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Our Centre
The FHDD Centre comprises an area of 43 hectares woodland. This
land was acquired by our Mayor, Mr.
Behcet Saatçi, who is an animal-caring person, and
who wanted a get-out from the annual purge of street animals
that occurs in many Mediterranean areas. The round-ups, and
indiscriminate poisoning of these animals was not acceptable
to him. His idea was to provide a kenneled area to save these
animals, and he approached Mrs.
Agnelli for her help.
Kennel accommodation is available for adult dogs in a wooded, free-running
area of 6000 sq. metres. There is a separate mother-and puppy kennel area,
a quarantine section, and a cattery. To service these facilities, there
is an administration building with 2 adjoining operating rooms, and a separate
food preparation and storage building. |
Our
Centre is becoming an attraction in its own right,
and is now on the itinerary of some Tour Operators during the
tourist season. The area of Eucalyptus woodland in which it
is situated is in a peaceful location and overlooking a river
with a small lake. We have had many complimentary comments from
the foreign tourists, who say that our Centre is nicer and cleaner
than many they have seen in Europe. Families come to visit us
at weekends as part of their day out, and enjoy looking at,
and touching, the animals.
Whilst our concern is primarily for the treatment of stray animals, we do
receive pets whose owners are no longer able to look after them. In previous
years, before there was a Centre for animals in Fethiye, these animals would
be simply abandoned in the street, or otherwise disposed of. We are pleased
that people now have a Centre where their un-wanted pet can be taken and
looked after.
To complement our care for animals, we have had a new Cattery recently completed.
While we have actively gone about the sterilization of cats during our Mobile
Clinic program, we had until now not been able to facilitate the sheltering
of homeless cats that aren’t feral. We are again indebted to Madame Jeanne Marchig
of the Marchig Animal Welfare Trust for the building and equipping of the Cattery, which has a common area,
plus a separate area of cages for the reception of new cats. All cats received
are checked for health, sterilized and ear-tipped before introduction to
the common area. The Cattery is proving to be popular with visitors to the
Centre, and we are able to re-home many cats.
A small van has been
donated to enable our staff to collect and transport the animals treated
at the Centre. |
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