Animal shelter Göcek
Göcek, Turkey
Number of dogs: ± 70

The Göcek animal shelter founded in 1998 lies in a secluded wooded area. Unfortunately electricity is not available, but we have had a water supply since 2001. At any one time we have between 60 and 70 dogs, depending on how many have been re-homed, and how many new dogs have arrived.

There is a caretaker present during the day to see to the animals. Early in 2007 a vet settled in Göcek and now neuters and vaccinates our animals. We are very happy, because before we had to take the animals to the vet clinic in Fetiye (about 40 kilometers away).  

In the summer we feed our dogs with the leftovers from a couple of hotels: in the winter a volunteer cooks chicken with rice, mixed with bread for the animals. Dry food is a luxury we cannot afford. In 2007 the municipality has started to support our shelter by providing the gas bottles for the cooking of the dog food and for heating Feridun's room, the caretaker of the dogs. Furthermore, they want to provide the cleaning materials. Their changing attitude is probably the result of the new law which obliges the local authority to solve the stray dog problem by neutering and a good shelter. 

The dogs live in kennels, 3-4m² in area. Each kennels homes 3-4 dogs. Every morning the dogs are released to run about the grounds of the shelter. When the volunteer calls “every one back inside” the dogs return to their kennels.
The dogs choose their own kennel, and consequently share the kennel with different dogs every night. In this way we can confirm that almost none of the dogs have problems with other dogs.

Our shelter cannot be compared with a “normal” Dutch shelter. The Turkish people have little interest or understanding for what we do, and we have very few volunteers who are interested in the animals.

Sadly we are unable to give things like regular walks or a daily cuddle to our dogs, but we are trying to improve this. We are trying to get more people interested in and enthusiastic about our project, to give our dogs a better quality of life. Until then we and a very small group of people try to care for all the dogs in the shelter and on the street, and to find new homes for them. A big part of our effort must go into the financial side of things.

More important information:

• About 90% of the dogs in our shelter are bitches. Villagers keep the dogs but abandon the bitches.
• The woodland around our shelter provides shadow in the summer, but also means we have a tick problem. To help with this we treat our dogs 4 times a year with Ivomec.
• The dogs receive an annual booster vaccination.
• Generally all dogs in the shelter are castrated. The exceptions are newcomers who are awaiting this operation.
• The dogs all have a bath once a year.

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