(Post taken from http://kaskillers.wordpress.com)

Mehmet Sevigen

Dear Friends,

Today is one of those rare days where we can announce a victory.

Thanks to the intervention of one good man, the CHP Parlamentarian Mehmet Sevigen, the dogs of Kas have been spared execution.

Our sources at the Municipality informed us that the poisoning of the dogs was planned for last night. Upon hearing those news Let’s Adopt! deployed a team of 20 volunteers along the streets of Kaş between midnight and 06.00.

The poisoning was averted.

But the good news came this morning. Mr. Sevigen gave a call to the Mayor of Kas and reminded him once again that nothing was to happen to the dogs of Kas. The Mayor of Kaş, agreed, the dogs of Kaş would from now on be protected and cared for by the CHP Municipality. The Mayor went as far as to announce on the Municipality website that he is an animal lover and that those dogs are cared for.  Good.. we love that!!.

We hope Abdullah Gültekin will honor his promise and his word. As we all know the credibility of a politician is his most valuable asset. A politician who breaks a public promise like this one would loose all its credibility and would

ridicule the party he belongs to.

We are extremely grateful to Mr. Sevigen. His intervention has repercussions far and beyond. His action has spared many lives, not only in Kas, but also in all Municipalities controlled by the CHP.

Saved!… for now…

A week ago Let’s Adopt! conducted a Flash poll amongst its members. 99% of the people questioned expressed that the single most important point for them at the time of casting a vote is the policy of a Party in relation to its treatment of animals. Let’s Adopt!, with its over 22.000 members and their extended families and relations is a group far too large to be ignored. Thanks to our use of social media to build the nation’s largest animal welfare platform, the combined votes of the animal lover community cannot be dismissed any longer.

Once again, we thank Mehmet Sevigen for his support to our cause and congratulate him for having turned a potential PR disaster into a great showcase of how one politician’s compassion can make a tremendous difference. His action has a direct repercussion in the way its party, the CHP is perceived by millions. We would like to seize the opportunity to publicly request a formal meeting in order to discuss the correct implementation of the Animal Welfare Law 5199 in all CHP-controlled Municipalities.

Finally, we would like to invite our members to leave a note in our blog and express their appreciation to Mr. Sevigen for his intervention and mediation in this case.

Kind regards

Viktor Larkhill

v.larkhill@googlemail.com

http://kaskillers.wordpress.com/2009/09/19/kas-kopeklerine-koruma-sozu-promise-of-protection-for-the-dogs-of-kas/

(Post taken from kaskillers.wordpress.com)

Kas, once an unspoiled fishing village, is now a relatively unspoiled tourist town on the southern bulge of Turkey’s Mediterranean coast two hours’ drive southeast of Fethiye and three hours’ drive southwest of Antalya.

Unlike most coastal developments Kas still has charm, a charm that comes from its setting at the foot of the mountains, its unhurried ambiance and, most importantly, its dogs.

The stray dogs of Kas are legendary. Friendly and kind, they are loved and cherished by the many tourist that visit the village. Tourists coming to Kas care for them, feed them, pet them, at times they even adopt them and take them back to their countries of origin.

Dogs are an asset for Kas. They are part of the whole Turkey experience, tourists love it, tourist establishment love it… but not the Mayor.

The Mayor of Kaş Abdullah Gültekin hates dogs.

Recently the major said to a concerned group of animal lovers:  “I’ll keep on killing them stop me if you can”

23 of April, Childrens day, the holiday created by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk who believed that children were the future of this nation.

6:30 am an eyewitness saws a police car, a  municipal policeman and the employees from the cleaning department. One of them had a pistol with a long barrel and the others had big black plastic bag which were all full with something. As she asked the police what they were doing policeman said that they were sedating dogs to take them to Kaş Minester Shelter for  nursing  them.

It was not true. That day, Kas witnessed yet another dog massacre. One more.

The Municipality has been repeating this senseless killing for decades. It is time to stop them.

Traditionally, animal welfare groups are always late to stop those killings. Usually, we are alerted by people who find dead dogs in the streets. By the time we get there is usually too late and the assassins have succeeded in their mission.

This time will be different. Two of Let’s Adopt members are working for the Municipality of Kas and they have alerted us of the Municipality’s plans. The Dogs of Kas will be killed shortly after the Holiday season is over.

This weekend Kas will be full of tourists. They will be playing with the beautiful animals completely unaware that of the plans of the Kas Municipality.

Let’s Adopt will conduct an awareness campaign like no other. This time we won’t be screaming for justice at the sight of tens of dead dogs.  This time we will try to save them before its too late. This will be an internet-based awareness campaign but it will involve traditional media as well. Bloggers all over the world are invited to report on this campaign and to contact us to offer their assistance.

We will also request the help of animal activist networks from all over the world.

Most of you are already on your way to Kas, some are already there.
Let the hoteliers, shopkeepers of Kas that this year the world will be watching them and that thousands of people will use whatever means necessary to stop the killings. We are sure there will be people that will call upon a boycott on Tourism.

Let the people of Kas now that the dogs of Kas MUST NOT BE KILLED, and The Mayor of Kaş Abdullah Gültekin, is not beyond the scope of the Law.

http://kaskillers.wordpress.com/2009/09/17/duyuru-kas-kopeklerinin-katline-son-verin-stop-the-killing-of-the-dogs-of-kas/

Puppies are not usually garbage – except they were in the city of Bilecik a couple of days ago… Not just puppies, their mothers too.

Because the municipal murder team was at it, and they poisoned whatever stray dog that came along. Not just strays in fact, at least one owned dog was poisoned as well.

This is going on basically non-stop…. Please protest, and please be the voice of these poor animals. Dogs do not belong in the garbage, they belong in loving homes… Send your protest messages to the following address: bilecik@icisleri.gov.tr

The city of Agri in eastern Turkey – one of the coldest in the entire country. And the strays here are particularly unfortunate. In warmer places, they somehow manage to survive through the winter. In Agri, they freeze to death. Like the one below that froze to death recently…  

Just before she died, she had managed to take some of her puppies away to safety. This one tough wouldn’t leave mummy. It stood by the dead body of its mother for over 2 days until Turkey’s animal rights activists became aware of the situation via journalists. This puppy has now been taken to a municipal shelter in a neighboring city.

Because there is no municipal shelter in the city of Agri itself. Turkish law requires all municipalities to set up shelters for homeless animals – most mayors, however, couldn’t care less. Neither does the mayor of Ekrem Aktas. The stray dogs of Agri are either freezing to death, or being poisoned to death like the ones below:

Mr. Aktas – nothing lasts forever. You can’t avoid the law until eternity. Like it or not, you will have to eventually comply with the law and set up a shelter for stray animals in Agri. This is our question to him: JUST WHEN THE HELL WILL YOU DO IT?

If you want to ask him the same question, please send your messages to:

Mayor of Agri Ekrem Aktas: agribelediyesi62@mynet.com

Here comes the million-dollar question: will Turkey’s mayors ever stop murdering stray animals? The answer, it seems, is a big no….

Just as soon as we reported to you the recent poisoning spree in the city of western city of Izmir, we received news of another one. This time in the Tercan area of the eastern city of Erzincan.

Murder all around, from the east to the west…

And they are getting more audacious each time; they don’t even bother to hide the evidence any more. They leave the syringes used to poison the dogs stuck in their bodies – no fear whatsoever that the syringe might be traced back to them.

Why should they fear? There is no justice for stray dogs here… Things work in a rather twisted way as far as animal justice is concerned. The animal rights defenders who have uncovered the mass murder of Antalya dogs

http://turkeymassacre.wordpress.com/2008/10/29/no-justice-for-antalya-dogs/

last May have themselves been put on trial – charged with “endangering public health”. Those who murdered the animals got away with it…

So, the answer seems to be: NO, THEY WILL NEVER STOP.

Governor of Erzincan:erzincan@icisleri.gov.tr

Mayor of Erzincan / Tercan:yaziisleri@tercan.bel.tr

Municipal authorities in the Seferhisar district of the city of Izmir have recently launched a stray animal poisoning spree!

Cats,

and dogs,

- in short, anything 4-legged that comes along is being poisoned to death these days…

Luckily, dedicated animal rights defenders in the area are working around the clock to stop this poisoning spree.

Please support their fight. Contact the municipality and tell them you know what is going on there and that you protest the poisoning of innocent stray animals in the strongest terms possible.

In the course of the last three days, a full 2.5 million animals were butchered right in front of the eyes of small children in Turkey. And do you know why? In the name of religious duty.We don’t know from which era this cruelty comes from,but it is repeated in Turkey every year – a country that has been seeking to join the European Union. In a country where 5 million are unemployed,approximately 1bn dollar is spent each year on butchering animals.We are sure that God did not plan for this kind of heartless cruelty to be part of Islam.

To believe that God ordered the faithful to torture another one of its creatures in the name of religion is nothing but ignorant dogma inherited from medieval times.We do not want our readers to think that we are conducting anti-Turkey or anti-Islamic propaganda.What we are doing is to simply say no to all forms of massacre.We condemn ALL countries of all religious persuasions which put out scenes like these.And we are noting it down here because this blog is dedicated to Turkey.

There you have it:on the one hand,there is a Turkey which receives a 13mn euro grant from the European Union to combat rabies,and on the other hand you have another Turkey which spends millions of dolars to murder animals right in the middle of the streets.Whichever way you look at it, this is so fundamentally wrong.

How will the members of a nation who photograph a child with the decapitated head of an animal contribute to humanity? How will the authorities responsible for this account for all of this?

God forgive us all.

Right now, what you can do is you can sign our petition and remind the Turkish minister of tourism that you will never visit this country so long as the animal massacre continues.

We would like to bring to your attention in this post an ongoing thriller in the Kartal district of Istanbul. “A Proud Dog Killer”. If you have missed the first two parts, please go take a look at them here:

http://turkeymassacre.wordpress.com/2008/07/13/a-proud-dog-killer/

http://turkeymassacre.wordpress.com/2008/07/27/a-proud-dog-killer-the-sequel

Part III was filmed on 2 December 2008, and it was as disgusting as the first two. The directors and the actors were the same. Encouraged by the “success” of the first two, the same team were in action once again.

Keep visiting this page for Part IV….

These images are from the city of Van in eastern Turkey, and the tragedy going on here defies our ability to communicate in a consistent manner…. It is horrific, it is beyond words, and it is REAL. Happened today just a few hours ago…

The stray dog you see here was hit by a car 3 days ago. Its back legs were broken as a result. Nobody took it to a vet or anything – it was left to lie there in agony for 3 days. It couldn’t walk, it could only crawl after the incident. A few good citizens there in Van tried to help it, they cared for it, brought food and water so that it would survive. In the meantime, they called the authorities to come and help the poor dog. It was in excruciating pain, just begging for someone to put it out of that misery…

Three days later, the municipal authorities of Van finally showed up. Not, however, to rescue the dog.

To the contrary, they came to kill the dog! In fact, the municipality did not even send a vet to the area. They sent a garbage truck and garbage collectors instead of medical assistance – the dog was nothing more than a piece of garbage to them anyway. And they did what they do best: rounded up the dog, tossed him into the garbage and crushed him alive. All the while, the dog screamed, screamed and screamed…

It may sound like a miracle – the dog actually survived all this. Couple of hours later, volunteers found the dog and rushed it to surgery immediately. At the moment, the dog is half-paralyzed and is in critical condition…

This is sadism of a level that defies belief – that is under normal circumstances. The same happened in Turkey before, what we don’t want to believe is that it is happening again. It is a disgrace on all humanity.

No matter where you live, even if you live on the moon, condemn this horrific massacre. Express how disgusted you are with these images not just to the local authorities of Van, but to the Prime Minister of Turkey. Tell the Turkish authorities to STOP THIS BLOODY MASSACRE RIGHT NOW!!

VIDEO FOOTAGE OF THE TORTURE:

http://www.gencturkhaber.com/video/video/Kopege-insanlik-disi-mudahale.html,00e821

Mayor of Van Burhan Yenigun:

0432 216 73 41

vanbelediyesi@van-bld.gov.tr

Governor of Van

Ozdemir Cakacak

0 432 214 96 35

ozdemircakacak@van.gov.tr

Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan

bimer@basbakanlik.gov.tr

Last May, a dog genocide took place in the Kepez, Konyaalti and Muratpasa areas of Antalya in Turkey.

It was so appalling that animal rights defenders from all around the world stood up against it. Over 20 mass graves were found, and there were over 5000 dead dogs in them. It took days for all the graves to be dug and all the bodies to be exhumed. During the first days, it was understood that some dogs, including puppies, had been buried alive. Some of those puppies were rescued, others gone. The authorities were arguing that there was a rabies outbreak in Antalya so they had to kill the animals – yet many of the dogs killed were wearing ear tags indicating that they had been vaccinated against rabies. Rabies was simply a pretext.

Turkey’s most-widely circulating newspaper Hurriyet headlined this massacre with the title “Nazis in Antalya”. Like Hurriyet, other Turkish newspapers covered this massacre in their front pages for days. Turkey-wide protests were held in June in memory of the Antalya dogs. The pain of 5000 dogs was just too much for everybody.

In Turkey, you need permission from the minister of interior to be able to bring criminal charges against a mayor or a municipality. This procedure was followed in the aftermath of the Antalya massacre. Everybody wanted justice for those 5000 dogs. Those responsible had to be punished. For Minister Besir Atalay, that demand was too much. Just to keep up the appearances, the ministry held its own “preliminary inquiry” into the case. Of course, all the mayors concerned said “we did not do it”. The minister did now allow things to go any further. After that so-called preliminary inquiry, the case was closed. Nobody will be punished whatsover.

The most tragic of it all is that Besir Atalay decided everything in this massacre was “in line with the procedures”. Well, if that was in line with the procedures, we don’t even want to imagine what is not in line with the procedures.. For Mr. Atalay’s decision means that burying a puppy alive is procedure.

Mr. Minister: Would you like to benefit yourself from this procedure when you have some time? We don’t think so… But since you think that all of this is normal, you might want to share this information will all the other mayors in Turkey. For example, you could write a book entitled “How to Kill 5000 Dogs In Line With the Procedures”, and then gift it to all the mayors. Very occassionally, some municipalities get caught in the act or leave too much evidence behind. God forbid, you may actually have to punish some of them!

If you too are appalled by this decision, please send a message to Besir Atalay with the title “We Won’t Forget the Antalya Massacre”.

besir.atalay@icisleri.gov.tr

mustesarlik@icisleri.gov.tr

ozelkalem@icisleri.gov.tr

mahalli@mahalli-idareler.gov.tr