’I have more than enough stray cats please, thank you’

A Scottish women living in Marmaris, who takes care of stray animals, complains that people want her to have their cats since her story appeared in the media. Jean Luise Thirkill, who came to Turkey for a holiday in 1989 and chose to stay, has 250 cats, two dogs and a donkey at a shelter set up on 6,000 square meters of land in the Armutalan neighborhood.

Her problems increased when her story appeared in the media two weeks ago. "I have received hundreds of phone calls from all over Turkey; everybody wants me to take their pet cats," she told the DoÄŸan news agency. "I cannot take care of all the cats in the country."

Thirkill, aged 56, left her two children and four grandchildren behind in England to take care of cats in Marmaris. She has faced lots of problems since her move to Turkey, such as being thrown out of the house she was renting and being taken into custody by Gendarmerie after complaints from villagers. Yet despite the problems, she continues her work with the local cats.

But, she is exhausted. "I had calls from Ankara, Istanbul, even from cities I have never heard of," she said. "I had to cancel my phone, but then people started to came to my house with cats in boxes and bags. I did not accept any of them, except two kittens left on my doorway. I could not let them die."

The 56-year-old said her rejection of the cats is due to financial problems. "I don’t want to be misunderstood; I would love to do my best for the cats," she said. "But I have a limited income and taking care of animals costs a lot. I could not have come this far if it was not the donations and help of volunteers and local officials." Thirkill added she aimed to raise awareness of stray cats, not to own all the cats in Turkey. "If something happens to me, the cats here will be left to their destiny. That is why it makes me very happy when people want to own my cats. Helping me is helping the cats."

A long tough road
Thirkill started taking care of cats in 1990 when she found a baby kitten hurt. "I was very impressed by this little poor baby. It changed my entire life and I decided to live in Marmaris," she said. "During this time, I had a very hard and painful time until I attained the conditions I have now."

Thirkill explained how the number of cats she cared for quickly reached 20: "I started to become compelled to find a house to look after my cats. In that hard time, Mustafa Deliveli, who also had eight cats, gave me a hand and a room in his hotel for free. Deliveli, then started to build a shelter in Armutalan. When the shelter was completed, the number of cats had reached 120.

"Then, bad luck found us again when Deliveli was bankrupted; I lost my room and the cats also lost their shelter. This time, the Essen Cat Association in Germany gave us a hand and they rented a place in Orhaniye village and we had a shelter here.

"It became a very popular place; the number of cats in the shelter reached 350. But, villagers claimed we polluted the river crossing the village and complained about us. The Gendarmerie also deported me because I had no permit or permission. I took care of all of the bureaucratic things and came back for my cats."

Thirkill, with thanks to Karen Potter and the Armutalan Municipality, had a shelter built in Armutalan.

"The municipality paid 30,000 euros, bought land and built a shelter in 2006. Since that time, we, along with 250 cats, two dogs and a donkey, have lived in this shelter.

I had some very tough days, but now I am very happy with my cats at this shelter. I really want to thank the Deliveli family, the Essen Cat Association and the Armutalan mayor, Muhammet Ünlü, and of course all animal lovers. Now my new target is to become a Turkish citizen."

Cats poisoned in Bodrum

The bodies of five poisoned cats lined up near a construction site in Bodrum has raised suspicions the perpetrators were trying to intimidate local cat-owners. ÂNine cats, most of them pets, have been killed in Bodrum by poisonous fish.

 

Locals said nine had been killed and a further four were being treated at a veterinary clinic. "This is a massacre," said Füsun Uslu, chairman of the Bodrum Animal Rights Association. "We fear more killings are to come."

 

Zeynep Güneri, owner of a cat named "Ege" that was killed, said she was concerned when she could not find Ege. "Other cats in the neighborhood were also not around," she said. "When I went out to look for them and saw their dead bodies, I lost it. Those responsible for the killings must be severely punished."

 

Uslu said they were doing their best to cooperate with Bodrum Municipality over stray animals. "This is the biggest massacre in Bodrum," she added. "We informed the police and they have launched an investigation. There is no way to stop such acts unless the punishment for killing or torturing animals is increased."