Stray Dogs

Turkey has a lot of stray dogs.
Some are really cute like the white Labrador puppies behind the Thermal hotel.
Some are so lazy or "dog tired"  that I think they're dead, but then then slowly raise one ear and an eyebrow when I wizz by on my bike.
Some are playful like the puppies near the trash dump who frolic around and tumble all over each other and fight over a plastic baggie dripping with grease.
Some are docile and tired from trying to find scraps of food or dead fish near dumpsters and behind restaurants.
Some are the lucky beneficiaries of an early-morning walker bringing treats like a bag of stale bread or left-over bones.
Many are tagged which means someone took them to the free vet to get spayed or neutered and vaccinated against rabies.
One or two are actual house pets complete with collars and leashes pulling their owners along for their daily walks.
And some just need to be killed....
              like the pack of five, tagged, so-they're-only-acting-like-rabid-dogs who chase me every day at kilometer 6 of my way to work.

I wish I knew enough Turkish to call a dog catcher.
Wait, based upon the number of strays, I don't think they have dog catchers here.

My colleague suggested pepper spray but I'm afraid I'd miss and spray myself while trying to keep their extra-sharp canine incisors from nipping at my calves.

Today I imagined myself buying a cheap steak, slathering it with rat poison and hoping for the pack's slow, painful death....


Turkey...it's time to do something about the dogs. You've got too many...