The Turkish Parliament passed new legislation this summer that aims to remove all stray dogs from the streets by 2028, as these dogs are labeled by the government dangerous and causing harm to humans. This is a significant shift in policy in a country where street dogs have been embedded and accepted into its culture for centuries. Turkish animal welfare groups say in reality there are very few deadly dog attacks, but social media sensationalization and politicization of incidents have complicated debates. While everyone agrees there needs to be better plans to manage the country’s dog overpopulation, there is conflict on how to handle it. Animal advocates argue the 100,000 capacity in current shelters cannot humanely accommodate an estimated four million street dogs, calling the new stray dog legislation the “massacre law.”

In the first episode of this two-part series, we explore the unique culture tradition of stray dogs living in Turkey, and discuss the problems and challenges around this new stray dog removal law.

We spoke to several guest experts about their perspective on Turkey’s stray dog dilemma with the new law. Guests include Elizabeth Lo (filmmaker), Nazlan Ertan (journalist), Lisanne Hillen (Melez Dog Rescue), and Ahmet Senpolat (HAYTAP, Animal Rights Federation).

For more information about the episode, guests, and featured links: www.dogsavethepeople.com/episodes/turkey-stray-dog-dilemma-2024-pt-1

Ben Moon is a photographer and filmmaker who has integrated his passion for the outdoors into his work, including as a longtime contributor to Patagonia with climbing and surfing imagery in particular. Dogs have always been part of Ben’s life, but it was after a divorce, living out of a car, and then a colon cancer diagnosis at 29, that the companionship with his rescue dog Denali, a pit-husky mix, took on a new meaning. Their strong connection was highlighted in a 2015 short film called ‘Denali’ which honors his late dog and has amassed over two million views. As a follow-up, Ben then wrote a 2020 memoir, also entitled Denali, that took an even more introspective look at the power of their human-dog relationship.

Now at a new life stage, with his 8-year-old rescue dog Nori, an Australian shepherd and husky mix, they have settled down in a beach house on the Oregon Coast. Ben is learning to appreciate the slow build and the benefits that come from settling down in one place.

Ben speaks about his life journey and dogs with Dr. Sharon Holland, an author and distinguished Professor of American Studies at the University of North Carolina (UNC), as well as the host for Dog Save The People.

For more information about the episode, guest, and featured links: www.dogsavethepeople.com/episodes/ben-moon-2024

Marianne Leone is an actress, screenwriter, essayist, and author. She is well-known for her recurring role in The Sopranos. After her son, Jesse, had been diagnosed with cerebral palsy and passed at a young age, Marianne found comfort in dogs. From Goody, who had been Jesse’s best friend, to current dogs of Titi and Sugar, the mix of bichon’s have provided great comfort. Along with her husband, Chris Cooper, they have been able to find joy amidst hardship. Marianne’s latest book, Five-Dog Epiphany, honors the positive impact of these dogs on her life.

The host for this episode is Dr. Sharon Holland, a Distinguished Professor of American Studies at the University of North Carolina (UNC) and contributing host for Dog Save The People.

For more information about the episode, guest, and featured links:
www.dogsavethepeople.com/episodes/marianne-leone-2024

Jennifer Holland is a longtime writer for National Geographic where she has covered animal behavior, evolutionary biology, natural history, and more. She is also a book author, whose latest work ‘Dog Smart’ looks at the different ways we can re-consider the intelligence of our canine companions. Instead of anthropomorphizing them and evaluating against our own standards, we need to look at them for who they truly are.

Former guest and psychologist Dr. Chris Blazina is the contributing host for this conversation with Jennfier about her new book and what she learned in the process of writing it.

For more information about the episode, guest, and featured links:
www.dogsavethepeople.com/episodes/jennifer-holland-2024

For centuries, stray dogs in Turkey have lived outside amongst their humans. These strays do not have individual guardians, but are rather taken care of by the community. Last week, at the end of July 2024, Turkey’s parliament passed a new law that aims to get the strays off the streets, which would completely change this longstanding cultural relationship. With this re-issue episode, we wanted to bring back a conversation we had with filmmaker Elizabeth Lo about her documentary on stray dogs in Istanbul.

Elizabeth Lo is an award-winning nonfiction filmmaker born and raised in Hong Kong and a graduate of the NYU Tisch School of the Arts. Her debut feature film, Stray, looks at how strays in Istanbul live and interact with a community who looks out for them.

For more information about the episode, guest, and featured links: dogsavethepeople.com/episodes/elizabeth-lo-reissue-2024

Anastasia Stellato is the Principal Investigator at Texas Tech University’s Human-Animal Interaction Lab, where she studies animal welfare. After becoming more of a dog person in her personal and professional life, Anastasia wanted to understand better why dogs react and behave in certain ways. More importantly, she wanted to figure out how to help them further. Through her research and the One Welfare approach that takes into account human welfare and environmental context, Anastasia and her PhD students study different situations and learn how to identify causes and solutions most accurately. She believes that we are just scratching the surface of what we can learn about our dogs, how we can be better companions to them, and how to apply our learning to improve our mutual connection.

For more information about the episode, guest, and featured links: www.dogsavethepeople.com/episodes/anastasia-stellato-2024

Winnie Au is a photographer who has worked on many dog-related projects over the years. Her most notable project to date is Cone of Shame, with its name taken from the stigma connected to the cone-shape object dogs have to wear after medical procedures. Through her colorful and creative photos, Winnie has aimed to flip that concept around and show that this is actually a beautiful transition into a better life ahead for the dogs. What started as a small set of 12 photos turned into 60, all with different dogs and custom cones, which have now turned into a new book out this Fall.

Winnie knows from experience how a cone can lead to a better life because her own basset hound, Clementine, who had to wear one when initially being rescued from a puppy mill. Since adopting her around a decade ago, Winnie and her husband have seen Clementine’s initial PTSD, fear, and anxiety diminish greatly. Through taking care of her as a delicate rescue dog, they also realized recently that they were ready to have a child. Now, their home has entered a new stage with a senior dog and young toddler.

Pre-order Winnie’s forthcoming ‘Cone of Shame’ book (out Sept 10), filled with her amazing dog photography series:

https://www.winniewow.com/cone-of-shame

For more information about the episode, guest, and featured links: www.dogsavethepeople.com/episodes/winnie-au-2024

Alexis Devine has been determined over the past five years to grow the types of communication she has with her dogs. It started with her sheepadoodle, Bunny, who she trained to learn 100+ pre-recorded buttons that helped express feelings, wants, and needs. Today, this has grown to include other techniques like gestural commands or pointing.

Through this process, Alexis has made sure to try to give as much agency to the dogs as possible when making these decisions. Not forcing choices on them, and instead allowing them to lead the way, also enables you to better understand their true nature by paying close attention to subtle cues. In reserving any judgement and just embracing our dogs for who they are, we can do a better job to help accommodate their needs. Along the way, we’ll likely learn a thing or two about ourselves as well.

Since last appearing on Dog Save The People in 2021, Alexis recently released a new book ‘I Am Bunny’ which you can find here:
harpercollins.com/products/i-am-bunny-alexis-devine

For more information about the episode, guest, and featured social media or links: dogsavethepeople.com/episodes/alexis-devine-2024