The good, bad & ugly

Lately I’m finding it hard to write anything positive. I know I can be quite negative on this blog sometimes, and that’s usually because I write about things that upset me or that I just don’t grasp about this country or the culture….the dark pit of frustration!

And even though this will not be the most up-beat thing I’ve posted on here, it is something positive….in a way.

I’ve written and tweeted many times about the streetdogs here, or how dogs are being treated, it is no secret I am an animal lover. On boxing day of 2010 I joined a sponsored swim for a local charity here in Didim, that runs a dog shelter. We raised good money that day, and the swim even made some (online) papers.

After that feel-good experience I decided to volunteer at the shelter, as I don’t have anything to do in the winter period, and it is something that doesn’t involve doing something to get something for a change.

Didim dog shelter is not too shabby, it can’t be compared to proper shelters in Holland or UK, but it certainly isn’t bad. The land is big, the cages few, and the pens spacious. Unfortunately the Didim Belediye (counsil) is not supporting the shelter in any way other than the space provided and a few man hours of 1 staff member. So everything that goes on there is out of the goodness of people’s hearts.

There are a few vets that check the dogs and supply medical care if needed (free of charge), a belediye worker that cleans the grounds, and a few people (foreigners) that help out getting the sheltered dogs fed and walked. if I understand correctly it is the shelters’ foremost goal to get dogs neutered (and nurse back to health) and put back in the pack where they came from. If they get adopted during that process, that is a major ‘plus’.

I get welcomed by a loud and excited pack of dogs, of which I’m still not sure if they are up for adoption or if they have been crowned ‘shelter grounds security dogs’ that will never leave . A quirky dalmation catches my eye, as well as a gentle giant mixed breed dog with some battle scars.

Val, who I’ve met through facebook and the sponsor swim, explains there aren’t that many dogs in at the moment, which is a good thing. But that can mean many things really….are there less street dogs? Have all dogs been adopted? Or have people given up on bringing in the dogs?

There’s loads of puppies and I’d like nothing more than to rub myself all over with these little furry animals, however I soon see that many of them are sick and most probably will not make it to see another week.

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Val says the same thing, and unfortunately she has to call in the vet to have the pups put down; no need for them to await a horrible death due to parvo or distemper.

While I’m walking the dogs through the lush green fields, I think about my own 4 footed friend, and how luck I am that
1) he survived parvo (even though it killed the rest of the litter) and
2) he is comfortably snoring and farting at home without a care in the world.

After the walk, Val apologizes for the fact that on my first day at the shelter I’d have to see the dogs being put down. I do feel horrible, and have a knot in my stomach…but unfortunately this is the sad truth.

Pups that can’t be helped or have been exposed to killing disease will be put down, as well as most healthy bitch pups. All I can hope is that people will walk through the gates looking to adopt a dog.

Vet Ali haves us round up the pups and the sick mum, as he struggles to capture the wild dog….and off they go into the ‘clinic’.

The good thing is there are people that care for these animals and there can’t be enough of those….either by helping out physically or financially. The bad thing is that unfortunately this cycle has no end…people will keep ‘breeding’ in the back yard, and/or abandon dogs in the street, and also will always rather get a ‘normal’ dog than adopt one from a shelter. The ugly part is that this isn’t a perfect world and a lot of Turkish people don’t care for dogs or their faith….that faith is usually death by starvation, abuse ….or if they’re ‘lucky’ by injection at the shelter.

If you’d like to donate to Didim dog shelter you can do so through Paypal didimdogshelter@gmail.com

If you have some time on your hands and you love animals, I’d suggest you see if you can maybe help out at your local animal shelter. And help spread the word that an adopted dog is as much a friend for life as a pup from a breeder or store.