[animalcraker]

I just got back from Istanbul, I was there for the F1 race this past wekend. While I was there I noticed some of the dogs had ear tags, similar to what you see used on livestock. There was a wide variety of dogs running around the city. There were skiny unkept stray dogs, the mixed/native dogs that we couldn't tell if they were owned or not (these were the ones with the ear tags), and there were a few purebreds (golden & boxer) that were well kept with collars. We couldn't tell if the dogs with the ear tags were owned by anyone sepcificaly or just accepted by the community. They weren't skinny and mangey like the stray dogs. And they were allowed to enter and sleep at the cafes/resturants, whereas the strays were shooed away and treated like pests. Does anyone know what the ear tag signifies? Does it mean those dogs have owners or are special for some reason? I know we have members from all around the world here, so hoepfully someone can fill me in.

 

[Willowy]

I know in Greece, their stray dog management system is to take the dogs to a shelter, where they are spayed/neutered, given all appropriate vaccines and health care, then given a certain amount of time to be adopted. If nobody adopts them, they're released back to the streets. I assume there's some way to identify them so they aren't taken back to the shelter. Maybe Turkey does the same thing, and the ear-tagged dogs are the ones that have been TNR'd. That would be my guess.

 

[animalcraker]

I know in Greece, their stray dog management system is to take the dogs to a shelter, where they are spayed/neutered, given all appropriate vaccines and health care, then given a certain amount of time to be adopted. If nobody adopts them, they're released back to the streets. I assume there's some way to identify them so they aren't taken back to the shelter. Maybe Turkey does the same thing, and the ear-tagged dogs are the ones that have been TNR'd. That would be my guess.

That's what I was thinkng too, but they let the dogs sleep in the door ways and treat them with a higher regard then the untaged street dogs.

I'll be going to Athens in about a month so I'll have to kep a look out if their dogs have ear tags too.

 

[Spicy1_VV]

Hmmmm don't know, very weird. Maybe I can ask around and try to find out. We use ear tags for our livestock to identify a few different things (depending on which animal they are). I'm not sure why these dogs would have it, except maybe similar for ID purposes.

Did you see any Kangals?

 

[jesirose]

A quick google turned up this:

http://www.turkeytravelplanner.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=2620

"There are a fair number of stray dogs on the streets of Istanbul and others who seem to be unleashed pets. Many of them have the ear tag indicating that they've been vaccinated for rabies but the majority that I saw did not. The first time that a couple of pretty hefty dogs approached me, I was rather alarmed before I realized that they had only friendly intentions."

Looks like the ear tag means they are vaccinated, so they are safe to allow around? A few other sources indicated the ear tag means altered. Sounds like a TNR program.

I can post the question on Ask.Metafilter for you if you want, there is a lot of good knowledge on there.

 

[animalcraker]

Did you see any Kangals?

I only saw 2 Kangals. Most of the street dogs I saw looked like chow mixes. I also met the most adorable pup, looked like and Akita mix, it was following my bf and I thru the city as we were eating corn on the cob. I wanted to take it home with me, and it was super skinny I felt sad having to leave it there. We also saw a few hounds, looked like large black foxhounds, as we were drivng thru the countryside to get to the F1 track.

By the way Istanbul is a beautiful city and the turkish people are the nicest and friendliest people we've met thus far. If you're considering traveling abroad I would recomend you make it to turkey. Just try not to go on the F1 weekend if you're on a budget and don't plan well in advance. Apparently all the hotels were at least triple thier normal price because of the F1 race. However we booked our hostel well in advance so it was actually quite cheap for a 2 person private room, which ended up being a private appartment right across from the 4 seasons.

 

[jesirose]

What is F1? Is it a car race?

 

[animalcraker]

What is F1? Is it a car race?

Formula1.com
F1=Formula One, and yes it's a car race. Unlike Nascar, which most of us are probably familiar with, they get to make right turns. There's a variety of Grand Prix that are held all over the world, except North America. Monaco would probably the most famous race that people would have heard of.