The government of Turkey has ordered local councils to give food to the nation’s hundreds of thousands of homeless animals during the COVID-19 crisis.
Stray animals have been starving due to receiving much less food from the locals currently in lockdown.
According to the BBC, the Interior Ministry has told councils to “bring food and water to animal shelters, parks, gardens, and other areas where animals are found.”
It noted that “all necessary measures must be taken to ensure stray animals don’t go hungry”.
The order also includes animal shelters and dens to be thoroughly disinfected.
Thankfully, homeless animals in the country have already been vaccinated by veterinarians employed by the councils.
A week ago, Murat Kurum, Ankara’s environment and urbanization minister posted on social media to urge people to leave out food and water for the strays.
In a message on World Street Animals Day, he wrote:
“In these difficult days, we are not forgetting our friends and leaving food and water in front of our homes.”
According to Worldometers, Turkey currently has 56,956 coronavirus cases with 1198 losses of life.
Self-isolating cat owners have been asked to keep their pets inside due to frightening evidence emerging that animals can also be infected by the virus.
The British Veterinary Association, which made the warning, noted that “owners should not worry” about animals infecting humans and cats from non-infected households can still be let to roam outside.
A study from the Harbin Veterinary Research Institute in China has shown that cats can transmit the virus among themselves, but dogs are not as easily infected.
As per the American Veterinary Medical Association, only two dogs and two cats have thus far tested positive for coronavirus.
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