Every day, Istanbul residents come across suffering, undernourished stray animals that have been left for dead after losing their limbs and senses in road accidents. The scenes they are faced with are enough to wrench even the toughest of hearts.
In an effort to rescue strays that have been hurt and abandoned on the city’s streets, Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality and the Shelter Volunteers & Animal Rights Foundation, or BGD, have launched a new animal ambulance service called “Hello 153.”
Good-hearted citizens who come across injured animals on the streets often feel helpless because they may not be able to take the animals into their homes and veterinary costs are high. The animal ambulance is free of charge and functions 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
“Unfortunately, this is the first ambulance service of its kind across all of Turkey; other animal-rescue services do not even have transportation,” BGD representative Yağmur Özgür Güven told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review.
Güven explained that when a call comes to the Hello 153 emergency line, it is directed to Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality’s Fatih animal hospital, where it is answered by a qualified vet who assesses the condition of the animal based on the caller’s description and answers certain questions. It is then decided whether the caller can take action independent of the service or if the ambulance needs to be sent out.
“Depending on weather conditions and traffic, we answer up to 20 emergency calls per day,” Güven told the Daily News.
The ambulance is equipped with a veterinarian, a driver, a member of the BGD staff and sometimes volunteers. The municipality provides the driver and vet and pays the travel costs of the service, while the BGD covers the operation and treatment costs.
When asked whether the service would take sick as well as wounded animals, Güven told the Daily News that making decisions about which animals to take in is the biggest problem the service encounters on a daily basis.
“In a city with a population of more than 13,000 [animals], we only have one ambulance, which can take hours answering one call after the other; therefore, we have to be selective and take in the worse cases,” Güven told the Daily News.
Another problem highlighted by Güven is the issue of dispatching the animals after they have been treated. “We do our utmost to find families for the treated animals, but this proves to be extremely difficult as the animals often have long-term injuries that require high maintenance,” the BGD representative said, explaining that the organization’s main office and the homes of its employees and volunteers are full of such animals as a result of this issue. “It proves to be extremely difficult to merely put animals back where we have found them,” she added.
Güven told the Daily News that the most important part of the service is making sure that Istanbul residents make the call when they come across an injured animal. She stressed that everyone in the city has a responsibility toward the animals.
“Everyone can contribute in some way, especially during the cold weather, when leaving one cup of food and water outside could save and nourish one or two animals,” Güven said.
Cengiz Altay, a representative of the Turkish Animal Rights Federation, called the project “a positive start.”
“So many animals are found and left to die everyday because citizens do not know how to deal with the casualties, but now all they need to do is pick up the phone,” Altay told the Daily News.
Altay added that while the program is a good start, many more ambulances are needed in such a large city, and urged people to support and give donations to the BGD so the organization can develop the service. “It is simple: The more resources we receive, the more animals we can save,” Altay told the Daily News.
The BGD is working to develop and expand the service and is asking people to contribute to the cause either by working as volunteers or making donations. More information can be found at www.kalbimizsokaktaatiyor.org.
