The video of a dog in Istanbul, Turkey playing with a balloon in the street has gone viral. The tan puppy is seen playing in TikTok videos posted by @mehmetiiz34 on Istiklal Street, a major thoroughfare for tourists and shoppers. She is playing with a balloon by bouncing it against her nose.
She seemed to be having a great time, and it’s a rare instance of innocence for stray animals. The dog plays with a balloon that is in the shape of a heart in another TikTok video. In contrast to what was being said, the balloon accidentally burst when she ran into the gentlemen who were watching her.
Although the dog has been identified on several social media platforms as a street dog, which is common in Turkey, this dog may or may not be one. She lacks the distinguishing ear tag that generally indicates a dog is abandoned. She also seems to have had a litter recently. A program in Istanbul administers vaccinations, performs spay and neuter surgeries, and offers a variety of other veterinary treatments for stray dogs in the city. There are also water and food kiosks set up all across the city.
As one Redditor noted, shop owners frequently provide supplementary food for stray dogs. “Municipalities and shop owners keep them fed most of the time and they have their group in all surrounding of Istanbul, dogs have it tougher than cats however being stray in Turkey is different from that Western understanding of it, all of us do our fair chunk of purchasing their meals, and like I stated municipalities have drink and feeding boxes all over the streets for them to use,” the Redditor wrote.