In April 2025, I wrote about Lady, a gentle dog my father had been caring for since 2016. When she was about to be taken away by the municipal teams in Silivri, my brother and I rushed to rescue her…
The first cool winds of autumn have begun to move through the Belgrad Forest of Istanbul. The air is crisp, but the sunlight still carries the last warmth of summer – that golden, mellow light that filters gently through the…
When we brought Lady from Silivri to Bahçeköy last month, it felt like we were giving her a second chance at life. She had narrowly escaped a tragic fate after a neighbor reported her to the municipality. For a gentle…
As Istanbul begins to thaw from the chill of winter, Belgrad Forest (or the Belgrade Forest) awakens with a quiet, almost magical transformation. By April, this vast woodland, located just north of the city, erupts into a symphony of greens.…
Lady was a stray dog my father had been taking care of since 2016. He had built a kennel for her in the garden of his house in Silivri. Lady would spend the nights in that kennel and roam the…
For nearly a decade, I have been dedicated to rescuing, feeding, and providing medical care to stray cats and dogs in Bahçeköy, Istanbul. My efforts began in 2015 after I unknowingly rescued a pregnant stray cat who frequently visited my…
Istanbul has become famous worldwide as the “city of cats” in recent years. And it’s true; there are hundreds of thousands* of stray cats in Istanbul, and many of them live better, are better fed, and even receive healthcare at…