Istanbul vets make city's stray animals feel at home

February 18, 2019 by Luana Sarmini-Buonaccorsi

Istanbul officials are increasing efforts to ensure the good health of street animals

Concerned for the health of a black cat roaming around the university campus where she works, Mevlude dropped off the feline at the veterinary clinic for street animals run by the Istanbul municipality.

Visitors to the Turkish city, who admire its centuries-old mosques and Ottoman palaces, are often surprised to see cats and dogs making themselves at home on the streets, and watch them taking the best seats in cafes and restaurants without a care for the world.

Like Mevlude, many Istanbul residents try to help these four-legged friends in their neighbourhood, putting out bowls of food and offering shelter by their doors or windows.

Now Istanbul officials are increasing efforts to ensure the good health of the street animals, and thereby of the residents who come into contact with them.

That care can be seen at the "Vetbus", where Mevlude brought the black cat because one of its eyes had been closed for several days.

The bus is a mobile clinic stationed for several days in different neighbourhoods around the Turkish metropolis.

"We often get in touch with the municipality when we see animals who are in need of care," Mevlude said, once reassured over the cat's health whose eyes were now wide open.

"People generally bring the animals that they take care of... so that they are given anti-parasite" treatment, said Nihan Dincer, a veterinarian working for the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IBB).

And "because people are in constant contact with them, they are also protected", she added.

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