Sahipsiz Hayvanları Koruma ve Yaşatma Derneği - the Association of Protection and Sustenance of Stray Animals

Sahipsiz Hayvanları Koruma ve Yaşatma Derneği - the Association of Protection and Sustenance of Stray Animals was established in 2005 in order to help the stray animals for their food, medical needs and adoption. We work in the collaboration with the Municipality of Sinop to help the ones which are sick, wounded, young and old. We work on the ones which are in the shelter as well as the ones which are living outside without an owner. Our members work in the shelter and help the staff there for their food and show affection. In the shelter there are about 350 dogs and 50 cats. We provide their medicines for scabbiesand parasites and vaccinations for the young ones to strengthen their immune system against any kind of viruses. We also trim the long-haired dogs' hair in the summer time. Unfortunately, the municipality doesn’t have a budget for their serious surgeries except the sterilization. The shelter only has equipment to sterilize them and do their minor treatment. We are also responsible for the ones which need traumatic surgeries and intensive care. We take them to the private clinics and pay for the cost of the animal. We also buy food to feed the all stray animals in the streets. Each member has their own location. So they give them food almost everyday. In 2014 we started "the Regional Sterilization" project. Within this project, we sterilize the stray animals which are living in the other towns and the villages. We also run to the rescue operations when we have a call from outside the town. In order to run all the calls, we always need a vet. Since we cannot take the employed vet to work for us. Instead, we host young vets as a volunteer or as an intern to take their medical care under the EU projects. We have started working for EU volunteering projects since we were first accreditted in 2012. Since then we have been hosting and sending so many volunteers under the EU Programs such as Youth in Action EVS and Erasmus+ EVS. We host not only volunteers but also the vets who come here to do their internships and externships. They do a lot of sterilization practices in our shelter. We also make online posters as public service announcement to raise awareness on animals and animals rights. We also publish the photos of the animals to be adopted. We also help the owners to find their lost pets. And most of them are found through our announcements. In order to find money, we have several areas. We organize second hand sales, brunches, beach parties and poetry nights. We also post the news of the animals that we save their lives in our Facebook page and website and ask for donations.