Summer Love, Winter Abandonment: The Puppies Left Behind
Every summer in Turkey, millions of tourists and holidaymakers arrive in coastal towns and villages. The streets are alive with the sound of children playing, families eating outdoors, and stray animals wandering in search of food. Among them are the youngest and most vulnerable tiny street puppies.
To the visitor, the sight of a helpless puppy tugging at scraps or crying in a corner is irresistible. Many scoop them up, take them to their holiday homes, feed them, cuddle them, and for a few short weeks become their entire world.
But when the holiday ends, so too does the puppy’s borrowed life of safety. Bags are packed, doors are locked, and flights are boarded. And the puppy, once loved, is left behind.
A Puppy’s Story
Imagine being that puppy.
You are hungry, lost, and cold when a kind hand lifts you up. You sleep in a warm bed for the first time in your life. Your belly is full. You wag your tiny tail at the sound of familiar voices. For a moment, you believe you belong.
Then one morning, everything changes. The food bowls are gone. The voices are gone. The people who held you, who told you “good puppy,” have vanished. You wait by the gate. You sleep on the step. You cry into the silence.
But no one comes back.
And now you are bigger. No longer the irresistible, fluffy pup, but a confused young dog. The neighbours see you differently. You wander the streets, exposed to cars, disease, and cruelty. All you know is that once you were loved and then you were not.
The Hidden Cruelty of Holiday Adoptions
To the holidaymaker, this may have felt like an act of kindness: rescuing a puppy from the street, even if only for a short time. But to the animal, it is a story of abandonment. Puppies bond quickly, forming deep attachments to the hands that feed and comfort them. When that bond is broken, the emotional and physical consequences are devastating.
Psychological Harm: Dogs abandoned after bonding can suffer deep anxiety and confusion. Many become fearful or distrustful of humans.
Physical Risk: Returning to the streets after weeks of indoor living leaves them ill-prepared. They have lost survival skills and are more vulnerable to traffic, starvation, and illness.
Overpopulation: Without spay/neuter, abandoned puppies grow into adult dogs who contribute to the cycle of uncontrolled breeding.
The Bigger Picture
This seasonal pattern repeats across Turkey every year. Puppies are lifted from streets in Bodrum, Antalya, Fethiye, and beyond, only to be abandoned when the tourist season ends. Some are left outside empty villas. Others are dumped at the roadside on the way to the airport. Many never survive the winter.
What Real Kindness Looks Like
Loving a puppy for a summer is not kindness, it is betrayal. True kindness is:
Supporting Local Rescues: Donate to or volunteer with organisations working year-round to spay, neuter, and care for strays.
Feeding & Caring Responsibly: If you encounter a puppy, provide food and water, but avoid fostering short-term unless you can commit long-term.
Adopting for Life: Adoption should be permanent, not seasonal. Dogs are family, not souvenirs.
Promoting Awareness: Share the reality of this issue with friends and fellow travellers to break the cycle of “holiday adoptions.”
A Final Word for the Puppies
Every puppy abandoned after a summer of love tells the same story: I trusted you, and you left me.
As animal advocates, it is our responsibility to ensure fewer puppies live that story. By raising awareness, supporting spay/neuter, and teaching that adoption is for life, not for holidays, we can protect them from the pain of false hope.
Because every puppy deserves more than a season of love, they deserve a lifetime.