We all live in a fast-paced world where we seldom have time for ourselves, our family, friends, nor even have time to take a good look at our surroundings.

Whenever you go out, have you ever noticed the growing number of stray animals living on the streets? A lot isn’t it? In fact, the World Health Organization estimates that there are around 200 million stray dogs in the world.

These animals obviously have a hard time surviving outside and on their own. They spend their days scavenging for food in the trash, drinking muddy water, and the worst which is animal cruelty.

Two hundred million is a huge number but even if we can’t save or help them all, we can still lend our hands and help them in whatever way we can.

Just like this furniture store in Istanbul, Turkey is doing.

For several years, Dr. Cem Baykal has passed the same furniture shop every day on his way to work. And every time he passes by, he sees the same pair of stray dogs hanging out in front.

Day in and day out, the two dogs were inseparable as they rest and sleep on a mattress out in front of the store. Looks like the two have stick to one another and became best friends.

https://twitter.com/cem_baykal/status/1353644878350200832

The name of the store is Istikbal Mobile, where they sell mostly home items such as beddings, sofas, curtains, and mattresses.

The owner has a soft spot for stray animals who roam around the area – and decided to set up a mattress outside for the strays to be able to sleep well.

“The owner of this shop puts one of the beds (with a plastic cover on it) in front of the shop,” Dr. Baykal said in an interview. “This bed may be the one they sell that day or it may be one of the incoming ones.”

“They don’t put the bed on its side, they let it stay flat, and these two stray dogs lay and sleep there every time,” Dr. Baykal said. “If it is winter, the shop provides a bed every day. And if it is summer, they give them shade and water.”

Thanks to the owner, the dogs no longer have to sleep on cold, hard, and sometimes wet cement on the streets.

They no longer have to sleep somewhere dirty because now they’re able to find warmth and comfort on the mattress.

“This street is known as a rich area and everyone gives food or water to the local dog and cats, but no one supplies quality bedding to them normally,” Dr. Baykal said. “This shop does.”

On one rainy day, Dr. Baykal passed by the store again.

But this time, he took a picture of the sleepy dogs and posted it on Twitter, sending out his gratitude to the store owner.

Some people who questioned the cleanliness of the mattress were relieved to see that it was covered by plastic.

The compassionate doctor recently visited the pups to check on them. Thankfully they were doing okay despite the harsh and cold weather.

“This morning we had very heavy rain in Istanbul, and I saluted my friends on my way to the hospital in the early morning,” Dr. Baykal said. “The shop was closed but the bedding was still there. The lazy one was still sleeping, but his friend was awake and accompanied me to the pedestrian crossing for my safety.”

Such a sweet dog.

All strays deserve a home with a loving family to take care of them. There are a lot of ways to help even if you can’t adopt and no matter how small it is it doesn’t matter, because they will greatly appreciate it.

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Source: Twitter – @cem_baykal, Twitter – @istikbal