We are a non-profit group whose goal is to help Manuela in helping the many many homeless/stray cats and dogs of Avsallar, Turkey which are poisoned, beaten, abused, attacked and neglected. Everyday, their lives are at risk. Most of them don’t make it through the first year of their lives. Since Manuela started her work almost 100 cats have been murdered – some deliberately. She is regularly spat at and laughed at for caring.
Every day, Manuela cares for every single one of them by feeding them, bringing the sick and wounded ones to the veterinarian and try to make their lives a little better. She also has them spay/neutered so that these uncared for souls don’t procreate. Manuela is doing all this out of the goodness of her heart. All by herself, she does the work of an entire organization.
Though Manuela is originally from Berlin, Germany, she came for a visit to Turkey two years ago. She’d purchased an ice cream cone one day and when she went to dispose of the wrapper in the garbage she came upon the ghastly find of 13 dead cats who had been poisoned and thrown in with the trash. The cats and dogs are deliberately killed this way annually before the tourist season in an effort to “clean up” the community.
That moment, looking down in the trash bin, was life-altering for Manuela who has now become the sole source of care for the cats and dogs. People have spit on her and thrown things as she carries a 20 pound bag of cat food through the streets to feed some 70 strays in her immediate area every single day. She has pleaded with the mayor to stop his annual poisoning campaign and hosts spaying/neutering clinics working on her own, taking each carrier to the veterinary clinic. She sold her bike to buy more cat food which comes at a very high price of $30 a day. She’s completely broke but she can’t leave the cats and dogs behind.
We are also looking for volunteers who could go to Avsallar to help Manuela in feeding the cats and dogs, bringing them to the veterinarian for spaying/neutering and the emergencies. We’re also eagerly looking for travellers flying out of Istanbul to the United States, Canada or parts of Europe who can “escort” animals during future flights until adoptive families can meet them at the airport.
