Istanbul Gelisim University - Feeding stray animals dropped by 47 percent, students distributed food to grocery stores and markets

Feeding stray animals dropped by 47 percent, students distributed food to grocery stores and markets

Seeing a 47 percent decrease in the nutrition of street animals due to the pandemic in their research, the students distributed the food bags to the neighborhood grocers and markets, which they pasted on the “Let's give food without saying but it is the pandemic” brochures designed to raise awareness.

Along with the pandemic, citizens also refrained from feeding stray animals for fear of a virus. Students studying at the Department of Public Relations and Advertising at Istanbul Gelisim University examined the subject with a research. According to the results of survey conducted by the students under the coordinatorship Asst. Prof. Dr. Emel Tozlu Öztay and conducted with university students, there is a 47 percent decrease in the rate of feeding stray animals. Thereupon, the students started to distribute small bags filled with food to the grocery stores and markets of the neighborhoods they chose as the pilot area, by sticking them on the brochures they designed with the slogan of "Let's give food without saying but it is the pandemic" to raise awareness. Within the scope of the project, citizens who go to the grocery store or market will be able to get these promotion bags for stray animals free of charge after shopping.

“THEY CAN REACH US FROM OUR SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS”

Providing information about their project, Öztay said, “Our students' campaign started with a research process. We conducted a survey on university students. Yes, they want to support stray animals during the pandemic period, but they do not know how to do it in this process. It is acceptable to leave various food residues outside in the winter, but when you do this in the summer, there may be certain problems as the risk of spoilage is high. Based on the data we have obtained, we thought about how we could look for a solution to this problem. In the project developed by our students, we aimed to support our little friends in a sustainable way by distributing the food donations they received in small packages to markets and grocery stores.”

Öztay continued her words as follows:

“It may be a little difficult to go out during the pandemic period, but we have started systematically from Avcılar Parseller which we chose as the pilot region. Hopefully, those who want this campaign to be developed in a sustainable way in Istanbul or even in various parts of Turkey in the future, can reach us through our social media accounts.”

FEEDING STRAY ANIMALS DROPPED BY 47 PERCENT

Ecem Aslan said, “According to the results of our survey, the rate of feeding stray animals decreased by 47 percent during the pandemic process. Because of the possibility of stray animals carrying viruses, people are afraid to approach animals. In this project, we just want to remind you that happiness is contagious and stray animals should not go hungry. We provided their food for this time, we hope that our citizens will not forget the street animals and continue to feed them next time.”

Additionally, Celal Can Ustabaş said, “In this project, we as the students from Public Relations and Advertising conducted, we focused on finding a problem in the society during the pandemic. We observed that animals are the ones who need help the most. Therefore, we started working on a project to distribute food. As a result of the survey studies we conducted, we have found out that most of the animals cannot be fed. In order to increase social awareness, we wanted to remind people buying food in grocery stores that animals are hungry and we need to feed them."