Hi there, I’ve set up this crowdfunding page in the hope to raise funds to bring one of the street dogs in Dalyan, Turkey over to the UK. We have already managed to get her spayed and microchipped, however she still needs to have her vaccinations and rabies jab, have blood tests, be cared for in Dalyan for 3 months until she is able to travel via plane to Holland and then via ferry to the UK.

My partner and I will be saving and raising our own money which we will use first, but if we can receive any donations through this crowdfunding page then that would be fantastic. Hopefully there will be money left over from our savings and this page which we will then donate to the Dalyan Animal Welfare Charity to help with their amazing efforts to help all the many animals still in need.

So now we would like to introduce you to our Dalyan baby; Belle🐶 My family and I have been visiting Dalyan for the last three years and we've met a lot of street dogs during our visits there - But this little (though not so little anymore🙈😂) girl captured our hearts when we first saw her, a baby of no more than 8 months old.

I first saw Belle in the town in September 2016 and she had either been dumped from another town or was no longer wanted so left on the streets to fend for herself. She followed us back to our garden where we were staying and instantly bonded with Bubba, a dog who was cared for by one of the gardeners that we'd become close with previously. They became best of buds, and as you can see from the pictures at the bottom of the bio 'Bubba' was a bit scruffy and ruggidy, which is how we named her Belle - She was such a beauty and he was on the scruffy side so they reminded us of Beauty and The Beast👹

We'd taken out food, treats, worming and flea treatment for Bubba and ended up looking after both of them whilst we were there. Belle would follow our every move, and if for whatever reason she got distracted from us she'd either come looking for us along the main strip in town or turn up in the garden wagging her tail.

Belle has had to learn how to be streetwise, to be submissive and stay out of the way of the more dominant street dogs, and to scavenge for her food. She can be quite dopey which means she usually plods along and gets in the way of the cars that drive through the town.

We believe Belle deserves to be more than just a ‘street dog’ or ear tag number 117, which unfortunately due to the number of street dogs a lot of them don’t officially have names and are known by ear tag numbers. She is the sweetest dog and has so much love to give who just loves belly rubs and scratches under her chin, and of course her treats!

Many people have told me that she’s a street dog and she’ll love whoever gives her food, which might possibly be true, however whenever she sees us she will bound up to us, jumping up at us with her tail wagging ten to the dozen. And if that isn’t a dog that recognises us and loves us as much as we love her then I don’t know what is.

Our family and friends usually visit Dalyan during the summer which means we can take care of her, which (much to my family’s dismay) includes me ramming everyone’s suitcase with dog treats and food🙈😂 Thankfully we have also made a few friends in Dalyan who send me pictures and updates on how she is, which definitely puts my mind at ease. During the summer, which is tourist season in Dalyan, all bars and restaurants are open and they will try to give their scraps to the street dogs.

However during the winter months it is a very worrying time. Nearly all the bars and restaurants close so the street animals have a very slim supply of food, as they don’t get given scraps and can’t rummage through bins as there’s nothing in them. Luckily there are wonderful volunteers who try to help feed the many animals living on the streets, as well as neutering them in the hope of preventing too many pregnancies, giving them worming and flea treatment and also vaccinating them.

We understand that there are many dogs that need rehoming in the UK, and all of our previous family pets we have rehomed from a rescue centre, but you can’t stop yourself from falling in love with an animal and she has truly stolen our hearts❤️

So if you’re able to please donate to this crowdfunding page, and even if we manage to raise the money ourselves then the money you donate will go to the Dalyan Animal Welfare Charity to help them to continue the amazing work they do for the animals out there🐶🐱

Thank you for taking the time to read this!🐾