I took a short trip to Istanbul last week. It’s an amazing city with an amazing history. Many know the story of ancient Constantinople (Roman Empire) and it’s fall to the Ottomans (thus the formation of the city of Istanbul). I don’t want to make this post a history lesson so if you’re interested you can read here about Istanbul’s history.
With it’s rich culture and diverse city population, there’s much to be amazed about in Istanbul. Yet the thing I found most interesting was the local citizen’s attitude toward animals. You can tell a lot about a people by the way they treat animals, and the citizens here deserve high marks in this area.
The municipal government vaccinates the dogs. I am not sure about the cats. All the animals look healthy (hair coat, etc) and are friendly! They have no fear of humans and humans don’t fear them! Once in a while they will bark at cars driving by. The local shopkeepers like to have them around and give them food and treats. Here the dogs fearlessly guard the local ATMs at night 😛
I didn’t see them there on rainy nights, but almost ever night I walked by. I wonder where they went?
I couldn’t manage a good picture of shop cats, but they hang around inside the shops very comfortably. There is one famous loyal cat at the Aya Sofia Historical sight.
The loyal cat is a tourist attraction and even has it’s own Facebook page! Read about the cat and see more pictures here!
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