The old man who loves cats
Leaving aside the tongji university, spanning more than 7,000 kilometers, let's talk about the cat paradise in Turkey - Istanbul.
A boy who loves animals
Well cared for
Turkey is an Islamic state straddling Eurasia that some have described as a "polarized state" or even a country divided by faults in national identity, religion and ethnicity – but the people here are united precisely by the presence of cats.
But before talking about cats, we have to talk about legislating for stray animals:
In the late 1990s, some cities in Turkey used terramphenicol to poison stray dogs, which was met with massive opposition and accusations.
After this, with the involvement of various organizations and institutions and the instigation of some, finally in 2004, Turkey passed a law that requires that stray animals cannot be killed and disinfected, (sterilized,) vaccinated and put back in place, and that a chip be implanted in the ear after sterilization for tracking and differentiation.
Then, in 2012, the Rabies Prevention and Control Ordinance also became law, which clearly prohibited pet owners from abandoning domestic animals on the street, and pet owners were responsible for compulsory rabies vaccination of their cats and dogs.
Not only the law, but also a special "Vetbüs" project in Istanbul, which converts two buses into a mobile animal hospital for health screenings, immunizations, parasitic diagnosis and treatment and implantation of chips for stray animals. At the same time, there is also an "Alo 153" hotline to provide consultation services to the public.
Bus of the Vetbüs project
In previous years, several cities in Turkey were able to fund the feeding, disinfection and sheltering of animals in need, as well as medical care, and between 2004 and 2018 alone, about 1.2 million stray animals were neutered across the country.
Not only that, with the financial and technical support of the European Union, in 2019 Turkey launched the "Supply of oralvaccination against rabies in Turkey" project, which further promoted the prevention of rabies in stray animals.
Because Turkey – especially Istanbul – is very friendly to stray animals, a very "warm" film about cats, "Cat City", was released in Turkey on February 21, 2016 and quickly spread around the world.
City of Cats movie poster, source: sohu
The film tells various stories about Istanbul's cats and the city, and defines the local cats as the inhabitants of the city, and makes many people feel the friendliness of Turkey to animals, especially cats, at first reaction.
How much do Istanbulites value cats? Take a look at the local saying: If you kill a cat, you need to build a mosque to be forgiven by God.
Still, we need to focus on a very practical problem: Turkey has not yet eradicated rabies.
According to data from the Global Alliance for Rabies Control, about 24 people die of rabies each year in Turkey (2018 data),
Data on rabies in Turkey for 2018
But Dr. Dr. Thomas, a local expert in the prevention and control of infectious diseases in Turkey. Iran Keske, who is also involved in the COVID-19 vaccine- related work, said that "there have been no cases of human rabies in Turkey for a long time".
Dr. Iran Keske