Many cats poisoned, some kittens brutally murdered in Istanbul

ISTANBUL

A “cat massacre” has been going on in Istanbul, with 45 stray cats found dead in Kadıköy district and three newborn kittens brutally murdered in Esenyurt district.

On March 16 in the Fenerbahçe neighborhood of Kadıköy district of Istanbul, a resident noticed that the cat they were feeding on the street was looking ill.

After a while, many residents ran into dead cats on the streets and in the backyards of buildings.

In the morning hours of March 18, it was determined by the residents that about 45 stray cats had died, with some domestic cats missing as well.

Upon notification, a large-scale investigation was started.

Hüseyin Çınar, a member of an animal rights organization, said that their prediction is that poison has been added to some cat food, as a mass fatality of this magnitude cannot happen out of nowhere.

Çağla Göksu, a neighborhood resident whose cat is also missing, stated that a piece of sausage was found next to a dead cat. The sausage has been sent to a lab in Ankara to find out what kind of poisoning has occurred.

A group of people in Kadıköy protested the killing of 45 cats.

Sibel Yıldız, one of the protesters, stated that a very strong poison was used and even birds and hedgehogs that ate that food had died screaming on the streets.

“Now, for the death of these animals to be a forensic case, a toxicology report is required. Unfortunately, there is no judicial authority in Istanbul to give this report. So we had to send the samples by cargo to Ankara to get examined,” she said.

Meanwhile, on March 9 in Esenyurt, a cleaning worker at a building in Cumhuriyet neighborhood brought a pregnant cat he saw in the parking lot to the building.

The cat recently gave birth, and her three newborn kittens were killed by unidentified people.

The building management filed a criminal complaint to the prosecutor’s office. Police have started an investigation about the incident.