Istanbul is reported to be home to some 400,000 to 600,000 stray dogs and cats, hence why locals in Turkey's largest city sometimes refer to it as 'Catstanbul.'
But it's the exploits of a local canine that's grabbing the headlines -- for all the right reasons -- at the moment. Boji is a street dog who came to the attention of municipal officers recently when he was seen catching rides around the city on its ferries, trams and subway cars.
They took him in, gave him some health checks, and put a tracer collar on him so they could keep an eye on where he was and how far he was travelling (up to 30 kilometres a day).
Istanbul's wonder dog, Boji, uses the city's extensive public transport system (including its ferry services) daily, often travelling as far as 30km Photo: Getty Images/Chris McGrath
Now, Boji is a fully-blown local celebrity who has his own social media accounts and is loved by nearly everyone.
Istanbul-based photographer Chris McGrath spent a day following Boji on his daily commutes.
McGrath typically follows hard news in his role as a Getty photographer for the Middle East, so the Boji assignment was a rather welcome project.
“A lot of the time, those stories are not the nicest stories. It’s nice to do something which puts a smile on people’s faces and takes a bit of distraction away from the average day’s news.”
Boji was amenable to being followed around but McGrath said he was quite a lot to keep up with.
“He’s a busy guy, he gets around. He likes people, he’s always being looked after by people and people are taking his picture and petting him so, having an extra camera around, I think he was OK with it."
It’s not unusual for stray cats and dogs to be well looked after in Istanbul and they’re often welcomed into people’s homes or shops for a good meal and a bit of love.
“There was a lot of feedback after the photos came out of people saying he should be adopted, but Boji was taken in by the municipality metro in Kadıköy and they now have a little house for him and feed him when he decides to come back. The thing about Boji is that he’s a traveller, he’s a free spirit, he does what he wants. I don’t think he really wants to be in one place.
“He knows the places where he can get food, where he can get some sleep and this adoption is part of that, they make sure when he comes back they check in and see if he’s in good health.”
Boji is not without his haters. He was recently accused of a crime he didn’t commit when someone deliberately put dog poo on a seat on the metro to frame Boji for the crime.
“From what I’ve seen in my time with Boji, he’s a super cool guy. People love him in general but you never know, you get some different opinions.”
