We were told that the tagged beach dogs “were safe” which we took to mean rabies free. The dogs appeared well nourished, they did not aggressively beg for food, although they would accept titbits. There were dishes of dried dog food and fresh water in the nearby bus shelter. We were careful not to feed the dogs but when we left out a bowl of fishy oil from a tin of sardines it was lapped up in a millisecond!
One of the dogs, a bitch, #00800 was limping quite badly. She allowed Tony to inspect her paw and there was nasty gash on her pad, probably from broken glass. The wound seemed clean enough and, after a few days, we were relieved to see Sore-Paw was healing nicely. We noticed she regularly paddled in the sea and we supposed that the salt water helped the healing process.
All the dogs were affectionate and were not particularly nervous of humans. They would roll over for a tummy tickle and they would often accompany us when we went for a walk along the beach. Sore-Paw would come and sleep on our mat when we were sitting outside and when Tony lay under the truck doing things mechanical, Sore-Paw would lie happily beside him!
Whilst out walking we saw a sign put up by the Municipality of Fethiye that read, “Stray animals are protected by Law of Protection. Animal cruelty is punishable by law”
