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Published: August 27th 2015
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Legend has it the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was in his garden one day. Unbeknownst to him, a deadly snake slithered into his presence. The serpent was poised to strike the prophet when it was pounced upon by a cat, thus saving the Prophet from a painful death. Muhammad stroked the cat’s head in gratitude, and it is said that the stripes that some cats have on their heads is the mark of the Prophet’s fingers.
Now, I don’t know if this story is true, but I rather like it, even if I am more of a dog person.
There are a number of hadith (collection of quotes purporting to be from Muhammad) that refer to cats, such as “A good deed done to an animal is as meritorious as a good deed done to a human being, while an act of cruelty to an animal is as bad as an act of cruelty to a human being.”
In addition to the tradition and religious aspects of kindness to cats, there are some practical reasons for Istanbul’s love affair with felines. Cats catch mice, which have been known to eat books. And the plethora
of cats probably saved Istanbul from the worst of the bubonic plague that swept through the Byzantine Empire in the 6
th century.
Today there are cats everywhere. Really. There is a cat napping in the doorway of the music shop, and on a chair in the café at the museum. There are cats in the mosques and sunning themselves on the steps of churches. (Cats are non-denominational.) Most restaurants have a cat or two in attendance, and most restaurant owners give cats the prime scraps. Cats sleep on cars, under cars, and around mopeds. They grace the tombstones in graveyards.
In 2012, Turkey’s government tried to pass legislation to reduce the number of strays roaming the streets and alleys of Istanbul. 30,000 people took to the streets in protest. Needless to say, that legislation didn’t pass.
Laws are on the books that forbid cruelty to any animal. Cats, of course, are the main recipient of this benevolence, but dogs are also left unmolested. While not as numerous as the cats, I saw a number of dogs dozing on patches of grass – probably dreaming of how much better their lives would be if they were cats.
It is common to see impromptu feeding stations set up in doorways and in alleys. Some folks even set out blankets for the kitties to rest in. One group of veterinarians has even set up a special clinic as a cozy place in which sick or injured strays can convalesce.
I started taking pictures of the city’s cats, but there were so many I gave up. Suffice it to say that Istanbul carries on under the watchful eyes of its feline citizens, and I am reminded of an old Hoyt Axton song “Della and the Dealer”
“If that cat could talk what tales he'd tell About Della and the Dealer and the dog as well But the cat was cool and he never said a mumbling word”
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Home and Away
Bob Carlsen
Great blog...
from a cat and dog lover!