Evaluation on shelter medicine and stray animal shelters in Turkey

In Turkey, the institutions established to serve the purpose of sheltering and rehabilitating abandoned, weakened and stray animals are known as an animal shelter, rehabilitation centre or a (temporary) animal sanctuary. In this study, we aim to explore the general structure of the care and treatment services provided in shelters in Turkey which host stray animals and to take the veterinarians’ opinions on veterinary care, who work in these shelters. Twenty-eight shelters from 28 provinces, with four cities from seven regions of Turkey, were included in this study. Data was collected through the survey form (personnel status, physical condition, routine practices, duties and authorities of the personnel and functioning of the institution) prepared as a result of the legislation texts and literature reviews. In addition, 67 veterinarians working in these institutions were interviewed face to face to determine attitudes about shelter practice and their opinions and recommendations were obtained. It is identified that the number of shelter staff is generally insufficient. Routine care includes vaccination, spaying, marking with microchip/ear tag, registration and adopting etc. It is determined that there are differences between regions in terms of giving specialization training for medicine in shelters (P=0.031). In addition, almost all veterinarians reported that a veterinarian should be conscientious and patient (95.5%). There are many reasons behind the problem of stray animals in Turkey and veterinarians have critical roles to play on behalf of the solution to this problem. For solutions to the problems, proposals include providing cooperation between the institutions and sharing responsibilities; increasing the staff recruitment of veterinary and auxiliary staff; ensuring information and raising the awareness of veterinarians and assistants by training and courses; increasing the number and opportunities of shelters.