A new home in Kirkcaldy for Turkish rescue dogs Efe and Harika

In March this year Christiane Henderson was devastated when her collie cross Star, who was 17, and boxer cross Sherman (13) passed away on the same day.

But by chance, on what would have been Star’s 18th birthday, the local gym manager just happened to be scrolling through Facebook when she came across a photo of a dog which looked exactly like the beloved pet she had lost.

She said: “I thought the photo looked like a young Star and I nearly dropped the phone. I thought why is my dog on Facebook? But it was a photo of this dog called Efe in Turkey and the caption said it was needing a forever home. I had always said that Star would send me my next dog but I wasn’t actively looking.”

She continued: “We have been going on holiday to Turkey for the past ten years and it turned out that the Hunter’s House boarding kennels, where this dog was being looked after, was just two miles away from where we stay in Ovacik each year!”

In the meantime, she spotted another dog, Harika, online who had been abandoned on a beach. Christiane mentioned this dog to the owner at the kennels and she was alos able to rescue Harika, so both could be prepared for transport and travel together.

Christiane, who works at Priory Park gym, went over in the summer to meet both dogs with her mum Jackie Maxwell, who also ended up rescuing two dogs!

One of their friends, Pauline Robb, who lives in Arbroath, also holidays in Turkey and she too has rescued a dog, Zeya, from the kennels.

Together all five dogs including Efe and Harika were transported by Europet Travel from Turkey all the way to Dover (with an app set up so Christiane could track their travel) before being taken to Scotland by Pets2Home Uk. They arrived in Kirkcaldy on October 9 at 2am.

Christiane said: “Efe and Harika have settled in really well and are so affectionate and loving, they never leave each other’s side. I definitely think it was fate that I found them, they were just meant to be.”