TUZLA SHELTER

After 6 years rescuing, rehabilitating and rehoming dogs in southwest Türkiye, initially from an apartment, then a house and then a farm, I’ve now moved into accommodation inside the Tuzla Shelter run by Jacqueline Bulmer.

It’s the only dog shelter I trust in this region and living on-site will allow me to help many more dogs as they are over-capacity. The shelter was setup to care for up to 25 dogs, at the time of writing (June 2025) they have over 40, many of which are un-sponsored and abandoned by supposed “dog people” with no shame or responsibility.

Tuzla Shelter was created by Jacqueline Bulmer in 2011. Before opening the shelter, Jacqueline was feeding the local street dogs of the Bogazici neighbourhood where she lived and even set up roadside kennels for them. 15 years on she still organises street feeding for over 50 street dogs as well as carrying the majority cost burden of the shelter.

In 2024 Jaqueline brought a rescued street dog to me named Belle. Belle needed a lot of help accepting a leash and adapting to human life inside a home before travelling to her adopter. This allowed Jacqueline to see how I kept the environment and how I work with dogs.