You will have read in the last two months’ editions of Ege Eye about sweet Bella’s adventures and how she was twice returned to the safety of Long Beach . . . and our prayers that she and her babies Bertie & Betty would now be safe from dangers.
It was about a week after returning Bella to Long Beach that Helen, a visitor staying at the Batihan hotel, posted on the ARK Facebook page. She said she had fallen in love with a dog on the beach and wanted advice on how to take it back to England.
She was asked for a picture of the beach dog – and to our great surprise and joy it was our Bella! When later I asked Helen what had attracted her to Bella, she said, ‘’She chose us. She came and sat with us on the beach and immediately she won my heart. She was so soft and all she wanted was attention and love.
She was famous on the beach, as every time the jet ski started she was at the side of it, running in the water, and she used to run full pelt up the beach, dodging all the people relaxing, both in and out of the water!! ‘’She and the other dogs, two of them her babies (Bertie and Betty), followed us into the hotel and decided that the pool looked rather nice . . . on one occasion the pack of dogs, led by our Mum, decided that they were too hot and so they all jumped in the pool to cool off!!
We then decided to name this darling dog ‘’Chaos’’!! ‘’We saw Chaos every day and then one evening, rather than going out, we stayed in the hotel for entertainment. There were over a hundred other guests there that evening but despite that Chaos found us, and sat with us all night. From that moment I knew that she was my dog and I had to bring her home to England.’’
On reading Helen’s post, a lady who had also stayed at the Batihan Hotel the previous year and who had taken Bonnie, another lucky Long Beach dog, back to the UK, advised her how to proceed. Things then moved very fast – Hakan from ‘Hunters House’, based in Fethiye, who kennels and transports animals to the UK, arranged to collect Bella the next morning.
We fetched Bella from the beach to spend the night in Brenda’s garden to await Hakan’s arrival. We all congregated at Brenda’s house the next morning to say goodbye to Bella – it was of course very emotional, as we had all looked after her for 9 months.
Hakan arrived, a super guy who is Turkish, but speaks with an American drawl, as he spent his early years in the USA. He is a true animal lover. Look for the ‘Hunters House’ Facebook page and you will see all. Bella/Chaos will stay at Hunters House until she is ready to travel to the UK to live with Helen’s large family that includes three Akita hounds.
The following week Helen was longing to see Chaos one last time before she left Turkey to return home to Britain – so I drove her and her daughter Sinaed down to Fethiye to visit Hakan and his wonderful facilities. We were amazed by the number of dogs (around 60) waiting until their quarantine period was over and they could be transported to forever homes. What also amazed us was the love that was poured onto these dogs, each of whom was called by name and responded to Hakan, his wife Hayley and their staff.
When the dogs are brought to Hunters House by Hakan – who receives calls for help from all over Turkey – they are thoroughly medically examined and assessed, before mixing with the others waiting for their turn to travel.
We at ARK were of course very happy that finally Bella/Chaos has a forever home, but also sad because her puppies, Betty and Bertie, were still living on the beach. However, unfortunately offers of homes do not come along very often.
However, a week later we had another wonderful surprise – another lady, Natalie, who had been staying at the Charisma Hotel, wanted to take a street dog that she had fallen in love with back to the UK . . . so action stations once again! Hakan was contacted and he set out straight away, driving through the night from Fethiye to collect her – but to our joy he also said that this time he would not leave Betty and Bertie behind, he would take them back to Hunters House and look after them there until he finds homes for them.
This man is truly a Guardian Angel. So once more we said a very emotional goodbye, this time to Betty and Bertie . . . ‘’Bon Voyage’’. Hakan put us all on a video link to see Bella and her pups re-united at Hunters House. We also all look forward to watching their future lives unfold with regular up-dates from both Helen and Hakan and his team, who have saved the lives of so many Turkish dogs.
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https://animalrescuekusadasi.org/help/donations/
