The Street Animals of Istanbul...

In the winter of 2015, I went to Istanbul. And I’m glad I did. It was one of the coolest experiences I ever had. The city bursted at the seems with culture, enchantment and history. One thing that completely jumped out to me when I was there were the street animals, particularly the cats. Everywhere in Istanbul are street cats -- and they are actually revered. There are street dogs, too, but they are much less respected than the thousands of cats that live in the city.

Anyway, full of amazement at seeing all these animals on the street, I had an idea for a story, one that I thought would've been a great fit for the children’s magazine Highlights. Unfortunately, the folks at Highlights turned down the piece. But I still have a special place in my heart for this article. Enjoy.

The city of Istanbul is a very busy place. The streets and alleys are filled with merchants selling clothes and fabrics. Men and women go to mosques during the day to pray. Fishermen fish by the city’s shores. Musicians play on street corners and tourists constantly run from one ancient site to another.

But if you look a little closer at this bustling metropolis, you will notice that a whole other world exists: that of the city’s street animals. Observing these creatures and their daily routines is interesting and helps us learn about the fascinating city they call home.

Istanbul was founded thousands of years ago by the Greeks. It was later captured by the Romans and then by the Ottomans, a Turkish Muslim dynasty. The city was built on a series of big hills and is unique because it spans two continents, Asia and Europe.

Incredibly, about 50,000 stray cats live in Istanbul and every morning many of them can be seen walking up and down the city’s steep cobblestone streets looking for food or sunning themselves on ledges or sleeping in cardboard boxes that have been set outside for them.

The people of Istanbul look at the cats favorably. One reason is because the religion of most people in the city is Islam and cats are revered in Islam. Cats are also expert hunters and help reduce the city’s rat population.

Because cats are so loved in Istanbul, they are granted a lot of freedom. Observing the animals in the unique places they are often found, due to the freedom they are given and tolerance they are shown, actually helps us learn more about Istanbul.

For example, cats are often seen outside carpet shops, curled up on stacks of fancy rugs. This makes sense because Istanbul is a hub for the worldwide carpet trade, so the city has many carpet shops. Cats are often seen nimbly crossing streets throughout the city. Well, Istanbul is one of the largest cities in the world -- it has many streets. Cats are often seen sitting in front of kebab stands, begging for scraps of meat. Kebab, which is roasted meat on a stick, is very popular in Istanbul and is sold on almost every other corner.

Although the city’s cats are one star of the show, they do have competition. Down by Istanbul’s shores, the seagulls attract much of the attention.

Istanbul is located on Europe and Asia, and both continents are separated by a narrow body of water called the Bosporus Strait. Every day, people commuting for work or traveling for other reasons take ferries from one side of the city to the other. As the ferries crisscross the waterways, swarms of seagulls can almost always be seen hovering over the rear of the vessels, searching for fish in the water stirred up by the boats’ motors. Istanbul’s waterways are so full of seagulls that if one of the many fishermen who fishes from the city’s bridges throws a small fish straight up into the air, chances are a seagull will catch it.

Though the European side and the Asian side of Istanbul are both beautiful, the most popular tourist sites are on the European side. There, you can find domed mosques made of stone, thousand-year-old churches built by the Romans, and grand palaces built by the Ottomans, who captured the city from the Romans in 1453 and created their own empire, using Istanbul as home base.

The European side is also where many of the city’s street dogs can be found.

But these street dogs are not mean. They have been documented by the city, which makes sure the animals are tame enough to interact with the public. Once the animals are certified as safe and are sterilized, they get a blue ear tag so they can be monitored.

These dogs with blue ear tags can be seen napping on the lawns of the grand palaces or walking up to tourists who are strolling the manicured walkways that connect the various mosques.

One place dogs are unlikely to be seen, however, is inside a building. This is because Islam states that dogs should live outside structures that humans inhabit.

Still, every now and then, a stray dog does walk inside a building. And when it does, the people are not mean to it. Instead, they tell the dog it must leave by using hand motions or by gently saying, “Shoo!”

Despite this, the people of Istanbul really have affection for the city’s street dogs. This is seen in many ways: butchers often leave large bones outside their shops for the dogs, cars slow down when dogs cross the streets, and sometimes, when it rains, street vendors allow the animals to take shelter under their stands — a unique sight indeed!