Dozens of stray cats in Istanbul’s Kadıköy district killed, many missing

Duvar English

A total of 34 cats have been recently found dead in the Fenerbahçe neighborhood in Istanbul's Kadıköy district. Also, several residents have reported that cats they have been feeding disappeared in the neighborhood.

The police, Kadıköy Municipality, and the District Directorate of Agriculture teams were dispatched to the neighborhood after the mass killings of cats, according to reporting by Demirören News Agency.

Police teams, who examined the security cameras in the vicinity, launched a large-scale investigation into the incident. 

District Directorate of Agriculture teams took samples from the dead cats and sent them to the laboratory for examination. An injured cat was taken under treatment at a veterinarian in the neighborhood.

A resident of the neighborhood who feeds the cats on the street and whose cat disappeared said on March 18: "Since yesterday, we have been seeing that the cats on this street have died by poisoning. I haven't been able to find my own cat since yesterday. While I was looking for my own cat, I saw dead cats in neighboring gardens. I think it's a huge massacre.”

Even though Istanbul is known for its high population of cats, there is no systemic and grounded legal protection towards animals.

While people usually take care of the animals in their neighborhoods, violence against stray animals is a problem in the country.