Friends of Kinik Forest Dogs

23/08/2024

UPDATE
At the moment Freckles is still at the clinic being treated by the kind vets. 😍😍😍
I will post further updates when i have the information
Thank you every one for caring xxc

20/08/2024

FRECKLES
Poor boy had a trip to the vets this morning. We found him laying on his side, he was not able to stand. After a struggle we managed to get him into the car
He's a very heavy dog
At the clinic he was examined and xrays done. Fortunately there was no broken bones, he had a graze on his stomach and a small open wound on his leg. Not sure what has happened to him, he could possible have nerve damage, so he will have to go to the sanctuary to be looked after for a while
A big thank you to all the wonderful KAPSA supporters, for giving him a chance. We really do appreciate your help
❤❤❤❤❤❤
Also many thanks to the wonderful vets team at the clinic today, for their care and attention

16/08/2024

We found these eight little ones this morning No sign of mum, but looks as though someone has been looking out for them as there was a pot of water left for them.

09/08/2024

Another happy ending. Honey is HOME! A bit emotional but we know she has a lovely new life. THANK YOU ALL for making this possible 🥰.

05/08/2024

Chocolate/Mira unfortunately her offer for forever home didn't get true..when she was found she was so shy and tired sleped for 2 days.. she's still shy but more confident with people she knows..
the lovely people who found her are prepared to pay a good amount for her travelling IF anyone would like to adopt this gorgeous girl.shes good with cats, other dogs and house trained. Shes a small bread .🙏🤎

04/08/2024

Last week our lovely friends came with us to give some extra hugs.. 🐕 🐶 💓💓

02/08/2024

01/08/2024

01/08/2024

Turkey's new stray dog law has been passed.

The new law sends a clear message to street dogs and to those who look after them saying: "you're on your own, the government doesn't care about you". The new law is essentially a free pass for anyone wanting to create problems for street dogs. And there are many in Turkey who have been waiting for any opportunity to do so.

The new law abandons the 'trap-neuter-release' system that Turkey has (officially) been using up until now, and assigns sole responsibility for all stray dogs to the government shelters, making the government shelter a stray dog's only rightful place to live. Street dogs are to be rounded up and brought to government shelters, where they will stay until they are adopted or until they die (which will be the case for the majority of the dogs).

Making government shelters responsible for street dogs may not sound like a drastic move, but it has serious consequences for both stray dogs, and for those who look after them.

By saying that all stray dogs belong to the government shelter, the law takes away dogs' right to live on the streets, and as a consequence, animal lovers' right to look after dogs on the streets. Although it doesn't explicitly ban people from feeding street dogs, it does take away peoples' legal right to do so. And animal lovers in Turkey desperately need their right to do so to be enforced by law.

Every day, animal lovers face sabotage and torment from those who don't like animals. Lovingly made dog and cat houses are destroyed, food and water bowls are emptied or filled with rubbish, people are shouted at and harassed. I personally have been shouted at and threatened many times, and have even had people try to report me to the police, purely for feeding a dog on the pavement. Being shouted at and argued with in a language that isn't your mother tongue is extremely intimidating, but up until now, I have always felt confident knowing I had the law on my side. The police have always informed these people that dogs have the right to live on the streets, and people have the legal right to feed those dogs. However, this legal protection has now been taken away, exposing both dogs and animal lovers to harassment, intimidation and potentially even violence.

The reality of government shelters in Turkey:

Why is everyone in Turkey so upset about dogs being sent to government shelters? Because with a few exceptions, these shelters are the worst place imaginable for dogs. Conditions are extremely poor, too many dogs are crammed into not enough kennels, dogs aren't fed properly, they don't have access to enough water, and fights break out constantly. There are no quarantine policies and the kennels are only cleaned with water, if at all, meaning viruses are rampant. The dogs receive little to no medical care.
Many do not make it out alive.

Shelter workers aren't necessarily animal lovers. They are simply government workers who were assigned to work in the shelter. They have not chosen to work in the shelter, in fact in many places working in the shelter is seen as one of the most undesirable assignments you can get. As a result, shelter workers have no knowledge of or experience with looking after dogs. Some don't like dogs, or are scared of them. Many just don't care.
Government shelters aren't overseen by any supervising body. No national animal protection agencies exist. Most shelters refuse to work with charities or volunteers (not wanting anyone to see what happens inside). The municipalities do not supervise what happens in the shelter. The shelters are not held accountable for what goes on inside. Everything happens behind closed doors.

Government shelters are already terrible places for dogs, but things are about to get even worse..

What is going to happen under the new law?

In the current system, dogs that manage to survive life in the shelter are neutered and returned to the streets to live in relative freedom. The new law changes this. Dogs are no longer allowed to return to the streets, and must stay in the shelter until they are adopted or until they die. With the government mandate for all stray dogs to be rounded up off the streets, more and more dogs will start streaming in to the already unsustainable shelter conditions. The shelters will get more and more crowded, leading to more and more problems.
According to one estimate, the current capacity of all government shelters in Turkey combined is 105,000 dogs. It is estimated that there are 4 million stray dogs in Turkey. There is no way that the shelters will be able to cope with the influx of new dogs. Municipalities have been given 4 years to build new, bigger shelters, but whether this will actually happen remains to be seen.
As conditions in the shelters get more and more cramped, this will lead to more and more casualties. Dogs are already dying of starvation in shelters, this will only increase. They won't have access to enough water or shelter from the burning summer sun or the cold winter weather. Diseases will spread even more quickly. Starving, and in cramped conditions, dogs will start to fight and kill each other. Filling the already over-capacity shelters with more and more dogs can only lead to lots of death.

The new law also gives the shelters the power to euthanise any sick or 'frail' dogs, and dogs that are perceived as aggressive. But with no-one supervising what happens in the shelter, and no-one checking how the dogs are being selected and evaluated for euthanasia, this gives shelter workers (again, many of whom aren't animal lovers) free reign to euthanise whichever dogs they want. We know that the euthanisation won't be carried out humanely or professionally, and the dogs will suffer unnecessarily.

Considering the terrible conditions, most of the dogs in Turkish shelters are sick. But as medical care isn't carried out in the shelters, the most vulnerable dogs will not get a chance to be treated and recover before they are euthanised. I have lost count of the amount of times I have taken a half-dead dog out of a government shelter, so weak they could barely even stand anymore, only to have that dog transform into a lively, energetic dog after just a few days of antibiotics or a few proper meals. So many of the sick and frail shelters dogs can easily be treated, but they won't get this opportunity, or the chance to live, in the new system, where euthanasia is the simplest answer to the ongoing problem of shelter over-capacity.

Parliament members took a selfie of themselves happily smiling yesterday after passing the new law, which is going to lead to immense suffering, many unnecessary deaths, and is going to rob millions of dogs of a fair chance of rescue and survival.

All we can do now is rescue as many as we can, and we can only rescue as many dogs as we are able to find homes for. Please consider opening your home to a Turkish dog, you truly will be saving a life!

31/07/2024

Despite the awful news yesterday about the fate of Turkey’s street dogs it is still ‘business as usual’ for us at FKFD. Rest assured all our volunteers are out every day feeding and caring for all our dogs and will continue to do so as long as we have dogs on the street to feed.
We still need your support with donations for food, flea, tick and worm treatment. How to donate:

PayPal: [email protected]
Please make sure you choose the ‘Friends and Family option’ or else we must pay a fee.

Online banking:
Account: Friends of Kinik Forest Dogs
Sort code: 23-05-80
A/C no: 23614205
IBAN no: GB75MYMB23058023614205

26/07/2024

BREAKFAST WITH THE FOREST DOGS

Some of our regulars at breakfast this morning
We still have 4 pups in Kinik tomato hali and 3 at the at the crossroads.

18/07/2024

Thank you lovely people who donated salami 😘

10/07/2024

MEALS ON WHEELS - DAY 3
Well my last day out feeding with Linda. It has been lovely to see all the familiar faces and to meet some of the new arrivals including a group of six puppies at Kinik Cross this morning. It was a nice surprise to see that Boycie had decided to move up to the crossroads instead of lying further along beside the D400. Today Linda almost got him to come to her….one day soon I am sure he will. 😊

08/07/2024

MEALS ON WHEELS - DAY 2
Another early start yesterday morning out with Linda feeding the dogs. After counting several times to make sure we could see that the mum in Kinik Tomato Hali had only got 5 puppies left….we couldn’t find the missing pup so can only assume it has been taken. Let’s hope wherever it is it is OK. 🙏

06/07/2024

KININ TOMATO HALI

AND THEN THERE WERE THREE
THE SWIMMING DOGS.

On Friday morning while we were feeding we were surprised to see another of the original swimming dogs turn up for food, so now there are 3.😍😍😍😍

06/07/2024

Some soft food for the puppies to give mother a little help.

06/07/2024

04/07/2024

MEALS ON WHEELS - DAY 1
An early start yesterday morning to meet up with Linda Patara, Sharon and Claire to feed all our lovely dogs. There was a recent arrival at Kink Tomato Hali, a mum and her six puppies who all were very chubby and lovely. Lots of new arrivals but still some very familiar faces including my lovely Ruby at Xanthos who gave me a very warm welcome. 😊❤️

02/07/2024

On his own bless him..

01/07/2024

Update on Jerry. He's "suffering" the heat while beeing foster by lovely people..

29/06/2024

Another day, another patient. .poor girl had a nasty bite.. got infected.. so got her to the vets got some of the infection out..Thank You Kapsa for the antibiotics. She was a brave girl .

24/06/2024

KINIK TOMATO HALI

A big surprise this morning while looking for the mum and her pups. It was two of the swimming dogs. They are still alive
They were the first dogs we fed in this area and would swim across the stream to come for food
Once the new park area was built we didnt see them again. They look fit and healthy , so have been getting food from some where. They must be around 9 years old now, definitely one of our successes.

24/06/2024

KINIK TOMATO HALI

We have a new family to feed in the area. They were found by Christina and Clive on Saturday. All very cute, not sure how many there are in total

22/06/2024

Some days are heart breaking..We found Leila a week a go in the rubbish. She was so tiny, all dirty and her fur looked like someone shaved her.. but so playful..so we taken her for a check up and a bath..she had a bacterial infection..found someone to adopt her straight away..unfortunately Thursday morning she didn't look well back to the vets..found out she had parvo..unfortunately yesterday morning she passed away. 🌈

11/06/2024

4 months we waited for this moment..he lives in the hole in the ground most of the time..now a bit more braver..🩵

10/06/2024

BREAKFAST WITH THE FOREST DOGS.

This morning we had a visit from Sue who always likes to visit the dogs when she's here.
An early start for all of us at 6.30 am as its too hot for any of us including the dogs this time of year..
Thank you Sue for making the time to join us this morning, it's always nice to see you.