Spay/neuter project Ayvalik Turkey 2014 - stray dogs ......being the only solution for a stray...

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Spay/neuter project

Ayvalik Turkey

2014

Nathalie Klinge Linda Taal

June 2015

Rietdijk 1 4316 AR Zonnemaire

www.straydogscampaign.com

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Contents Chapter Page Introduction 4 1. StraydogsCampaign Foundation 4 2. Cunda Island 4 3. Ayvalik 4 3.1. Geography 5 3.2. Population 5 3.3. Climate 5 3.4. Tourism 5 3.5. Situation Ayvalik in Turkey 5 3.6. Overview Ayvalik and Cunda Island 6 4. Meet the team 8 5. Animal welfare legislation in Turkey 10 6. Assessment local dog population Ayvalik 11 6.1. Source of the local dog population 11 6.2. Size of the local dog population 12 7. Stakeholders 13 7.1. Ayvalik Municipality 13 7.2. Local citizens 13 7.3. Local schools 13 7.4. Local NGO’s 13 8. Local shelter 13 9. Planning the intervention Phase 1 14 9.1. Planning Phase 2 14 10. Cost estimate 15 11. Funding 15 12. Marketing 16 13. Education 16 13.1. Veterinarians 16 13.2. Children 16 13.3. Dog owners 17 14. Collecting and catching of the dogs 17 15. Surgical spay/neuter 17 15.1. Neutering figures 18 16. Vaccinations and other treatments 19 17. Recovery 19

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18. Returning of the dogs to their territory 20 19. The project in chronological order 21 20. Evaluation 21 References 23

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Introduction The aim of this report is to show that problems with a surplus of street dogs in European countries can be solved humanely, cost-effectively and permanently using the appropriate methods and set of measures. Some authorities facing a surplus of free roaming dogs still turn to indiscriminate catch, kennel and kill policies expecting the number of free roaming dogs to decrease. Some authorities imprison free roaming dogs for life by implementing new animal welfare laws with no kill strategies. Both policies however, will not have any effect on the root cause of the problem and have no long-term effect on the reduction of the street dog population. In Europe the source of the street dog problem is not feral dogs foraging for food. The most reproductively successful dogs are those with owners, feeders or protectors. Therefore the problem is not the dogs themselves. We need to enlist the help of the politicians funding animal birth control projects and implementing animal welfare laws as well as the citizens feeding and protecting dogs to have all fertile dogs sterilized. The seaside town Ayvalik in the North West of Turkey is no exception. Animal welfare organizations in Ayvalik reported a substantial population of free roaming dogs. Since 2004 the Turkish Animal Protection Law 5199 was designed to ensure that animals are afforded a comfortable life and receive good and proper treatment, to protect them in the best manner possible from the infliction of pain, suffering and torture, and to prevent all types of cruel treatment. Article 6 describes the collection and management of stray animals. This report also describes the unexpected events that might occur during a spay/neuter project.

1. StraydogsCampaign Foundation (Stichting ActieZwerfhonden) The StraydogsCampaign Foundation was founded in April 2005 with the aim of raising funds for foreign initiatives dedicated to solving stray dog issues in second and third world countries through CNVR (Collect, Neuter, Vaccinate and Return) and education for primary and secondary schools, veterinarians, citizens and civil servants. The StraydogsCampaign Foundation (SdCF) immediately after founding began cooperating with the Turkish foundation Sahipsiz Hayvanlari Koruma Dernegi (SHKD) in Istanbul. Due to the huge and complex stray dog issues in Turkey, SdCF at this point focuses solitarily on stray dog issues in Turkey. SdCF has sponsored and co-organized over 20 spay/neuter campaigns across Turkey. Printed over 2,000 education booklets and sponsored an informative film for education projects and feeds over 200 dogs in a forest model shelter in Istanbul through overseas financial adoptions.

2. Cunda Island In 2013 StraydogsCampaign Foundation received a cry for help from HAYTAP, the Animal Rights Federation, in Turkey. The peninsula of Cunda was facing a feral cat problem. Many fertile cats populated the island and we (SdCF) were asked to spay them. Although SdCF focusses on dogs we couldn’t just ignore this feral cat problem. On a peninsula chances for success are high. We were able to setup a precedent in Turkey. We decided to spay the 200 fertile female cats and spay/neuter the 25 free roaming dogs as well. Both populations turned out to be bigger. So far (June 2015) we have spayed/neutered 1,274 cats from Cunda and 163 dogs. Since 2014 the number of free roaming cats and dogs on Cunda Island has significantly decreased. Since the town Ayvalik is connecting Cunda to the mainland by a bridge we received a request to set up a spay/neuter campaign in Ayvalik as well.

3. Ayvalik Ayvalık is a seaside town on the north western Aegean coast of Turkey. It is a district of Balıkesir Province. The town centre of Ayvalık is surrounded by the archipelago of Ayvalık Islands, which face the nearby Greek island of Lesbos. It contains an area of 265 square kilometres. Ayvalık and its environs are famous for the highly appreciated quality of olive oil production, which provides an important source of income for the local population.

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3.1. Geography Ayvalık is a district in Turkey's Balıkesir Province on the Aegean Sea coast. It is situated on a narrow coastal plain surrounded by low hills to the east which are covered with pine and olive trees. Ayvalık is also surrounded by the archipelago of the Ayvalık Islands (the largest of which is Cunda Island) on the sea and by a narrow peninsula in the south named the Hakkıbey Peninsula. Ayvalık also has two of the longest sandy beaches of Turkey which extend as far as the Dikili district of İzmir nearly 30 kilometres to the south. These are the Sarımsaklı and Altınova beaches.

3.2. Population Before March 2014 (local Turkish elections), the population of Ayvalık was close to 50,000, which tripled to 150,000 during the summer due to tourists from mainly Turkey and a small percentage from abroad. After the elections the municipal borders expanded and with the surrounding villages the population went to 70,000 in winter to over 300,000 in summer.

3.3. Climate The region is under the influence of a typical Mediterranean climate with mild and rainy winters and hot, dry summers.

3.4. Tourism Ayvalık and the numerous islets encircling the bay area are popular holiday resorts. The largest and most important of these islets is Cunda Island (Alibey Island) which is connected to Lale Island, and thence to the mainland, by a bridge and causeway built in the late 1960s. Both Ayvalık and Cunda Island are famous for their seafood restaurants which are located immediately at the seashore. Ayvalık is in close proximity to Bergama (ancient Pergamon), which is another important attraction for tourists, with its ruins dating back to antiquity. In recent years, Ayvalık has also become an important point of attraction for scuba divers with its underwater fauna.

3.5. Situation Ayvalik in Turkey

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3.6. Overview Ayvalik and Cunda Island

Cunda Island

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4. Meet the team Mr Murat Bekhan Veterinarian and overall responsible for the Ayvalik project

Date of birth: 18th of May 1974; Birth place: Istanbul, Turkey ; Graduated as veterinarian at Istanbul university veterinarian faculty in June 1996; Has worked in his private clinic in Istanbul since 1996; Finished his Doctoral veterinary obstetrics in June 2013; Has worked for SHKD as shelter manager and vet specialised in neutering since July 1998; Murat was trained by the American vets Ginny Bischel and Dorothy York in the keyhole neutering technic. Both these vets are trained by Dr. W. Marvin Mackie, world’s best surgical pet sterilization vet.

Mr Necdet Ugur Veterinarian

Date of birth: 16th of May 1967; Birth place: Istanbul, Turkey ; Graduated from Istanbul university veterinarian faculty in June 1991; Worked for SHKD from July 1998 as shelter vet specialised in neutering till 2006; Since 2006 he has worked for Sisli Municipality in Istanbul for its Dog Population Management program; Necdet was also trained by Ginny Bischel and Dorothy York in the keyhole neutering technic.

Mrs Seher Tuna Ayvalik municipal veterinarian

Date of birth: 25th of September 1987; Graduated from Ula University (Bursa) in 2011; Worked as a vet in private clinics in Bursa and Ayvalik from 2011-2013. Since March 2014 she’s employed by Ayvalik Municipality as a vet responsible for the dogs in the municipal dog shelter in Ayvalik; Since December 2013 she has been trained on the job by vet Murat Bekhan and from 2011 until now performed about 180 dog and 150 cat neutering surgeries.

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Mr Murat Sengonul Vet Technician

Date of Birth: 6th of May 1984; Has been working as Vet Technician from 2007 till May 2014 in private clinics; Since May 2014 he’s employed by Ayvalik Municipality as a Vet Technician in the municipal dog shelter in Ayvalik.

Mr Hüseyin Basaran Vet Technician

Date of Birth: 6th of October 1967; Birth Place: Istanbul , Turkey; Initially employed by SHKD in 2008 as care taker/handyman in the forest shelter; But was trained for pre and post-operative care of dogs and cats.

Mrs Gülnihal Balci Coordinator project and education

Graduated in June 2001 as Germanist at Cologne University in Germany; From 2000-2006 she organised several neutering campaigns in Turkey and worked with vets from several countrie; In 2006 she founded the Ayvalik Animal Rights Foundation; From 2006 until November 2013 she, as a volunteer, joined several neutering campaigns and coordinated the 2013 neutering campaign of StraydogsCampaign Foundation on the Island Cunda; November 2013-May 2014 volunteer at the StraydogsCampaign Foundation neutering campaign in Ayvalik; Since May 2014 she is employed by StraydogsCampaign Foundation to manage the Ayvalik shelter and coordinate the neutering campaign in Ayvalik. She is assisted by the municipal workers of the shelter and some local volunteers. Gülnihal is also responsible for the education project in local schools.

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Mrs Serife Bekhan Volunteer Serife is Murat Bekhans mother. She is a housewife and adores animals. She is 60 years old. She takes care of the dogs during the neutering campaigns and cleans the cages.

Mrs Yildiz Güler Volunteer She is a 49 years old housewife, fond of animals and also takes care of the dogs and cleans cages.

Mrs Linda Taal Founder and Treasurer of StraydogsCampaign Foundation

Started volunteering for a Dutch rehoming organisation in 2001. The more she learned the more she realized the only structural way to work for the wellbeing of the stray animals was to collect, neuter and return them and at the same time, educate people as well as municipalities in order to change the mentality towards (stray) animals. In 2003 she started StraydogsCampaign Foundation and in 2005 StraydogsCampaign Foundation became a registered charity. Her aim is to set an example with CNVR- and education projects in Turkey so both the “people” as well as the authorities can’t deny CNVR being the only solution for a stray animal problem. She has many valuable contacts in the Turkish animal welfare community and knows all the ins and outs of stray dog population

management.

Ms Nathalie Klinge Board member StraydogsCampaign Foundation

Date of Birth: 30th of December 1969; Birth Place: Rotterdam, The Netherlands; Has worked as a volunteer in animal welfare since 2001 in Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey; Since 2004 she has volunteered for a Romanian animal welfare organisation which managed to solve the free roaming dog problems in the Romanian city of Oradea and the county of Bihor. She became an expert in dog population management by endless studying and attending conferences and training sessions across the world. Nowadays she advices ministries and animal welfare organisations worldwide. In 2013 Nathalie joined the board of StraydogsCampaign Foundation. One of her missions is to professionalize animal welfare organisations in order to increase the “sales of their product” (spay/neuter) to local and central authorities.

5. Animal welfare legislation in Turkey

Since 2004 the Turkish Animal Protection Law 5199 was designed to ensure that animals are afforded a comfortable life and receive good and proper treatment, to protect them in the best manner possible from the infliction of pain, suffering and torture, and to prevent all types of cruel treatment. Draft Law 5199 was, according to Turkey’s Ministry of Forestry and Water, intended “… to make animals live. The aim is to prevent bad treatment of animals, clarify institutional responsibilities, and to strengthen the mechanisms of animal ownership.”

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Article 6 describes the collection and management of stray animals: ”Ownerless and incapacitated animals must be brought as quickly as possible to animal shelters established or permitted by the local authorities. These animals will first be held in the observation areas established in these centres. It is a principle that animals that have been sterilised, vaccinated and rehabilitated will be registered and released into the environment that they were taken from”. Unfortunately national and local authorities are reluctant in the enforcement of Law 5199. In fact some municipalities still kill dogs en masse expecting the number of free roaming dogs to decrease. Technically stray animals are the responsibility of the local governments. In 2012, Turkey’s Ministry of Forestry and Water proposed a law to send the dogs away to “wildlife parks” on the outskirts of the cities. Many stray dogs are already living in wooded areas of north-eastern Istanbul where they struggle to survive. Sending dogs to these wildlife parks is tantamount to a death sentence as there is not enough food. “Removal and killing of dogs should never be considered as the most effective way of dealing with a problem of surplus dogs in the community: it has no effect whatsoever on the root cause of the problem.” Guidelines for Dog Population Management, W.H.O. Geneva 1990 (page 74). The law was tabled (temporarily) after massive demonstrations and protests worldwide.

6. Assessment local dog population Ayvalik 6.1. Source of the local dog population In Ayvalik there are many summer houses and holiday lets. Thousands of Turkish vacationers and a few tourists from abroad spend their summer holidays in Ayvalik. Especially the Turkish vacationers bring their fertile dogs with them and abandon them after they return home. During their stays they do feed the free roaming dogs. Dog dumping from surrounding villages hardly occur. In 2013 SdCF already neutered all free roaming dogs and nearly all the cats on the peninsula of Cunda, which covers the Westside. The main concern was the dumping of new fertile dogs from Turkish vacationers but should be prevented during and after the project through information campaigns. Therefor the source of the free roaming dog population was identified as mainly the vacationers abandoning their dogs.

Free roaming dogs at garbage dump Ayvalik

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6.2. Size of the local dog population Counting dogs is a priority to identify the size of the stray dog population, the need for intervention, and to estimate the cost. Once intervention has begun counting dogs is a tool to identify the results aimed for are satisfying. Counting dogs afterwards should provide the evidence the intervention through neuter and return reduced the free roaming dog population and to evaluate the effects of the intervention In February 2014 Murat Bekhan estimated the total dog population in Ayvalik at 1,200. Probably 20% was owned, but unneutered. It was estimated 800 dogs were female and 400 dogs were male.

Free roaming dogs in Ayvalik

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7. Stakeholders 7.1. Ayvalik Municipality After finishing the main part of the neutering campaign on the peninsula of Cunda in 2013 SdCF received a request to come to Ayvalik. After a first meeting with the mayor of Ayvalik, he promised to cooperate and would sign a protocol which states that he agreed on our plans and will make sure no dogs will be killed or locked up. In March the mayor signed a Memorandum of Agreement with SHKD and an agreement with a private clinic and SdCF for the treatment of sick and injured dogs. He agreed that our foundation would appoint a manager for the local shelter for the duration of the campaign and that he would renovate the shelter. On May the 6th 2014 the mayor of Ayvalik paid a visit to the shelter while the medical team was doing surgeries and he was impressed. He recognized the importance of neutering free roaming dogs. In May the municipality delivered dry food for the shelter. In June renovation of the shelter began. In August he agreed to deliver dry food for the dogs in the municipal shelter. Our flyer which is distributed among citizens was projected on a digital screen in the city centre of Ayvalik on a daily base during visits of the medical team. In August 2014 the municipality hired the municipal veterinarian Mrs Seher Tuna.

7.2. Local citizens In April 2014 Mrs Gülnihal Balcil started the dialogue with the villagers asking them for their cooperation in catching and looking after the dogs. She distributed flyers in which our work is explained.

7.3. Local schools Mrs Gülnihal Balcil agreed with the mayor and all local schools in the area (10 primary schools, 6 secondary schools and 1 private school) would be visited by Gülnihal and vet technician Mr Murat Sengonul to teach about responsible pet ownership (using the SHKD booklet), respecting animals and solving stray dog issues.

7.4. Local NGO’s Because of the spay/neuter campaign on Cunda Island there was already a good relationship established with the local NGO Ayvalik Animal Rights Foundation founded by Mrs Gülnihal Balcil.

8. Local shelter There was already a municipal dog shelter in Ayvalik. The municipality left the management to the German NGO Pro Animale für Tiere in Not e.V., but this NGO abandoned this shelter and left it with 478 dogs of which at least 150 unneutered. The dogs where left in a miserable state. In 2013 SdCF already neutered 75 dogs in the shelter. In February 2014 the shelter was managed by a group of volunteers from Ayvalik. The first goal was to neuter all the dogs in the shelter and to improve their welfare. The shelter had an empty operation theatre as well as recovery facilities. All necessary equipment like operation tables, lamps, gas anaesthesia equipment, fridges, autoclave, spay packs were brought in by SHKD vet Murat Bekhan. SdCF bought a washing machine to have clean blankets for the recovery area.

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Operating theatre and dogs in Ayvalik shelter

9. Planning the intervention Phase1 Intervention takes place in a 15 kilometres radius from the centre of Ayvalik in order to cover the whole conurbation including Ayvaliks garbage dump.

The intervention is aimed at:

- Spaying the female (pregnant) dogs. Female dogs are the limiting factor on the reproductive capacity. Only one unneutered male can impregnate all the female dogs (in oestrus). Any sterilization of a female dog will contribute to a reduction in the overall reproduction capacity. Male dogs should be neutered to reduce aggression and territorial behaviour, but neutering males will not influence the reproduction rate of a population.

- At least 70% of all female dogs should be spayed to reduce the dog population. - Owned and unowned dogs. Dog owners should be offered free or low cost neutering of their

dog(s). In 2014 the medical team visited Ayvalik 8 times for 3 days as planned. During these visits the team neutered cats from Cunda as well. The team skipped July and August , also as planned, due to high temperatures in Ayvalik. Ayvalik Municipality agreed our employee Mrs Gülnihal Balci (former volunteer in the Ayvalik municipal shelter) would manage the shelter during the campaign and the Municipality would end the killing/deporting/dumping/exile of neutered dogs. Gülnihal would be also in charge of the collecting and returning of the dogs. Gülnihal already volunteered in the Cunda neutering campaign and managed the dog and cat catching and recovery. She has proven to be fit for the job. Gülnihal would be in charge of the education project in schools in Ayvalik as well on Cunda Island.

9.1. Planning Phase 2 In July 2014 after the municipal elections in Turkey Ayvalik Municipality boundaries were broadened. To cover the new Ayvalik conurbation another 1,200 dogs should be neutered. SdCF was willing to take this new challenge. We planned 2 days per trip and around 30 neutering surgeries per vet per day. The post-surgery holding period remained 5 days to assure no infections occured and the dogs are in good condition before returning them to their territory. StraydogsCampaign Foundation would return to Ayvalik twice a year for as long as needed. The Municipality of Ayvalik now recognizes the importance of neutering and employed a vet, Mrs Seher Tuna, for the municipal shelter. She’s currently trained by SHKD vet Murat Bekhan. Once she is skilled and experienced enough she should keep the dog population under control and the foundations job will be

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finished. Hopefully this will be at the end of 2015. Unfortunately Mrs Seher Tuna is not very enthusiastic about her job, so it probably needs more time and convincing than expected.

10. Cost estimate The initial overall cost estimate made in February 2014 was € 40.000,00, but was soon adjusted to € 44.600,00.

€ 5.575,00 times 8 visits = € 44.600,00

The cost for Phase 2 are higher due to the fact that all easy to catch dogs are already neutered. Only the shy dogs are left and need to be caught by professional dog catchers.

11. Funding For the 2014 campaign StraydogsCampaign Foundation founder, treasurer and fundraiser Linda Taal managed to raise funds with:

Cost estimate made in March 2014 per visit of 3 days

Spaying operations (females) 100 27,50€ 2.750,00€

Neutering operations (males) 50 25,00€ 1.250,00€

Salary 1 day vet Necdet 3 100,00€ 300,00€

Salary 1 day technician Hüseyin 3 50,00€ 150,00€

Salary shelter manager per month 450,00€

Travel expenses (Diesel + ferry) 675,00€

Total 5.575,00€

Cost estimate made in November 2014 per visit of 3 days







Total 5.575,00€

Cost estimate made in November 2014 per visit of 3 days Phase 2





Salary 3 dog catchers + travel expenses 2.500,00€



Total 8.075,00€

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- Marchig Trust - Stichting Wereldasielen - Corendon Foundation - Moyra Stava Morena Stichting - Fonds Carlos Aertsens - Prins - Evertstichting - Ms Aalders, Ms Gönen and Ms Prins and several other private sponsors

Murat Bekhan managed to raise funds with several Turkish private people. For the 2015 campaign raised so far with:

- Stichting Wereldasielen - Stichting Wereldpootjes - Wibo Vastgoed - World Wide Animal Rescue - Prins - Several private sponsors

12. Marketing In April 2014 Gülnihal started to spread flyers in Turkish language to encourage citizens to take their own dogs or dogs they feed to the shelter for neutering. The neutering campaigns are announced on Facebook and on the website of Ayvalik Municipality. In the city centre of Ayvalik the neutering campaigns are projected free of charge on a huge digital screen.

Murat Sengonul spreading flyers amongst children

13. Education 13.1. Veterinarians During the neutering campaigns SHKD vet Murat Bekhan has trained Ayvalik Municipal vet, Mrs Seher Tuna and 3 commercial veterinarians in keyhole surgery.

13.2. Children In Ayvalik there are 10 primary schools, 6 secondary schools and 1 private school. The students are taught responsible pet ownership (using the SHKD booklet), respecting animals and solving stray dog issues by shelter manager Mrs Gülnihal Balci and vet technician Mr Murat Sengonul. Total number of children taught responsible pet ownership: 1,195 children. Another visit to a local school is already planned.

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So far (June 2015) the following age groups of students were visited:

13.3. Dog owners Mrs Gülnihal Balci and vet technician Mr Murat Sengonul inform the local citizens about the importance of neutering and responsible dog ownership. They encourage the local citizens in tracing, collecting and counting the free roaming dogs and try to make agreements with local animal lovers to monitor and feed the dogs that have been returned to their territories after neutering. Nowadays a group of local citizens visit the Ayvalik shelter regularly to take care of the dogs and feed them.

14. Collecting and catching of the dogs The dogs collected without the help of a trained catching team are approachable dogs, so they are “caught” by simply a lead. A few more shy dogs are caught with a catching pole. The greater part of the shy dogs is caught by professional dog catchers from Ayvalik and Istanbul with blowpipes. With removable spray paint the dogs caught are marked to identify the area were the dogs were collected. If possible the dogs from one pack will stay together in kennels. Owned dogs are brought to the Ayvalik shelter to be neutered and later collected.

15. Surgical spay/neuter All female dogs are spayed with the keyhole technique. Pain and haemorrhaging are reduced due to smaller incisions and recovery times are shorter. Both ovaries and uterus are removed (ovariohysterectomy). Male dogs are neutered also with the keyhole technique. The vet technician together with volunteers is preparing the dogs for surgery, bringing the dogs at ease during pre-anaesthesia, ear tagging, tattooing, dripping the dogs’ eyes to avoid dehydration, clipping with electric clippers, scrubbing the animal before surgery, and completely filling out the surgery log, (recording the tattoos, weights, anaesthesia, medications) for each dog. Vets Murat and Necdet can perform at least 20 to 30 spay/neuter surgeries per day depending on the stage of pregnancy of the female dogs.

Education project Ayvalik

Date Age of the Number of children

children educated

1-11-2014 15 200

25-2-2015 16 150

5-3-2015 12/13 75

11-3-2015 12/13 70

12-3-2015 15/16 70

27-4-2015 10/11 50

28-4-2015 15 75

3-5-2015 13 60

4-5-2015 13 245

5-5-2015 14/15 200

Total 1195

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15.1. Neutering figures In 2013, 2014 and in January and March 2015 1,713 dogs in total in Ayvalik were neutered. More female dogs were pregnant than expected. The average stage of the pregnancies was 30 days. The average age of the dogs caught was 2 years. In the overall 1,713 surgeries 187 of them turned out to be refitting surgeries. 187 Dogs were previously being neutered, but left with all sort of problems. Not included in the overall figure of 1,713 surgeries are 116 surgeries which took place in dogs without any reproduction organs due to former surgeries by other parties without leaving any marks on these dogs. The total number of dogs neutered including May 2015 is 1,864.

Gender of the dogs

Female dogs 1285

Male dogs 428

Total dogs 1713

Owned dogs

Owned dogs 50

Semi owned dogs 750

Feral dogs 913

Total dogs 1713

Ayvalik

Month Neutered

dogs

2013 100

March 2014 304

April 2014 150

May 2014 150

June 2014 179

September 2014 166

November 2014 152

December 2014 157

January 2015 201

March 2015 154

Total 1713

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Neutered dogs Ayvalik 2013/2014/2015

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16. Vaccinations and other treatments Each dog is vaccinated against Rabies, canine distemper, canine Adenovirus (causes hepatitis and kennel cough), canine parvovirus and leptospirosis (DHPL) and para influenza. On arrival in the shelter each dog is dewormed and flea/tick treated. Prior to surgery each dog receives antibiotics and afterwards a long term painkiller.

17. Recovery After surgery when the dogs are awake and well responding they are brought to the kennels to recover from surgery. The post-surgery holding period is 5 days although 2 to 3 days is common practice in neuter and return projects worldwide. In Turkey however in the past court cases have been lost by animal welfare organisations returning dogs within 1 or 2 days after surgery. Turkish municipalities as well as Turkish animal welfare organisations are in general not in favour of post-surgery holding periods less than 5 days. To avoid any form of trouble with animal lovers and to avoid any risk of infection the dogs in the Ayvalik neuter and return project will be returned to their territory after a 5 day post-surgery holding period in which they are closely monitored.

Pregnant female dogs

Pregnant dogs 771

Non pregnant dogs 514

Total female dogs 1285

Catching methods

By hand 1175

Blow pipe 438

Catching pole 100

Total dogs 1713

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Dogs in recovery

18. Returning the dogs to their territory After the post-surgery holding period of 5 days all dogs will be returned to their territory where local animal lovers/feeders are asked to monitor their wellbeing. All returned dogs are marked with an ear tag and tattoo in order to be identifiable as neutered or spayed from a distance to avoid recapture and for monitoring the project.

Returning dogs to their territory

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19. The project in chronological order

20. Evaluation During the spay/neuter campaigns a few issues occurred. The dog catchers provided by Ayvalik Municipality were incapable for the job. They are cruel to dogs and unmotivated. Many dogs on the garbage dump had mange, 9 dogs were poisoned and 70 healthy fertile dogs were dumped at an olive grove outside Ayvalik. On top of that Ayvalik Municipality broadened its borders after the elections in August 2014 which challenged StraydogsCampaign Foundation to continue the project and spay/neuter another 1,200 dogs! Nevertheless StraydogsCampaign Foundation, the medical team, all the volunteers and the sponsors managed to execute the neuter and return project in Ayvalik according to plan. All 1,200 dogs within the old Ayvalik conurbation are spayed or neutered in 1 year and no longer fertile and the free roaming dog population is already declining. Theoretically assuming every female dog produces 4 fertile new dogs per year of which 50% is male the number of dogs not being born would reach 3 million in 5 years’ time. Of course disregarding the carrying capacity of the area.

December 2013 100 Ayvalik dogs neutered

125 Cunda cats neutered

March 2014 150 Ayvalik dogs neutered of which 103 females and 47 males

154 Ayvalik dogs neutered

125 Cunda neutered

Mayor signed Memorandum of Agreement

April 2014 150 Ayvalik dogs neutered of which majority was pregnant


Visit Robert Smith. He noticed many dogs and puppies on garbage pit with mange and condition of Ayvalik shelter dogs is poor

May 2014 German lady brought 15 kilos of dry food to the Ayvalik shelter and will spread flyers

Mayor of Ayvalik visited the medical team

Medicine to treat mange arrived at the shelter


Murat Bekhan trained vet technician

June 2014 160 dogs caught by dog catching team


Renovation of Ayvalik shelter has begun

Female dogs with litters are now brought to another shelter in use again where Turkish and German volunteers take care of them

Gülnihal and Murat (technician) started education project in schools

Gülnihal and Murat (technician) started visiting surrounding villages to identify number of free roaming dogs

August 2014 Mayor of Ayvalik signed agreement with private clinic and actieZwerfhonden for treatment of sick and injured dogs

After elections borders of Ayvalik Municipality have widened: to cover the new Ayvalik conurbation another 1200 dogs should be neutered

Ayvalik is full of vacationers. Many new fertile dogs have been dumped in the city center of at least 10 female dogs with litters.

Animal lovers visit the Ayvalik shelter on Sundays to bring food and dairy products for the weakest dogs.

10 Dogs from Ayvalik shelter have been adopted locally

Ayvalik Municipality employed Mrs Seher Tuna as municipal veterinarian

Flyers are widely spread accross Ayvalik

Flyer is projected on digital screen in city centre of Ayvalik

September 2014 9 Dogs were poisoned

70 healthy fertile dogs were dumped in an olive grove outside Ayvalik

166 Ayvalik dogs neutered, 1 dog died after surgery

With 2 dogs a leg was amputated


November A new dog catcher was employed



Murat Bekhan, Necdet and Seher did the operations and a municipality vet from Erdek (Turkey) was trained

December 2014 157 Ayvalik dogs neutered, 2 amputations on Ayvalik dogs


January 2015 201 Ayvalik dogs from garbage dump neutered


March 2015 154 Ayvalik dogs neutered


May 2015 151 Ayvalik dogs neutered and two dogs' tails were amputated, one leg amputated, one eye removed, one dog operated on a hernia, and

one tumor removed


Municipal vet Seher Tuna didn't show up

Still 60 unneutered female dogs on garbage dump

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During the project it turned out the dog dumping rate of the vacationers was higher than estimated as well as the total number of free roaming dogs. In May 2015 Murat Bekhan monitored the 15 kilometre radius again and estimated 80% of all free roaming dogs is neutered. The garbage dump however is still a major concern. About 60 fertile female dogs still live there. Probably due to migration of fertile dogs from Ayvalik which couldn’t survive. Population management wise these fertile dogs on the garbage dump are not a big issue, because the survival rate of new born puppies is zero. But from an animal welfare point of view it is a big issue. Therefor SdcF is analysing the possibilities of another intervention. The conditions in the Ayvalik Municipal shelter have improved enormously, although renovation promised by the mayor started later than expected. There is a written agreement with the mayor of Ayvalik who approves our work, an education program in all schools in Ayvalik has been set up, volunteers have been trained as well as 3 commercial veterinarians and the new municipal vet in Ayvalik. Municipal vet Mrs Seher Tuna however turned out not to be that enthusiastic for her job. She sometimes doesn’t show up at all. The local citizens are very pleased with our intervention. They notice a huge difference and a decline in free roaming dogs. They are happy to see so many dogs with ear tags.

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Management Guidance Reece, J.F. and Chawla, S.K. (2006). Control of rabies in Jaipur, India, by the sterilization and vaccination of neighbourhood dogs. The Veterinary Record Smith R.C. (2000). How to solve Istanbul’s street dog problem – effectively, humanely and for ever Smith R.C. (2005). How to solve Romania’s street dog problem – effectively, humanely and for ever Smith R.C. (2005. How to solve Bucharest’s street dog problem – effectively, humanely and for ever Tasker L. (2007)Stray Animal Control Practices (Europe). A report into the strategies for controlling stray Dog and cat populations adopted in thirty-one countries. World Society for the Protection of Animals and RSPCA International World Society for the protection of animals. (2007 ). Surveying roaming dog populations: guidelines on methodology. London: WSPA Companion & Working Animals Unit

Spay/neuter project Ayvalik Turkey 2014 - stray dogs ......being the only solution for a stray...

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