Inside Turkey’s largest animal hospital saving thousands of sick animals every year

Erdem Sahin meets the 60 veterinarians that treat 50,000 animals at year

A woman hugs her dog before a tomography screening (EPA-EFE)

A horse with an injured ankle, a stressed cockatoo that plucked out the feathers on its wings and a peacock suffering from an inflamed eye were just some of the patients undergoing treatment at Turkey’s largest animal hospital recently.

The Istanbul University Cerrahpasa Faculty of Veterinary Science Hospital opened in 1987 and treats thousands of sick animals every year.

After visiting the centre two years ago, Erdem Sahin felt compelled to visit once again in order to see how its 60 veterinarians nurse poorly animals back to health.

The first patient he came across was a dog in a basket, who looked to be in pain. It transpired the canine, who was called “Duman”, which is Turkish for “smoke”, was suffering from constipation.

Duman had to undergo five days of treatment before “seeming very happy and relaxed”, according to the photographer.

Another canine, wearing a diaper and confined to a stretcher, was undergoing treatment for cancer.

While that dog had a long and difficult road ahead, the vet treating him was hopeful about the animal’s future.

The hospital is split into five departments specialising in internal diseases, surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, artificial insemination and wild animal reproduction.

It also has an emergency room that is staffed 24 hours a day.

Doctor Serhat Ozsoy, the head of the department of animal diseases and ecology, was treating a wild hawk that had been found in another part of the city and brought in with a broken wing.

The bird would be released back into the wild once it had made a recovery.

The hospital treats some 50,000 animals every year, mostly pets, and is funded by vet bills paid by owners.

EPA