Tom Turcich is an adventure photographer and author. In his new memoir, The World Walk, he writes about being one of 10 people to ever walk around the globe. His dog and travel buddy, Savannah, was the first to do so. Tom is a former guest of the show and returns to discuss adjusting to life back home in the US after being on the road for almost 7 years and writing a memoir about his worldwide travels. He also opens up about grieving for his beloved canine companion, Savannah, who unexpectedly passed away in recent months. Now faced with a new chapter ahead with unexpected directions, Tom is trying to embrace the power of consistency that he learned from Savannah, which was to do his best each day, and not let anything stop him from reaching his goals.

For more information about the episode, guest, and featured links: dogsavethepeople.com/episodes/tom-turcich-2024

Vanessa Woods is the Director of Duke University’s Puppy Kindergarten program, which studies what qualities are important in becoming a great service dog. The program is funded by the National Institute of Health and works with puppies from Canine Companions, the largest service dog provider in the United States. While this is primarily intended to learn what makes the best service dogs, it has also been informative about all dogs.

Her husband, Brian Hare, is the Founder of the Duke Canine Cognition Center, the first academic program dedicated to studying dogs in the country. Together they co-wrote a new book, called Puppy Kindergarten, where they take the valuable lessons learned from their years of research studying service dogs as the ideal model for how dogs live with us in today's culture. They share tips, activity ideas, and more insights on for all dog parents raising puppies.Their goal is to help everyone develop a happier and healthier relationship with their dogs from a young age, which carries on throughout the rest of their lives.

For more information about the episode, guest, and featured links: www.dogsavethepeople.com/episodes/vanessa-woods-2024

PART TWO - One of the most hot-button discussions in Turkey is how street dogs impact everyday citizens. Most people in cities like Istanbul are used to it, with a long tradition of living alongside them. However, in peripheral areas, there is not always as much support. When government municipalities started to push strays from city centers to outside suburban and rural areas, out of their natural environment, there have been a relatively small number of attacks and accidents. These have reportedly been sensationalized in the media, making it seem like a bigger phenomenon, and said to be weaponized by the government to instill fear.

With the Turkish parliament passing the so-called ‘massacre law’ in July 2024, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s government positioned it as a way to protect civilians from these stray dogs. However, in reality, this will be used as a way to significantly harm many strays. Animal rights activists have tried to present alternate solutions or volunteer their time and services, but so far the government has closed the door on that dialogue.

In the second episode of this two-part series, we spoke to local guests about how much stray dogs would be missed from the streets and how the government should embrace the passionate and hard-working animal rights community to reach a better solution that still addresses the overpopulation problem while going about it safely and humanely.

Guest experts featured, in order, include Ahmet Senpolat (HAYTAP, Animal Rights Federation), Nazlan Ertan (journalist), Lisanne Hillen (Melez Dog Rescue), and Elizabeth Lo (filmmaker).

For more information about the episode, guests, and featured links: dogsavethepeople.com/episodes/turkey-stray-dog-dilemma-2024-pt-2