Working to protect animals in Kalkan

“We at KAPSA, the Kalkan Association for the Protection of Street Animals, wish to improve the understanding and treatment of animals through public education, example and advocacy,” explains Maggi, noting: “To do this it’s important to increase local awareness and compassion for the plight of street animals. We have the animals neutered to prevent further unwanted puppies and kittens, and provide veterinary treatment for those animals that are sick or injured. We try to find homes for as many animals as possible. To reduce the numbers of sick and starving animals on the streets we’ve implemented a winter feeding program with volunteers from all over Kalkan.”

Why are there so many dogs on the streets?

“Part of the reason for the high number of strays is because people from neighboring areas bring unwanted dogs into Kalkan and leave them here,” Maggi points out. “It’s been common practice all over the country since Ottoman times as many people in Turkey consider it a sin to kill a dog. Those left here are the lucky ones as many more are abandoned in forests and remote areas. Some of the dogs on the streets do actually have owners. However, a collar doesn’t necessarily mean that they have owners; some may have had collars when they were abandoned while others have had collars put on by KAPSA members for various reasons. For instance, there are a couple of very old dogs with incredibly thick fur that suffer in the summer heat and a collar makes it easier for KAPSA members to catch them for clipping. Many of the dogs have plastic ear tags, this shows that they have been neutered and registered but these generally don’t have owners.”

Taking action to protect vulnerable animals

KAPSA was set up in April of 2008 and has achieved an incredible amount in just two years. “On a practical level, so far KAPSA has been instrumental in bringing a new veterinary clinic to Kalkan,” says Maggi, and explains: “This has enabled us to provide treatment for many sick and injured animals and so far a total of 518 animals, 374 cats and 144 dogs, have been neutered. The winter feeding program has been made possible by the generosity of numerous volunteers who give their time to feed cats and dogs all over Kalkan; over 3,500 kilograms (3.85 tons) of cat and dog food was distributed over the past two winters. We’ve found homes for many abandoned animals both in Kalkan and elsewhere and been instrumental in having some dangerous or over-aggressive dogs removed from Kalkan’s streets.”

“As part of our public information campaign, we’ve had leaflets printed in Turkish about the importance of neutering animals and explaining how people can get local animals neutered or help KAPSA to do so,” she points out. “These leaflets have been distributed through Kalkan primary school to hundreds of families. Members of KAPSA have also visited local schools and spoken to children of all ages about understanding and the treatment of animals. We’ve also held several neutering days in Akbel, a village just outside Kalkan. There we neutered over 40 animals last winter and this provided us with an excellent opportunity to get our message across to the people there. Some people are frightened of street animals so we’re also trying to improve the relationship between people and animals through example and education. We’re getting more and more local support for our work. People are starting to understand that we’re trying to get the animal population under control humanely and that it’s in the interest of the animals, the residents and Kalkan itself to do so. This year many local people have aided us by informing us of animals that need help or neutering. In the past we’d spend hours trying to catch a nervous dog. This year we’ve asked around until we’ve found someone it trusts and given that person a collar, lead and a number to call when they’ve caught them. This has been very effective, time saving and far less traumatic for the animal concerned.”

KAPSA has received a great deal of support from both individuals and businesses in Kalkan for fundraising events, such as coffee mornings held every spring and fall. Tourists also give their support not only through generous donations (without which KAPSA could not survive). Some even help by catching animals and having them neutered while they are here on holiday, while others come out here laden with huge bags of cat and dog food or much needed medical supplies. This year they published a small brochure in English about KAPSA which has helped heighten awareness of their cause. The people at KAPSA have also established good relations with other similar organizations in Turkey and have had useful discussions with a visiting representative of the British Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA). “We’ve also got authorization for KAPSA collection boxes to be placed in many businesses in Kalkan, opened official Turkish and UK bank accounts for donations, set up our website and have a Facebook page, FRIENDS OF KAPSA,” she underlines.

Dogs’ home not a solution in Kalkan

Some may wonder whether it wouldn’t have been easier for KAPSA to collect money to open a dogs’ home or to pay for stray animals to be culled. “Firstly, a dogs’ home wouldn’t work somewhere as small as Kalkan as it would be neither humane or economically sound,” Maggi emphasizes, and notes: “Above all, a dogs’ home should never be considered a solution to a stray dog problem unless the population of that area is big enough to re-home a large percentage of the dogs. Secondly, the number of dogs being brought into and dumped in Kalkan would go up enormously. It would fill up with dogs at such an incredible rate that it would be unmanageable, both physically and financially. Even the dogs’ home in Fethiye, which is one of the best in Turkey, operates a program of neuter and return, that’s to say, dogs taken off the streets are neutered and returned to the same street from which they came. So a dogs’ home does not mean no more dogs on the streets and, in fact, it could mean quite the reverse. As for putting animals to sleep, that happens in the UK, for example, if stray dogs are not homed within a certain period. However, here in Turkey, despite a lot of bad publicity to the contrary, most people would be horrified at the thought. At Friday prayer imams all over Turkey have also highlighted that one of the main principles of Islam is kindness towards animals.”

Still lots more to do

“Although it sounds as though we’ve accomplished a great deal, in actual fact we still have an enormous amount of work to do,” Maggi highlights. “We’re still having animals -- especially puppies -- brought into Kalkan and abandoned in alarming numbers. We still face acts of incredible cruelty towards innocent animals, such as dogs being burned with boiling oil or newborn kittens being thrown out with the rubbish. We need to increase local awareness of and compassion for the plight of street animals. There are many ways in which people can help us, either practically or financially. If you’re in Kalkan, for example, you can inform us about animals that need help or that need neutering. We always need supplies of veterinary products, worming tablets, wound powder and antibiotics and dog and cat food is also always welcome, as are donations of any kind.”