Faithful friends wait for new home, family

MUĞLA - Anatolia News Agency

When people want to adopt a dog, their environment is observed by the shelter officials, and dogs are given according to some conditions. AA photo

Stray dogs that have been left by their owner or found on the streets wounded are being treated and taken care of in shelters. Among the shelters in the Aegean region, Muğla Municipality’s shelters are home to 250 such dogs. The dogs in these shelters are being treated in temporary facilities and after being neutered are sent to their new shelter to await adoption by new families.

Muğla Municipality Veterinary Director Hacı Koç said that the abandoned dogs found on the streets first undergo a check-up and are treated if they have a disease before being sent to the shelters.

Koç said animals are thoroughly checked when they arrived at the shelter, adding, “Our main goal is to find a family for these animals. After they are vaccinated, they undergo a neutering operation if their age is appropriate. Then they are [quarantined] for some five days after the operation. We make a great effort to give these animals to people and have made announcements through the media to reach more people.”

However, he noted that according to laws, they are not able to keep an animal in the shelter for long time. If they could not find a home for a dog relatively quickly, the animal would be released in the region where it was found.

He said that it was a very good project that each municipality should take on, adding, “If each municipality can do it, more animals will find homes in a very short time. This problem has not been solved so far by killing these animals. I think that the population on the streets would decrease only with neutering and rehabilitation.”

Requirements to adopt

Koç said that the municipality’s shelters had been serving the public since 2009 and the rate of adoption has been increasing every year. “The personnel working for the shelters and volunteer citizens have a great share in [its success]. We gave 130 animals for adoption in 2012. We want at least 80 percent of the animals in the shelters [to be adopted],” he said.

Koç said that pet shops have been opened to cater to demand, adding that the design of pet shops was very bad for animals, which have to live in one-square-meter cages. “We seek some requirements before we can give people the dogs, which are man’s best friend,” he said.

“People who want to adopt a dog from shelters apply to us. We check the environment where these people will take care of the animal. We observe the conditions that might create problems for the animal and the environment. We have some forms required to follow the animal, and they fill in these forms. We finish our checks within a short time and give them their animal,” Koç said.