KAR catches Karmi Dog – sadly not a “lucky” one

By Kim Betts…

Please note there are “sad” pictures included in the article

Concerned residents of Karmi have, this week, contacted KAR about a dog that had been seen in and around the village. Based on the very useful information that they provided, which included photos, it was very clear that the poor dog needed urgent help.

The Community Warden (Yulian) went to Karmi, but despite him searching, the dog had disappeared. He left a KAR trap there, with someone who knew how to use it, in the hope that the dog would be lured in, and Yulian set off to try and locate another desperate dog in the Çatalköy area.

The following day came the news that the Karmi dog was in the trap, so Yulian went back up to Karmi, to collect the dog and trap. The dog was brought to the office for a further visual assessment and logging for the report and was then taken immediately to a local vet.

Sadly the vet, after examining the dog, felt that his condition was so poor and he was in such pain that there was not real alternative, but to put him to sleep. If there had been any chance of treatment and full recovery then KAR would have agreed to pay for the treatment – as they do with many other cases – however, sadly, for this little dog there was no happy ending.

What is even more so very upsetting about the Karmi dog, is that a group of people were aware of his plight. They took photos of him and some other dogs in the same pack and posted them onto their Social Media site, as they wanted to help him and the others BUT this was in early December!

It was not reported to KAR, as if it had been then maybe KAR could have caught him over a month ago. The end result for the poor Karmi dog may not have changed, but at least he would have had a month less of suffering. The other dogs at the site are now being followed up by KAR, but they still have not been reported to KAR.

Sadly, there are many animals here that are stray – some may look thin, some may look disheveled, some may be cold and dirty, but they maybe are the “lucky”ones – they are being fed, they are not ill, they have a life albeit it is a life on the streets.

Unfortunately there is not much, if anything, that KAR can do for the “lucky” ones. At one time these “lucky” ones would be collected by KAR, as part of its Neuter and Return programme – they would be health checked, neutered/spayed. An ID tag put into their ear and recorded on a KAR database and then returned to the same area that they were collected from.

However due to TRNC legislation KAR have had to stop their dog Neuter and Return programme because it is not allowed, legally, to return the dogs to the streets. So, if they were collected and neutered they cannot be put back onto the streets and they cannot stay at KAR Rescue Centre, because there is no room – and so the programme was stopped.

The problem of dealing with the stray population fell, by legislation, onto each and every Beledeyesi, however, they also do not have the facilities to keep the stray dogs off the streets!!!

But, for the not so “lucky” ones, KAR will still help if it can. All cases need to be prioritised and anyone reporting cases can help with that initial assessment – help by providing as much information as possible, provide photos, if possible, report medical cases to KAR as soon as possible.

KAR will help the strays, if and where it can, but to do that they need help too – even if it is in the initial reporting of cases.

As a response to this article Martin Derbyshire who lives in Karmi commented

Kim, myself and many residents of Karmi are furious about this shoddy piece of journalism. To get the facts straight; this dog, and the pack it belonged to, were situated in lower Edremit, close to the Hideaway Hotel, not Karmi, indeed it is closer to Karaoğlanoğlu than Karmi.

Moreover, no village is as pet-friendly at Karmi, a fact that unfortunately means that people constantly dump their ‘pets’ or failed hunting dogs here, and few permanent residents have a home without a stray that has been taken on, and no animal is ever left without food or shelter, regardless of how ‘cute’ it is. or it’s state of health.

Our relationship with KAR is constant, however on many occasions they unfortunately state that they cannot help. This is not to decry what they do, it is understood that they have limited resources, and do a fantastic job.

However, to insinuate that it is somehow the ‘fault’ of Karmi residents that this poor animal, which was not even close to Karmi, suffered when it could have been looked after, is very unfair, and after speaking with a few people last night at a social gathering, everyone feels extremely unhappy that we are somehow to blame.

Are we supposed to be held responsible for every village stray that we see on our travels? Speaking on behalf of the Karmi residents that I spoke to last night, It is possible that your piece did not mean to convey what was inferred, but nevertheless came across that way, and I feel an apology is in order on your site.

Kim Betts responded

Hi Martin and Karmi residents. I apologise if the post upset but you have, I think, misread it.

What it was trying to portray especially in the first part is that the info that Karmi residents gave KAR about the dog was relevant detailed and exactly what KAR need when making an initial assessment.

In no way at all was it meant to attach blame to anyone from Karmi – from what it says it is another group (animal welfare group) who had posted it on their own site – nothing to do with Karmi residents.

Please assure the Karmi residents that it was not a slur on them at all and if they have read it as such then KAR just wish that all of the info about cases was reported to them with so much detail as was provided by Karmi residents.