Toby and His friends Need A New Shelter

Say hello to TOBY. Twelve years ago, I rescued him from the streets of Ankara and an uncertain future in the city's overcrowded dog 'shelter'. Having seen the conditions there, I was in no doubt that it would be a miserable existence for him there.

I encountered Toby when I used to take my dogs for walks in the local park. The residents were threatening to have him taken away because of his loud barking. Misunderstood, poor Toby was only barking at strangers; he was actually trying to protect them and the area! What could I do? There was only one course of action - take Toby and his friend Flossie in. I had developed a close relationship with the pair of them, and they have been with me ever since.

Recently, Toby has been complaining insistently about something, so I took him to the vet for a checkup. Everything was fine, and the vet said he was actually about fifteen years old. Wow! So I decided he was probably complaining about the small space he is in.

I sold my house in Ankara three years ago and spent everything I had on building a shelter on a 6,000m piece of land because I wanted the perfect place for my then 20 dogs. If you go to the Hotsa–Rescue website you can read about what happened, but in short, despite having plenty of land, unsuitable enclosures were constructed on a very small area of the land.

Although the dogs have a roof over their heads, because of the lay of the land their cages fill with water during heavy rain. Now winter has arrived again, and there is no space to put kennels for each dog in the enclosures so that they can keep warm. There are many more problems with the location, including the possibility that the nearby village authority could easily evict us with a slight change to the law.

For several reasons, one of them being COVID-19, I have been unable to rectify this situation despite my concerns. I do what I can. However, I have really struggled financially over this time to feed my dogs and get medical care for them as well as all the other dogs I rescue and neuter or spay. Since I started this work in 2004, I have worked extremely hard to pay for everything myself with no help. I taught English full-time in schools and took on private lessons after school and every weekend. Knowing that I was helping these animals, made it all worth it

Back to Toby. I put him in my newly constructed run along with three puppies and Sibel. It is the only place that even goes part way to being called a run. He seemed better until I realized he had been chewing on his tail. With the puppies continually licking the damage he has inflicted upon himself, I have had to put him back in his old enclosure since I have nowhere else to put him, but he lets me know he is unhappy with the situation every time I see him.

Recently I have realized that many of the people helping street animals are actually receiving financial help from fellow animal lovers like yourself. Since you are taking the time to read this, you are probably one of them. Three years have gone by and I have been unable to improve the conditions for my animals and the number has now increased to 40 dogs and there are also many cats. The only solution is to sell the land and move to a more suitable place, but such a move will require more money! Setting up a new shelter along with the everyday care, food and other expenses for the animals at the rescue centre and in the surrounding area, is a huge undertaking.

I won’t be able to do this without your help. Please consider either a one-off donation or a regular monthly donation to help me provide my animals with the care they deserve and to allow me to continue helping other animals, too.

Toby is old now, and I think he is trying to tell me that for the remaining part of his life, he would like to be freer and near me. When I am feeding and cleaning his run, he demands I hug and stroke him. If I can build my perfect rescue, he will be free to wander around and come and sit next to me on the old sofas I am planning.

About 14 of my dogs are getting on like Toby, and I desperately want them to enjoy their final years. With a well-designed facility, I will provide them with a better life. The other dogs at the rescue are young and I hope to find forever homes for them where they can get the attention they deserve.

Once I have moved my rescue centre, I will devote more energy to teaching the public, especially children, what we can all do to reduce the number of homeless animals. It is essential we help the homeless animals suffering on the streets now, but in the long run, we must work to ease the problem and limit the number of these animals through education.

To see more about my story, please look at my hotsarescue.com site and Hotsa Facebook or Hotsa Instagram page. Also, check out my engreaders.com site. Engreaders.com is a site I am developing to help Turkish children learn English. As an educationalist, I am very keen to teach kids about caring for animals, which hopefully comes through in my learning materials. I hope the proceeds from this will eventually fund Hotsa-Rescue.