Municipal takes good care of pets’ toilet needs
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Hürriyet Daily News
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Kasım 13, 2008 00:00
ISTANBUL - The Armutalan Municipality has made available toilet facilities for the city’s cats and dogs in the form of sand pits.
There are currently six sand pits in different locations; five in children parks and one in a sports park, and the municipality has sights set on increasing the tally to a total of 50.
A spokesman for the municipality stated that hygienic issues were the main factor for launching the project.
"Cats and dogs can pose a threat to human hygiene when they defecate near the areas where children are playing," said Mahmut Mengilli, adding they started the project following complaints from locals. "Now owners of cats and dogs are trying to get their pets to defecate in these sand pits. Street animals have even started to use the pits," he said.
"I think all municipalities should take this as an example," said Aylin Sucu, a dog owner. "Previously I had to clean up my dog’s excrement. There is no such problem anymore."
Meanwhile, not all animals have been looked after so well; seven dogs in Zeytinli, in the Edremit district of Balıkesir died after being fed poisoned meat, while a dog and a cat were saved in time by animal lovers.
Melda Topçu, the head of the Animal Friends Association in Edremit, said this did not seem an act of local administrators.
"Normally, those slaughters occur during the night and they gather the dead animals before people get onto the streets in the morning," she said. "As far as we know, the meat was put on the streets at about 10:00 a.m."
A spokesman for the municipality stated that hygienic issues were the main factor for launching the project.
"Cats and dogs can pose a threat to human hygiene when they defecate near the areas where children are playing," said Mahmut Mengilli, adding they started the project following complaints from locals. "Now owners of cats and dogs are trying to get their pets to defecate in these sand pits. Street animals have even started to use the pits," he said.
"I think all municipalities should take this as an example," said Aylin Sucu, a dog owner. "Previously I had to clean up my dog’s excrement. There is no such problem anymore."
Meanwhile, not all animals have been looked after so well; seven dogs in Zeytinli, in the Edremit district of Balıkesir died after being fed poisoned meat, while a dog and a cat were saved in time by animal lovers.
Melda Topçu, the head of the Animal Friends Association in Edremit, said this did not seem an act of local administrators.
"Normally, those slaughters occur during the night and they gather the dead animals before people get onto the streets in the morning," she said. "As far as we know, the meat was put on the streets at about 10:00 a.m."