Animal Friends of Turkey (AFOT) was set up in May 2018 with the specific aim of rescuing dogs with little or no future in Turkey.

Rescuing dogs from harm & rehabilitating them with love and rehoming them for life

Turkey is a wonderful country in so many ways, and some animals do find loving homes with families across the nation, however there is still an all too prevalent attitude amongst some that results in too many dogs suffering. Some meet with unspeakable cruelty and abuse, many are born on the streets while many more are merely cast out to fend for themselves.  These animals rely on local charities, good Samaritans and the restaurants to survive.

However, while all this work is crucial, it is unfortunately nowhere near enough.

Animal Friends of Turkey was formed by Carol Holbrook, a frequent visitor to Turkey and a long-time activist in animal welfare. Carol had experience of animal rescue having been involved for a number of years in the role of Trustee Treasurer with a registered charity in the UK dedicated to rescuing and rehoming Boxer dogs. Alongside her work in successfully rehoming many boxer dogs, she also has invaluable experience of successfully taking a charity through to achieve UK Registered Charity status.

Carol Holbrook, Founder of Animal Friends of Turkey (AFOT)

To create Animal Friends of Turkey Carol pulled together a team of likeminded people with strong links with Turkey and with specific animal rescue experience who came together with the specific objective of helping the abused and abandoned street dogs of one particular region of Turkey – the Fethiye and Mugla region – and Animal Friends of Turkey was born.

Many of our supporters had previous links with the very successful Animal Aid Fethiye charity that did so much profound work to help the animals of this region over many many years. Animal Aid ceased to exist as an entity in 2018 and it was not long after that Animal Friends of Turkey was set up with a simple and focused aim. And it is simply this – to find a way of offering loving and caring family homes in the UK to the abused and abandoned street animals of this Turkish region.

AFOT works with many rescues and charities in Turkey & UK and has build a strong network to ensure as many dogs as possible find the homes they desperately need. Some of these are breed specific rescues and you can read more about how AFOT works with other rescues here.

In 2023 AFOT joined forces with MELEZ Dog Rescue run by Lisanne Hillen based in Aydin, Turkey about 200km from our sanctuary in Ortaca, run by Brenda Gibson. Lisanne began MELEZ Dog Rescue at a similar time to when Carol began AFOT and rehomes primarily to The Netherlands and Europe. Working alongside AFOT means that both rescues can find the best homes for the dogs, across all regions.

AFOT rehomed one of the MELEZ dog’s called Max in 2018 and the relationship between Carol and Lisanne developed and as Carol takes a step back, Lisanne will be working more with the AFOT team to continue to good work.

Lisanne’s with AFOT Sanctuary’s Brenda Gibson

As you will see when you read the profiles of the animals we are seeking to rehome, some have merely been abandoned, whilst others have suffered levels of cruelty that at times beggars belief. However, all these animals have one thing in common – they all respond positively to exposure to love, care, patience and understanding.

You will get a flavour of some of our work here on this site, and you will also be able to see a selection of the dogs we are seeking to help as well as some of our success stories and see the lives our AFOT dogs are now living in their loving UK Forever Homes.

Just some of our happy souls…

Animal Friends of Turkey is still a relatively young charity but already we have been able to attract a large band of people prepared to help us in a variety of ways. Some help by offering to donate a small regular monthly sum to AFOT to help us raise the vital funds needed to bring these animals back to the UK for rehoming.

It costs a great deal more than the adoption donation to bring just one animal back. The commercial transport cost of one place for a dog on a van is now over £1000 alone. We therefore have to raise the remainder, along with all vet bills, food and foster care. All donations are vital and luckily we have amazing supporters and wonderful people in both Turkey and the UK.

In Turkey we have kind hearted souls who foster our animals while we go through the process of homing them in the UK.  These people are true angels with enormous hearts. In the UK we have people that offer to foster for us if we haven’t found a home before their travel date. And then there are the volunteers who help with a whole variety of other things including fundraising as well as helping with the important vetting job of the pre-adoption homecheck.

The job we have to do is hard and exhausting, with so much tragedy, neglect and downright cruelty we have to face every single day but with our band of supporters we know that AFOT is making a difference.

To see the dogs begin to thrive from the moment they arrive with our AFOT team, to the lives they now live is an honour and a privilege.

Thank you for your support, without you none of this would be possible.