After 42 years of teaching biology to his local community, Fevzi Uyar finally hung up his lab coat for the last time.
But though he had retired from his career, he didn’t intend to live a quiet, uneventful life going forward.
The Turkish hero decided to spend his free time doing something truly fulfilling: rescuing animals.
Fevzi, who’s in his seventies, graduated from a veterinary medicine program five years ago, and hasn’t looked back since.
He travels hundreds of miles to care for stray dogs, getting stuck into whatever he can do to help.
Since starting out, he’s built over 80 plywood shelters for dogs to take shelter in when the temperatures fall.
He insulates each shelter with rugs and carpets, ensuring his stray pups are warm and cozy.
A big part of Fevzi’s job is to make sure the homeless dogs in his part of Turkey are well-fed and looked after.
He travels for miles every day to leave food and water to last two days – then he does it all again.
He’s not alone, of course. There are many more animal lovers in Turkey who ensure that between eight and 10 tonnes of food are left out to feed the strays.
If you want an idea of how many dogs Fevzi looks after, the number is in the thousands.
They have grown to recognize the sound of Fevzi’s van and follow him from one food stop to another.
It’s no wonder Fevzi has gained the nickname “grandfather of homeless animals”.
He had never intended to enroll in a veterinary medicine program, but Fevzi was spending all his money on seeking professional treatment for his strays. He realized that becoming a vet just made a lot of sense.
So, aged 71, Fevzi now treats and dresses wounds, and gives injections to animals that need them. He’s able to give animals the medical attention they need without incurring thousands of dollars of debt.
If you think Fevzi should be awarded for his efforts, you’ll be happy to know that he finally has been!
Thanks to his dedication towards giving animals the best chance of a good life, Fevzi was awarded The Babbitt Family Foundation’s first Gladiator Award.
As reported by the Good News Network, a representative of the foundation said:
“We hope Mr. Uyar’s story will inspire you to discover how a single individual can contribute to changing the world and benefitting all humanity.”
Fevzi is a shining example of the good we can do to this world when we focus our hearts and minds on a good cause.
He chose to selflessly give up his retirement years to ensure the stray animals in his local area didn’t go cold and hungry, and weren’t left to succumb to untreated wounds or illnesses.
While we might not all have the time and resources that Fevzi has, we can all do our bit to help stray animals at this time of the year.
First off, if you’re not sure if an animal’s a stray, you can fit it with a paper collar – only when it’s safe to do so.
If you receive no response from the collar, give your local animal protection organization a call. You could also take the animal to the vets to check for a microchip, again, if it’s safe to do so.
There’s nothing more rewarding than looking after stray animals, and Fevzi’s story is the New Year inspiration we all needed.
You can find out more about the Babbitt Family Foundation’s Gladiator Award here.
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