I have a cousin who has all but made it her mission in life to help and care for animals in need. She was known to befriend stray cats as a child and by the time she was a teenager, she had already took it upon herself to ensure that the foundlings she came across found good homes.
And while I certainly admire this spirit and dedication within her, it’s been even more heartening to hear just how many people there are like her out there. Whether they’re in a far off war zone or close to our own backyards , they will stop at nothing to ensure that life gets better for the struggling animals they come across.
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And when we hear their stories , the only thing that astonishes us more than they impact they have on the animals they rescue is the sheer number that they’re often able to save.
That’s particularly true for one Turkish man who has gone to some incredible lengths to spare an impressive menagerie of animals from perilous situations.
As Mert Akkök of Istanbul, Turkey tells it, there’s never been a time in his life when he wasn’t looking out for animals.
In his words, “I was born with this. It is not something I have decided or thought of. It is more like an instinct mounted in me. I can’t stop helping homeless animals.”
As he explained to Bored Panda, part of the reason why you’re likely to see so many stray animals in Istanbul is that the Turkish government’s policy is to neuter and vaccinate any found wandering the streets before putting them right back there.
But while this means there’s a robust culture built around caring for these street animals, it becomes harder to do that once they leave the city limits.
And so Akkök has made a point of traveling to junkyards, forests and rural areas to rescue animals in the hopes of linking them up with good homes.
And if that wasn’t possible, he would adopt them himself. At first, he started doing this with dogs and bringing them to his residence in the city.
But once he had five dogs in his care, he realized he was going to run out of space quickly. So he decided to buy a farm outside of Istanbul to house them and any other animals he would come across.
He now has 23 dogs living on his farm, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg for the animals he’s helping.
As he put it, “I have 46 disabled seagulls, 1 blind horse, 3 geese (they have a long story) 3 cats, and just today I adopted a baby donkey.”
It’s unclear what that long story is, but we do know that most of the animals he keeps tend to be old or disabled in some way, as it’s often difficult for him to convince others to adopt them.
And in the case of the seagulls under his care, they wouldn’t be able to survive without him feeding them as none of them can fly.
In Akkök’s words, “And I wouldn’t just give them to anyone who wants them. They are like my children now. I can give them only to decent and good people who may take very good care of them.”
Although he has employed some full-time staff to help him watch over the animals on his farm, he doesn’t need to accept donations to keep it running.
This is because he considers himself economically well off from a consultancy company he owns that specializes in “international marketing of healthcare services.”
As Akkök put it, “I am a busy person. But the times that I am not working, I devote my time to help these homeless animals.”
h/t: Bored Panda
