Istanbul improves the lives of thousands of stray cats with elaborate outdoor cat houses
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In Istanbul, a city of 15 million people known for its relaxed attitude towards stray cats, groups of volunteers are building elaborate homes for their feline neighbors.
There, cats can find donated food and toys, cushions and boxes to protect them from the elements, and even a new owner if they’re lucky.
It all started in 2008, when, according to a source, an interior designer by the name of Didem Gokgoz regularly crossed a park on her way to work in the Sisli neighborhood, where there were always stray cats trying to find places. places to warm up. in winter.
Attempting to help the felines, she placed several plastic boxes they could shelter in around Mistik Park, but authorities removed them as they were considered an eyesore.
Gradually, Gokgoz got to know the people who would feed the stray cats and came up with a plan to build more refined and pleasant shelters anchored to the ground with chains. Gokgoz invited the mayor to a meeting, and the idea was discussed under circumstances that may have made it clear that some sort of action was needed.
âThere were three of us in the pouring rain: me, my lawyer friend, and Mr. Mustafa Sarigul [then the Sisli mayor]”, Gokgoz reported to Tol, solutions-oriented journalism in Istanbul.
âWe showed him our designs, explained how it would work and everything. Mr. Sarigul listened intently and said, âOK, do it; if we think it works, we will support it.
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Cat hotels
Estimated at 125,000, Istanbul’s stray cat population is a more popular component of the metropolis. A 2016 documentary titled Cat was a hit with international audiences and revealed an interesting relationship between the city’s furry inhabitants and their human neighbors.
After getting Mr Sarigul’s word that the new homes would not be removed, Gokgoz, who now runs non-profit cat supplier Podo, set up two homes in Mistik Park with his friends.
The whimsical and colorful Mistik Park houses were a turning point that, after being covered by local news, was replicated in the parks of the city’s 39 neighborhoods. (See two of the designs on Tol.)
Gokgoz has been inundated with requests to build houses: for two universities, cafes and even the Industrial Development Bank of Turkey. After that came the demands for the construction of cat houses in more distant places: the cities of Alanya, Izmir and Gaziantep.
âIt has become something normal; people are applying for cat houses, âshe said. âThat was our main goal, and we achieved it. Today, everyone accepts that cats should have their own living space in the city.
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Cats too have responded to the housing boom and have come to them in droves.
This allows volunteers, who often organize themselves through WhatsApp groups, to monitor the lives of cats more closely, ensuring that stray animals that roam the community are spayed and neutered, and that any signs of illness can. be dealt with quickly.
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