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Akmerkez / Pet World… a Husky puppy turns in desperation inside its cage. The lights directly on top of his head make the heat unbearable. He is thirsty. There is no water.

Showing evident signs of distress the puppy eats its own excrements in plein view of the adoring public of “animal lovers”.

A few centimeters away a tiny Chihuaua barely has enough strenght to breath. His lungs are filled with infection. He will not make it through the night.

In 1993, three powerful industrial conglomerates set up to build a Shopping Mall in the Center of Istanbul. They called it Akmerkez.

180,000 square meters, a four story shopping area, 14 and 17 stories of office space and 23 stories of residential area. 41 escalators, 2 panoramic elevators, and 30 elevators.

Akmerkez was a first in Istanbul, and its design made it win prestigious awards.

Summer 2010. Seventeen years have passed since Akmerkez opened its doors to the public. The recent multi-million dollar renovation has barely improved the situation. Empty corridors leading to struggling shops barely able to pay the premium rents. At the bottom floor one shop seems to be doing exceedingly well. Pet World.

Behind its glass cages the shop exhibits its precious commodity. An assortment of puppies and kittens, imported from the neighboring countries lay on top of white sheets of paper that give a false impression of cleanliness and health. Most of those best online pharmacy review xanax animals arrive bearing the scars of an hazardous trip from Russia, Moldova. Many of those animals are ill with distemper and Parvovirus and are sold to unsuspecting clients under the promise that if the animal dies in the first few weeks he will be inmediately replaced by a healthy one.

The animals are thirsty. The animals are ill. No matter how hard they try to mask it, the scent of death floats in the air.

PetShops are, by law, forced to operate under strict health conditions and are subject to strong regulations. PetWorld does not seem to care much about those. This comes as no surprise. The prices those animals command are exhorbitant. A puppy purchased at a russian puppy mill by as little as 50 Euro is sold here for a couple of thousand. With such margings, is not surprising that all regulations and directives are disregarded.

Pet World is one of the most visible cases of animal cruelty at the hands of Pet Shops in Istanbul, and this dirty business will continue as long as turkish animal lovers don’t express their rejection to this inhuman trade.

Tell the people responsible for PETWORLD exactly what you think of these images.

Can Paksoy, Pet World’s owner: +90 (0) 532 221 59 03

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