I have seen this in Akbuk many times; someone sitting in a restaurant throwing food to a stray dog, or walking over a few yards to feed one. So what's wrong with that? What these people don't see are the consequences, the dog now knows if it hangs around that place there will be food and in fact there is because another "animal lover" will do the same, within no time there are several dogs appearing, but now they actually wander into the restaurant and approach tables.
If you think it's only the Brit's that use these restaurants you are wrong, apart from the many Turkish residents and holiday makers, there are many weddings etc which occur here, gatherings of 50-150 family members & friends are not uncommon. Have you seen how some Turks react when a dog comes up to a table where they are eating? They and many of us Brit's don't like it! But thanks to the "animal lovers" we now have this problem. I have seen owners & staff try to shoo these animals away but it has little effect because the animals brain has associated the place with food.
Put yourself in the owners position; these strays are actually loosing you business, Turks & others who want to eat unmolested are no longer coming into your establishment, you have staff to pay, you have rent to pay, you have bills to pay, you have your family to provide for, what can you do? Ask the council to round them up and find them new homes with loving owners ... Yea right. The council cannot even put healthy strays to sleep IT IS AGAINST THE LAW IN TURKEY and all these dogs are healthy because they have been well fed by the so called "animal lovers". The restaurant owner may be left with a simple choice, get rid of them himself or go bust. How can he get rid of this problem? Shoot them ... No that's against the law and someone will see. Take them to a dog pound ... There aren't any in Akbuk and all those places do is neuter & release so they will be back. Or what about the traditional Turkish way, POISON. He ain't gonna get caught, the dog(s) could have died of anything, no ones gonna do an autopsy and my problem is solved. Problem is, have you ever seen an animal die of food poisoning? Not a pretty site and somewhat unpleasant for the animal to say the least.
So next time you throw some scraps to a dog at or near a restaurant, consider the consequences. Might be kinder to put your boot up its butt, then it would associate the restaurant with pain and not go there.
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Saturday, August 29, 2009
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what you say is right, we need a rescue centre in akbuk then maybe educate turkish and forieners how to treat and look after animals, then maybe we wont have stray animals on the streets. also people with dogs should have to get a licence or be heavily fined.
ReplyDeleteWe are dog-owners back in UK (villa owners in Akbuk) and agree with the sentiment of the blog. Here in UK, we also have irresponsible dog owners who don't clean up after their pets. These ignorant 'dog-lovers' who feed them at the table are causing a problem (guests who feed our dogs at our house get a roasting and soon learn; the dog is just trying it on with the visitor!). I have experience in the middle-east where the dogs start to form packs that come down to public places and become confident enough to take on humans when confronted. Please don't feed them - Shoo them away in an agressive manner, or if you can't bring yourself to do that, just ignore them totally. Teach the dog that begging really does not pay off.
ReplyDeleteHi Rob, We have a villa in Akbuk and have owned it for the past 5 years, we have an owner on our complex who has fed stray cats since we have been their, but this year it has got worse as not only is she feeding the cats but has now taken to caring for a stray dog. In the 4 weeks we were there i did not have one full nights sleep as his friends would gather around our complex at night and bark and howl. My answer is to these people is if you don't live their DONT feed them. We can't leave our doors open otherwise the house is full of cats.
ReplyDeleteHi Rob,
ReplyDeleteGreat site by the way.
Dogs are a major problem on my site of 20 villas. Although not allowed 2 couples have adopted strays and feed them. This has caused problems with packing as there are 7 of them and now we have problems with Turkish workers approaching the site as they are afraid of dogs. Even the 2 couples admitted that it is a problem and the barking at night is a pain and has nearly caused fights amongst the residents. 3 dogs have been put down recently which upset 1 couple so much they have left Akbuk and sold up and the residents are now looking to take the other residents to court over the dogs. Its not pleasant living here at the moment. DON'T FEED THE DOGS FROM YOUR HOUSES. Go up into the hills and leave food there.