In some of the more affluent areas in California, USA people have dogs to guard their property.

One day I was visiting such an area and I wanted to smoke a cigarette. I decided to take a walk, when all of a sudden about 7 large dogs decided to "walk" with me. It was rather frightening as the leader of the pack was a wolf dog (half wolf half German Shepard) I was rather upset and told them," look guys, I´m just trying to have a smoke, OK?"

It turned out OK, but it was really an "interesting" experience. The wolf dog decided I was part of the pack.

I haven´t seen many dogs in Turkey and those I saw were quite small but I remember packs of dogs in the streets of Romanian cities. Maybe it´s all those creepy stories about Vlad Dracula but seeing 7-8 huge dogs running through empty streets at night time gave me shivers

In the Erzincan province town where I lived, there were a number of stray dogs, mostly mongrels with a good bit of Kangal in them. I never saw any of them being threatening or aggressive; in fact they were rather shy. Our cook fed leftovers to them almost every night, at first to a bitch and her puppies, later to a young dog which we adopted. He developed a territorial attitude toward our neighborhood and would run off other strays, although he got along with other neighborhood dogs which had owners. The local people had a generally benevolent attitude toward the stray dogs and many fed them scraps and leftovers, although few people befriended or played with individual animals.

Once or twice a year, in the summer generally, the local authorities would carry out a poisoning campaign and so wipe out most of the strays. They didn´t poison dogs with a collar so we got one for our friend Brusk. We also took him to the town vet for a checkup and distemper shots. The vet issued us a formal little identification booklet for him, complete with a picture. We used a different name for this document though, as Brusk is a Kurdish name and everyone concerned thought it best not to use it in an official document. Brusk was one of the nicest dogs I have ever known.

The concept of a spay/neuter campaign never occurred to anyone of course. Such campaigns have been very effective in keeping the stray population down in the U.S. town where I live but I don´t think they´ll be adopted in Turkey any time soon.

Further to the cat situation - on Monday I looked out of my kitchen window and saw several cats gathered round something that looked like a raw chicken on the ground. I went down to have a look and it was a chicken that smelt really bad.  I shooed the cats away and stuck the chicken in a bag and threw it in the bin in the road outside.  The cat I was taking to the vets wasn´t eating because he couldn´t (hence the vet trip).  He is now getting better and living on our porch at the moment.  However......all the other cats - including the two others we have been feeding - have disappeared and we have a horrible feeling that the chicken was poisoned and left out for them deliberately .  This means it must have been done by one of our Turkish neighbours as we are the only Brits living on the site.  We may be wrong - I hope we are - but it seems very strange that half a dozen cats would just disappear all at once.

 How sad for the cats. It could just be that the chicken was not really good. You know, it could most probably have been infected with salmonella or some other contagon chickens are known to carry.

Thank you for careing for the cats. My cousin does cat rescue and now is trying to find homes for about 60 cats.

My reply to Tamidakika is that I recognise that this is a problem. Does Turkey recognise it as one ?  My solution would be to institute a program of neutering street animals, and educating people who allow animals to roam free. I also believe that visitors should raise the issue with politicians both local and national in Turkey.  Leaving kittens and young dogs to starve in the streets is not good business for any tourist area.

 hmmm This happens in Bitez also - hence my friend bottle feeding the surviving kittens. I can "sort of" understand why a restaurant owner would do this but as Mike says there must be a better solution.

 I completely agree.  Sitting eating lunch with stray cats at your feet, about to fight is not good for business.  We don´t have that many strays wandering around in England, for a start there are dog wardens who collect up any dog that looks even remotely stray.  We have our pets chipped with identification tags and there are organisations in Britian that look after unwanted animals. 

I know there are people in Turkey who will look after animals, but they are very much left to fend for themslves, and end up being a nuisance - it is about time the government recognised it.

Animal Shelters

You can offer assistance to the stray cats and dogs wandering on the streets by getting in touch with the animal shelters in various districts of the town. After the necessary shots, rehabilitation and neutering operations, they try to find families to look after those animals.

Those wishing to keep a cat or a dog can find purebred, half-bred or stray dogs and cats at these shelters.

If you don´t wish to keep them at home you can take responsibility for one as a "protective family". This means commiting to the adopted animals´ expenses in the shelter and visiting them from time to time and to play.

Besides the shelters there are several groups working for the benefit of stray animals in Istanbul and following are some of them. You can be sure they will be grateful for any kind of assistance.

Çevre ve Sokak Hayvanlarý Derneði (Association for Stray Animals)
Their goal is to collect stray cats and dogs, neuter them, complete the necessary shots-especially rabies- and find new homes for them. Moreover, milk, macaroni, bread, pet food, vitamins and antibiotics are always welcome. They also accept monetary assistance and can give a receipt.

Evsiz Hayvanlarý ve Doðayý Koruma Derneði (Association for Stray Animals and Protecting the Nature)
This shelter was founded in Sarýyer by the Municipality of Metropolitan Istanbul and then handed over to animal lovers. They neuter and complete the necessary shots and try to find new homes for them. The "protective family" concept is also available and all kinds of assistance are welcome.

SHDK - Sahipsiz Hayvanlar Koruma Derneði (Society for the protection of Stray Animals )
This multi-purpose facility is located at Kemerburgaz Göktürk Köyü. They neuter and complete the shots of the stray animals and, after fasten ear-tags, the animals are sent back to streets. These animals are checked periodically. The facility also find homes for them.
Göktürk Köyü, Kemerburgaz
Tel: (212) 322 18 19

Yedikule Hayvan Barýnaðý (Yedikule Animal Shelter)
There are 1700 dogs here, and you can visit the shelter everyday from 10:30 to 15:30

Quoting kurtlovesgrunge

Animal Shelters

You can offer assistance to the stray cats and dogs wandering on the streets by getting in touch with the animal shelters in various districts of the town. After the necessary shots, rehabilitation and neutering operations, they try to find families to look after those animals.

Those wishing to keep a cat or a dog can find purebred, half-bred or stray dogs and cats at these shelters.

If you don´t wish to keep them at home you can take responsibility for one as a "protective family". This means commiting to the adopted animals´ expenses in the shelter and visiting them from time to time and to play.

Besides the shelters there are several groups working for the benefit of stray animals in Istanbul and following are some of them. You can be sure they will be grateful for any kind of assistance.

Çevre ve Sokak Hayvanlarý Derneði (Association for Stray Animals)
Their goal is to collect stray cats and dogs, neuter them, complete the necessary shots-especially rabies- and find new homes for them. Moreover, milk, macaroni, bread, pet food, vitamins and antibiotics are always welcome. They also accept monetary assistance and can give a receipt.

Evsiz Hayvanlarý ve Doðayý Koruma Derneði (Association for Stray Animals and Protecting the Nature)
This shelter was founded in Sarýyer by the Municipality of Metropolitan Istanbul and then handed over to animal lovers. They neuter and complete the necessary shots and try to find new homes for them. The "protective family" concept is also available and all kinds of assistance are welcome.

SHDK - Sahipsiz Hayvanlar Koruma Derneði (Society for the protection of Stray Animals )
This multi-purpose facility is located at Kemerburgaz Göktürk Köyü. They neuter and complete the shots of the stray animals and, after fasten ear-tags, the animals are sent back to streets. These animals are checked periodically. The facility also find homes for them.
Göktürk Köyü, Kemerburgaz
Tel: (212) 322 18 19

Yedikule Hayvan Barýnaðý (Yedikule Animal Shelter)
There are 1700 dogs here, and you can visit the shelter everyday from 10:30 to 15:30

 Thanks for posting this!  Sounds similar to what happens in France, where people (volunteers) can visit the shelters and offer to take the dogs for a walk.

I have seen the dogs with ear tags in Oludeniz, and they were mostly looked after by the resort workers.

In most supermarkets in England there is a bin. People buy animal food with their shopping  and then place it in the bin.This is then collected by an animal charity who take in stray animal and rehouse them.