10 years ago, Golden Retrievers held a place of prominence in Turkish society. Today, they’ve been left on the streets to fend for themselves.
Thanks to a phone call from a good samaritan and Lauren Genkinger of Adopt A Golden, 36 stray Goldens were rescued from Istanbul, Turkey and flown to The Pet Lodge in Alpharetta, Georgia.
“This is the largest known rescue of golden retrievers internationally, ever,” says Genkinger to 11Alive.
Genkinger explained further to 11Alive:
“Ten years ago, Golden Retrievers were seen as a status symbol dog in turkey. Then a few years later everybody had them, and therefore the status was no longer there. They started abandoning them in the streets of Turkey.”
These gentle pups’ temperament makes them unsuitable for the streets. “They don’t make it because the feral dogs will attack them and they don’t fight back,” says Genkinger.
All in all, there are 20 boy pups and 16 girl pups aged between 6 months and 10 years. And all these pups have travel status with photo ID passports! All 36 dogs have very patriotic names and have been nicknamed “The Freedom Dogs.”
These sweet creatures will be available for adoption in the first week of June. For more information or to donate to the cause bounce on over to Adopt A Golden Atlanta.
For updates on how the dogs are doing, check out The Pet Lodge’s Facebook.
If you’re not particular about the kind of dog that you’d like to give a furever home to, hop on over to BarkBuddy.
