ISDF is happy to announce a new rescue partnership with former native of Turkey, Fey Rubeyi. ISDF has been talking with Fey for over a year in the hopes of partnering together to raise awareness on the plight of the street dogs from Turkey and ultimately help to save lives through rehoming dogs into the US. Today, Wednesday February 10th we are thrilled to welcome the first of hopefully many dogs from Turkey into the US for rehoming. Bal arrives tomorrow and is available for adoption.
Tens of thousands of dogs live in the forest of Turkey…. they are dumped by the government and people who want to rid themselves of the dogs. Dumped and forgotten. Left to fend for themselves – it’s a cruel and hard fate for these innocent dogs. Many perish due to scarcity of food and water and the perils of freezing temperatures during the harsh winters. Fey Rubeyi, native of Turkey and friend of ISDF, recently took a trip there to document the plight of these dogs. Randy Graham edited and compiled the documentary. Big thanks to both for documenting so thoroughly the plight of these dogs and helping to raise awareness.
Also deepest gratitude to the rescuers on the ground in Istanbul, Handan Yargicioglu and Meltem Savci who worked tirelessy to help Bal and handle all airport logisitics including obtaining the export license and health certificate. This is never easy to do but they did it on an almost impossible time line due to the timing of the flight volunteer’s flight.
Also a big thanks to Ozlem Kayaturk for being Bal’s flight volunteer and allowing us to send Bal with her on her return trip from Istanbul to Chicago. Flight volunteer’s save lives as they allow us to send dog’s via airlines at a fraction of the cost of flying them cargo. If you are flying from Chicago to Istanbul let us know and you could help by bringing an empty flight cage with you to Istanbul and allowing us to send a dog with you on your return to Chicago.