NO DOGS HOME IN KALKAN PLEASE . . .

NO DOGS HOME IN KALKAN PLEASE . . . After our very positive meeting with the new Governor of Kaş Mr. Bilgihan Bayar, we hoped that the plight of the remaining street dogs in Kalkan would improve. But despite his support, removals ordered by the Mayor of Kaş Mr. Halil Kocaer have continued, and now we have heard that there is a new plan in play; fuelled by the increasingly vocal complaints of a small number of Kalkan business owners and residents, there is now talk of the Mayor setting up a dogs home in Kalkan so that all the street dogs can be removed! How this would be funded is a mystery as the Mayor has shown little interest in improving the present Dogs home in Kaş. A dogs home in Kalkan would not only be disastrous for our street dogs but for Kalkan too. Thousands of regular visitors each year tell us that one of the main reasons they come to Kalkan is the street animals and the care shown to the animals by the locals. A dogs home would not solve anything either because as fast as the streets are emptied of stray dogs new ones would be dumped or find their way here in search of food, of which there is an ample source. Anyone that lives in, or visits Kalkan regularly knows that just one new dog arriving can cause some territorial barking but that settles down after a day or so. But just imagine what it will be like if all the dogs in Kalkan are new. There will be no end of barking and fighting over territory, and many will not have been neutered so fighting over mating rights will occur too. Then the municipality will round these up too and the whole cycle will start again. There will still be dogs on the streets but the Mayor will have unnecessarily created yet another overcrowded pound that he probably will not have the budget to run properly! No, a Kalkan dogs home would truly be a disaster for humans and animals alike. Today, due to neutering in Kalkan and the villages and homing both locally and abroad, plus Kapsa continually spreading awareness, there are now less stray dogs on the streets of Kalkan than there have been for many years! This method of TNR (trap, neuter and return) is the ONLY humane and sustainable method of controlling street animal populations and this has been researched and confirmed by the W.H.O. The RSPCA and all the other large institutions involved with Stray animal management around the world. SAY NO TO KALKAN DOGS HOME. If you have already signed you may not be able to sign again, but you can make as many comments on the petition as you wish. Also feel free to e-mail the Mayor Mr. Kocaer direct at kasbelediyesi@mynet.com or fax him on 0090 242 836 1030 Please don’t forget to share!!!