Man devotes life to wounded stray animals

GAZİANTEP

A 57-year-old retired man has devoted more than half of his life to stray animals, mostly wounded ones, feeding, sheltering and treating them in the southeastern province of Gaziantep.

Cemal Güneş, a father of one, calls himself a “volunteer caretaker of dogs and cats.”

His bond with animals started 35 years ago when he found a wounded dog hit by a car and took it to a veterinarian for treatment.

Following years of taking care of wounded cats and dogs, he founded the society of Gaziantep Healing of Creature in 2011.

“I helped the forlorn stray animals for 35 years as an individual, and for a decade, we have been doing this as a society,” Güneş told the Demirören News Agency on Dec. 22.

“The feeling of healing wounds of a living being is ‘undefinable.’ I will continue to help animals until the last day of my life,” he added.

The society has a lodge where healthy animals are fed and wounded ones are treated.

“The society has veterinarians looking after the wounded ones,” he said.

Güneş is happy to spend a life devoted to stray animals. “Every animal has its own story. Helping them is all about one’s consciousness and feeling of compassion.”