The killing fields of Beykoz!!!

Very recently, Muharrem Ergul,  announced:

“The Beykoz Shelter is a wonderful place, a warm and cozy home for our animals”

Here is what Ergul considers a warm and cozy place for the animals… a place where sick untreated dogs struggle for air under the boiling August sun.. a place where dogs are eaten alive by ticks… a place where dogs are brought in for sterilization and end up dead in some hidden forest… a place where the vet spends more time drinking tea that healing and treating animals.. a place where you can smell the stench of rotten corpses

Disgusting. Infuriating.

Today concerned animal lovers across the world received the most puzzling letter. It was a seemingly personal message written by the Minister of Tourism of the Republic of Turkey, Ertugrul Gunay. Here is the text

“Dear xxxx,
I am very much saddened by your email, and felt obligated to reply you in person.
I cannot justify the cruelty against animals or against any form of life. Nor I could ask for forgiveness.
Nothing could be more sacred than life itself.
I am deeply sorrowed.
We, proud humans, do always talk about harmonizing with the nature, build environmental management systems and certify, pretend to be a part of the ecology. But still, we cannot slow down the ‘most advanced living’ on earth, us, from savaging on life. Life in all forms.
Dog-fights, bull-fights, animal testings, factory farming… The list never ends. Just within the last decade, millions of fowl and cattle were terminated by human hands.
Yet, all this is not enough for inhumanity. Human lives, even in the middle of Europe, are being taken methodically, in front of our eyes. Civilians, are killed remotely, with the ‘state-of-the-art’ machinery, before they even know they were dying.
I remember a news broadcast, in which the overjoyed reporter was telling about the newly developed missile that could penetrate into deep underground shelters. Elaborate methods of taking lives even in refuge!
This hurts. This must hurt.
It does not matter, whether we are a part of the ‘civilized world’ and ‘authorized to criticize’ or among the ‘contemptible people’ of developing countries, we must stand against the organized reproduction of death. Defend life against inhumanity, without making selections, without taking preferences or making excuses… Unconditionally.
We have been sharing our house with them for over 20 years. We had named them Yodi, Miscia and Marcvs. But all these names diminish in time; they become our ‘son’, ‘daughter’ or even ‘sister’ instead. I know the affectionate but helpless look in their lucid eyes. The happiness they add to our lives. And how something breaks in you, when they fly away.
So I am, once again, wounded by the pictures, which have drawn you to sending an email.
Albeit displayed as concentration camps on the web, these dog-shelters in question have been first established by the animal-lovers’ initiative, with the help of local municipalities. My own son, was among the many who were carrying food to these shelters. But unfortunately, the number of four-legged guests in the shelters, has been increasing geometrically, making it almost impossible to give them proper space and care in the cities.
We, animal-lovers are very responsible for this increase, too. Sterilization is not a very common practice in our country. Resulting number of puppies -and kittens, are more than we can ever look after.
As a minister, I am not directly connected with these severe, hurting happenings, but as a person, as someone who has felt the heartbeats of these babies on his fingertips, I take my share from the blame.
I will try my best to raise funds for these animal shelters, and warn those responsible to avoid such sad events.
I would like to thank you for sharing your doubts with us. Now, we need your support, to create a better environment for our friends. Your corroboration will definitely encourage the volunteers working in these shelters.
Respectfully yours,
Ertugrul Günay

It is extremely sad to read this letter signed by a government minister.

Here is our message to Mr. Gunay:

Leave the fund raising for the next elections, Mr. Gunay, instead of finding excuses for the pathetic and shameful estate of the nations so-called-shelters, make sure your government correctly implements a campaign of Neuter and Return as obliged by the law.

We wonder how your son will feel when he sees the following pictures…

http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/gundem/9543228.asp?gid=233&sz=42807