HAYTAP wins tender for kittens, puppies smuggled into Turkey

EDİRNE – Anadolu Agency

The Istanbul representative of the Animal Rights Federation (HAYTAP) has won a tender held for kittens and puppies recently seized on the border while being smuggled into Turkey from Bulgaria. 

Searches of two cars at the Hamzabeyli Border Gate in the northwestern province of Edirne revealed 15 kittens and six puppies being smuggled into the country. The animals had been given drugs to make them go quiet and nine of them died. 

The first tender had valued the animals at 22,000 Turkish Liras but no buyers could be found. In a second tender held on Nov. 16, officials again failed to find any buyers at a price of 16,567 liras.

The animals, which were placed in the care of Ayşen Özkan, the head of the Nature and Animals Protection Association in Edirne, remain stuck at the Kapıkule and Hamzabeyli customs offices.

Six people took part in the third tender on Nov. 25, initiated with an opening price of 4,500 Turkish Liras.

HAYTAP Istanbul representative Zuhal Arslan ended up purchasing the animals for 7,900 liras. 

Earlier, 10 kittens that were seized after being illegally smuggled into the country from Bulgaria were auctioned on Oct. 20 in Edirne, Doğan News Agency reported.

Previously, anti-smuggling units in Edirne seized 10 Persian and British Shorthair hybrid kittens inside two bags in the truck of a suspicious Bulgarian car after it entered the country from the Hamzabeyli Border Gate. The cats had been illegally smuggled into the country to be sold in pet shops.

The Edirne Liquidation Authority auctioned the kittens and Arslan also bought those kittens for 7,080 liras on Oct. 20. 

Following the transactions, Arslan said animal smuggling would continue as long as the sale of animals continued in pet shops.