Man establishes operating room for pack animals

ISTANBUL

A man who quit his job and devoted himself to injured pack animals since 2018 has established Türkiye’s first volunteer animal operating room.

After quitting his job in the advertising sector in 2018, Okan Oflaz began to take care of disabled and injured pack animals.

Leading the establishment of the Association for the Protection and Rescue of Pack Animals, Oflaz also provides shelter for injured pack animals with the support of 150 volunteer caregivers and veterinarians at the farm in Istanbul’s Çekmeköy district.

“With the support of [Istanbul’s natural gas distribution company] İGDAŞ, we established an operating room that provides treatment for pack animals such as horses, donkeys, camels and cows,” Oflaz expressed.

Thanks to the operating room, pack animals that were left in the wild or injured are treated in a very short time, and they have safe shelter, Oflaz stated.

Injured foals, horses, camels, donkeys and cattle from all over the country are brought to the farm, Oflaz noted.

“We have implemented a special anesthesia room and a wake-up unit. Our volunteer doctors perform the necessary operations on injured animals,” Oflaz explained.

“My youth was spent fighting with carriage drivers. No one was taking care when the horse and donkey’s leg broke. That’s why we started helping a couple of animals with friends,” Oflaz stated.

“When this initiative was heard, the demand to help injured pack animals increased. Then, we established our association and farm.”