware that many of you have chosen to ignore the accomplishments of this group and instead have focused on the fact that I am a foreigner. That was a ridiculous thing to do. This Saturday you will, together, take a double stance.. on one side you will, hopefully, be supporting the animals, on the other you will be supporting this group.

So please.. come, and don’t come alone. Bring your husband, wife, boyfriends, kids, bring your friends, your parents, bring whomever you know that loves animals. Bring whomever you know that is proud of his country and is embarrassed to see all those atrocities constantly on the news.

Come if you want to change things for good… and if you don’t come, please dont ever write to me telling me that you are an animal lover, because you and I will know this is not the case.

Best

Viktor Larkhill

v.larkhill

HASDAL, 21 of November 11.30. NO EXCUSES.

Dear Friends,

Last week a group of us got together in Hasdal to demand CHANGE

This week we will gather a much larger group. The place? HASDAL DEATH  CAMP.

ALL DETAILS ARE HERE

Hasdal Protest

THE MAP

PLEASE JOIN US. NO EXCUSES. ANIMALS NEED YOU.

Viktor Larkhill

v.larkhill@googlemail.com

Stop the killings

Sevgili Arkadaşlar,

Bugün Hasdal’daydık.

Sahip Çıkalım!‘ın, Hayvanlara Özgürlük İnisiyatifi‘nin, Haykur‘un,  üyeleri ve pek çok vatandaş Cumartesi günlerini popüler “kahvaltı” mekanlarında gazetelerine gömülerek geçirmeyi kendilerine yakıştıramadılar bugün. Bunun yerine metan gazı toplama alanının, yüksek gerilim hatlarının ve ıssızlığın ortasındaki Hasdal İBB Rehabilitasyon Merkezi’ni protesto etmeye geldiler kilometrelerce uzaklıktaki evlerinden. Kavacık’tan, Bostancı’dan, Levent’ten, Fatih’ten, Ataköy’den…

Bir araya geldiğimizde heyecanlıydık. Diğer gruplardan arkadaşlarımızla tanışmaya, onlarla konuşmaya başladık. Kimileri yolda buldukları minik köpek yavrularını arabalarındaki battaniyelere sarmışlar, bir can daha kurtarmaya çalışıyorlardı. Bir grup, posterlerini yolun girişine asarken bir başka grup çevredeki köpekleri doyuruyordu.

Jandarma bizi yolun başında karşıladı. Son derece naziktiler. Korkmadık. Bu ülkenin vatandaşları olarak hak ve özgürlüklerimizin bilincinde, bu “Merkez”de yapılan kötülüklerin, işlenen cinayetlerin farkındaydık. Haklıydık. O halde yaptığımız doğruydu.

Basın tam kadro bizimleydi. Bildirilerimiz ellerine ulaşmış, davamızın önemine inanmışlardı. ATV, DHA, NTV ve Show TV görebildiğimiz kamera ekipleriydi. Gazetelerden ve yurtdışından da basın mensupları vardı.

Bulunduğumuz yerden Jandarma’nın yolun ilerisinde kurduğu barikatı görebiliyorduk. Görüyorduk ancak anlamıyorduk. Öldürülen 55 minicik yavrunun hakkını aramaya gelmiştik. Onları anmaya, unutulmadıklarını herkese duyurmaya gelmiştik… Ne kadar iyi niyetli ve nazik de olsalar silahlı-coplu Jandarmaların burada ne işi vardı?
Barınak Yönetimi bizlerden korkmuş muydu dersiniz, suçluların hep yaptığı gibi?

Face Off

Önce aramızdan 12 kişi seçip birbirimize zincirlendik, ardından diğer grupların açtığı bir pankartla beraber yürümeye başladık. Jandarmanın barikatına geldiğimizde komutanlarıyla konuşup geçiş izni istedik.

Anlayışlı, güler yüzlü bir insan olan bu beyefendi bize geçebileceğimizi ancak eşlik edeceklerini söyledi.

Barınak görevlileri, müdürleri önceden gelmiş kendilerini barınakta güvene (!) almışlar, olanları bıyık altından gülerek seyrediyorlardı.

Ne de güzel yapmışlar Jandarmayı çağırmışlardı. Belki biz hayvanseverlere dayak bile atılacaktı, onlar da zevkle sırıtarak seyredecekler, sadistik tutkularını tatmin edeceklerdi.

Ama istedikleri olmadı. Jandarma basın bildirisinin okunması ve ardından Hasdal İBB Rehabilitasyon Merkezinin girişine burada dökülen kanları temsilen kırmızı boya dökülmesine,  belediyelerce katledilmiş hayvanların fotoğraflarının yere bırakılmasına, hatta bir grup gönüllünün içeriye girip yiyecek bırakmasına izin verdiler, hepimize
büyük bir nezaketle yaklaştılar. Neyin ne, kimin kim olduğunu anlamışlardı.

Hasdal Protesto Eylemi’nin ilk ayağı başarıyla sonuçlandı. İlk ayağı diyorum çünkü bu daha başlangıç…

We demand..

Sıra taleplerimizi duyurmakta:

1. Hasan Gençdal (İBB Veteriner İşleri Müdürlüğü Müdürü), Ahmet Bölükbaşı (Hasdal Rehabilitasyon Merkezi Müdürü) ve Recep Zafer’in (İBB Veteriner İşleri Müdürlüğü Müdür Yardımcısı) son derece başarısız oldukları her örnekle biraz daha gözler önüne serilmesiyle beraber görevden alınmalarını;
2. İstanbul’da belediyelerce kısırlaştırılan binlerce hayvanın çevre ormanlara atılmasının durdurulmasını;
3. Belediye barınaklarında yaşı küçük köpeklerin kısırlaştırılarak ölüme terk edilmemesini;
4. Barınak hijyen ve sağlık koşullarının mutlaka ve mutlaka iyileştirilmesini; ve
5. Ölüm kampı nitelikli barınak düzenin sona ermesi ve istekli ve düzenli bir çalışma ile tüm hayvanların ev sahibi yapılması konusunda gercek bir gayret gösterilmesini

TALEP EDİYORUZ.

Bu amaçla önümüzdeki Cumartesi, 21 Kasım’da, bu defa daha büyük bir grupla tekrar Hasdal’da olacağız ve taleplerimize ulaşıncaya kadar da vazgeçmeyeceğiz.

Belediyeler tarafından barınaklarda hapsedilen, ormanlarda ölüme terk edilen, göz göre göre katledilen tüm sokak hayvanlarının sesi olmaya, onların yaşam haklarını korumaya devam edeceğiz.

Dediğim gibi, bu daha başlangıç….

Viktor Larkhill

v.larkhill@googlemail.com

Stop the killings

HASDAL DEATH CAMP PROTEST

Dear friends,

We were in Hasdal today. Members of Let’s Adopt, Animal Liberation Initiative, Haykur and many citizens couldn’t bring themselves to spend their Saturday’s at popular “breakfast” places, reading their newspapers. Instead, they arrived from their houses miles away, to gather on top of the methane gas collection facility, under the high voltage lines, the middle of nowhere, to protest against the Hasdal Istanbul Cosmopolitan Municipality Rehabilitation Center.

From Kavacık, Bostancı, Levent, Fatih, Ataköy…

We were excited when we gathered together. We started meeting friends from other groups, got talking. Some had rescued a puppy who they had wrapped in blankets, trying to save another life. Another group of friends were feeding the dogs around.

Jandarma met us at the top of the road. They were very polite. We were not afraid. As citizens of this country we were aware of our rights and freedoms as well as the evil and the murders committed in this “Center”. We were right. In that case what we were doing was correct.

The press was with us throughout. Our releases have found them, they believed in the importance of our cause. ATV, DHA, NTV and Show TV were with us. There were journalists from printed press and international agencies as well.

From where we stood we could see the Jandarma barricade. We could see, but couldn’t exactly understand the reason behind it. We were here to defend the rights of 55 brutally murdered little babies. We had come here to commemorate their deaths, to tell everyone that they were not forgotten. No matter how kind and well mannered they were, what were they doing here?

Could it be that the Shelter Management was afraid of us, like the guilty would be?

Face Off

First, we chose 12 amongst us and were chained to one another, then we started walking behind the banner of another group. When we reached the barricade we asked the commander to let us pass. An understand gentleman with a big smile, he allowed us to go through but said that they’ll accompany us.

Shelter workers, their managers had arrived previously and secured themselves in the shelter, watching us whilst smiling under their moustaches. What a good idea it was to call the Jandarma. Maybe the animal lovers might even get beaten up a little and they could satisfy their sadistic desires, observing with a big grin on their faces.

But what they wished for didn’t happen. The Jandarma allowed us to read the press release, throw red paint all over the entrance to symbolise the blood that is spilt here, to leave the pictures of dogs massacred by municipalities, even for some volunteers to go inside and leave food for the dogs. They have approached us with kindness. They understood who was who and what was what.

The first leg of Hasdal Protests is successfully completed. I say the first leg because this is only the beginning…

Now, it is time to put forward our demands…

We demand..

WE WANT
1. That Hasan Gençdal (Istanbul Greater Municipality Veterinary Department Manager), Ahmet Bölükbaşı (Hasdal Rehabilitation Center Manager) and Recep Zafer (IGM Veterinary Department Ass. Manager) to be removed as with every single move they prove themselves to be totally unsuccessful over and over again;
2. That dropping of thousands of animals in the surrounding forests by İstanbul Shelters be stopped;
3. That the neutering and abandoning to death of underage animals be ended;
4. That the hygienic and health care conditions of shelters be improved;
5. That the death-camp style shelters be abolished real and concerted effort to be provided to home all animals.

With these in mind, we will be in Hasdal, with even a larger group on 21 th November and we will not stop until we achieve our goals.

We will continue to be the voice of the animals imprisoned in shelters, dumped in forests to die, murdered in broad daylight by the municipalities and to protect their rights to live.

Like I said, this is just the beginning…

Viktor Larkhill

V.larkhill@googlemail.com

Dear friends…

Over the last year we have been focussing our efforts on three basic areas:

Rehoming
Education
Exposing the animal massacres in Istanbul and other municipalities

Those who have been working with us since our inception last year know exactly what we do and how we do it.

Last week we undertook our first fundraising effort, to cover the multiple operations of Felix the cat. We were pleased to report this was a great success…

Normally we encourage our members to take responsibility for their own rescues and, if possible, we assist them in their rehoming efforts, but yesterday we received an email that will be taking us to a whole new level of engagement.

One of our members, Huma, paid a visit last weekend to the infamous Hasdal Municipality Shelter in Kemerburgaz. What she witnessed there left her in a state of shock. A couple of dozen puppies, most of them affected by distemper and other diseases, were struggling to keep standing under wind and the rain. On her way home she cried tears of impotence at the callousness and cruelty of the shelter employees who were treating the pups like garbage..

The next morning she woke up early and drove back to the Hasdal shelter. She then proceeded to go around the cages selecting those puppies who were in worst condition, a total of 13 pups.

Thirteen Lives.

Some of you are rescuers. Some of you have been courageous and generous enough to rescue a dog from near death, nurse him back to health and adopt him. Others have found him a loving family. But I’m 100 % sure none of you has rescued Thirteen Lives in an instant. Our friend did. It was done in an impulse.

She loaded the thirteen pups in her car and took them to her vet. Only that evening it dawned on her the enormity of her action and the difficulties she would have to deal with until the pups are healthy and placed in a loving home. At that point she wrote to Let’s Adopt.

Upon reading her letter our first reaction was one of shock and disbelief. This was a mission far too large for us to handle. So, initially we sent her a polite reply offering our help with rehoming at a later stage. She kindly thanked us for our offer.

The following hours we could not stop thinking about Huma and her thirteen puppies. How will she handle this? She is a student and her finances are tight. Those pups are going to require medical attention for the coming weeks, Huma will then have to find them foster or final homes and this won’t be easy.
You cannot imagine how difficult it is to find good homes for mix breed dogs in Turkey. It really is a nearly impossible task. We are terribly sorry to have to say this but this country is not ready yet. Too many people consider dogs a status symbol and to them a stray is not a dog, its a nuisance. In the best of cases the dog will be tolerated, in the worst shot, poisoned, tortured… We have seen it all.
At first, her close circle of family and friends will try to help but this help won’t last for long.

So… we wrote Huma and offered our help and support..

This is what we are going to do:

1. The pups are in desperate need of medical attention. Right now they are at a veterinary clinic in Istanbul. We need to raise funds to cover part or most of those expenses. As we were in the case of Felix, we are confident we will be able to count on the generosity of our members. Any donation, large of small will help. Please contact me on v.larkhill@googlemail.com and I will explain you how to proceed.

For those who live abroad we are in the process of setting up a system to handle international donations. Please contact us and we’ll explain you how. Needless to say you will be kept informed on constant basis about the evolution of the pups.

You can further follow their progress on www.letsadopt.wordpress.com .

2. As the pups’ health improve, we are going to need foster and final families for them. We are going to need both, urgently. Once again we are asking for your help here. If you have the slight possibility to adopt or foster one of these puppies please get in touch with me on v.larkhill@googlemail.com with your details and telephone number and one of us will get in touch with you.

This is our largest project to date. We have rehomed hundreds of animals but always on an individual basis… This is a whole new level.

Wish us luck and please, if you can, help.

Best

V
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=18031&id=1314867706&l=6bd5f

s

Update February 19

It has been 4 days since Huma rescued the 13 sick puppies from Hasdal. She did pick up the sickest ones of the tens of puppies agonizing at that killing station run by the Istanbul Municipality. The battle has been fierce and whilst some are progressively improving 7 of them gave up and crossed the Heaven’s Gates. Huma named them all so that she can call them and find them when the time comes… We are now trying to keep our last six from slipping away.

Dear friends,

Quick note to inform you that due to basic disagreements with the veterinary that has handled the 13 pups Let’s Adopt won’t be involved in this operation any longer.

10 out of the 13 pups died. This was a very difficult mission from the beginning and we praised the rescuer to no end, but we believe there has been clear negligence in the puppy’s veterinary care.

Needless to say though that the last 3 puppies still need loving homes; foster or final. Please do contact us for information.

Only two of our members wrote to us and offered their help. I would kindly ask them to get in touch with us if they want their donations returned or let us know if they are happy with those funds being used for another emergency in the future.

Kind regards

V