Turkish Van Cat Research Center is putting up hundreds of cats for adoption

by Michael Broad · July 11, 2022

I find this news item strange because the news is only on one page of the Internet on the Daily Sabah website. There is no Facebook page for this organisation. But they have a project which is to put a Turkish Van cat in every household in order to promote the breed. And their purpose is to raise awareness of this breed.

It would seem to be a state-run organisation and it is located in the eastern Van province which is apt. It works under the auspices of the Van Yüzüncü Yıl University. It was founded in 1995 with the initial goal of preventing the breed from going extinct.

Van cats put up for adoption from Turkish research center dedicated to promoting the breed. Click the image for a larger version. Image: Facebook.

The head of the centre, Abdullah Kaya, said that: “We put hundreds of cats up for adoption”.

The good point about the story is that people who adopt these cats are certain to get an absolutely genuine Turkish Van cat. These cats are coming from the Van region of Turkey. I would expect, therefore, their bloodline to go all the way back to the origins of this breed in Turkey. These cats have not been selectively bred by breeders in other countries which automatically distances the cats from their origins genetically. With respect domestic cat history Turkey is an important country as the Turkish Van and Angora are ancient breeds.

RELATED: The Real Turkish Van Cat

These are the original, genuine item and therefore they are going to be high quality. There is no mention that the organisation is charging for the adoption but there might be some sort of charge. And I suspect that the adopters live in Turkey.

RELATEDThe Real Turkish Angora:

There is no mention as to whether this organisation is prepared to ship their cats internationally. If they did, I would think that this offer would be grasped in both hands by many people. Of course, there would be the charges for flying the cat out but these days a lot of cats are shipped through airfreight successfully.

If you are interested in adopting a Turkish Van cat of super high quality from a place which is the origin of the cat then it might be worth your while picking up the phone and telephoning the centre.

Each cat will receive a unique ID card so that the authorities can keep track of their whereabouts, health and the adoption process the Daily Sabah says.

So, adopters will be involved in a project. Perhaps the best way to contact them would be through the Van Yüzüncü Yıl University. There are contact details of the University online including the phone number: +90 4445065.

Below are some more articles on the Turkish Van cat.