SPRAWLING on doorsteps, on café benches, inside hamams: stray cats and dogs are everywhere in Istanbul. Some 130,000 dogs roam the city, while at least 125,000 wild cats prowl its streets. The prevalence of strays across the city is nothing new: “The dogs sleep in the streets, all over the city,” Mark Twain wrote after an 1867 visit to Istanbul. “They would not move, though the Sultan himself passed by.” More recently their presence has taken on a new, more modern twist.
The popularity of animal photos on social media—combined with a desire for a glimmer of good news in Turkey—has boosted the popularity of these creatures both at home and abroad. There are at least half a dozen Facebook pages dedicated to the strays around Istanbul. One, “Cats of Istanbul”, has nearly 70,000 followers; its canine cousin, “Pups of Istanbul”, a more modest 20,000, attesting to the pointlessness of competing with cats on the internet. One particular photo, of Tombili, an obese feline who was papped leaning jauntily against a step, so tickled its fans that a bronze statue (pictured, with original) was put up in his honour after he died. The craze has...Continue reading
Souce: Europe http://ift.tt/2mT4WKQ
EmoticonEmoticon