Stray cats and dogs of Istanbul

Lying lazily on a pavement or a bench (sharing it equally with other people) Istanbul is filled with cats. Even when you can't see one, you can smell it (not in good way). Few on the roof of the fish market near Galata bridge enjoying a company of the seagulls. One playing in a window of a jewelry store, or posing for tourists near Blue Mosque, or begging for food near architecture museum. Or lying on a chair while its owner stands nearby. All these little moments made my stay at the Istanbul even more amazing. I didn't ask the locals about the cat cult, but clearly there is one. You can even get souvenir magnets with cats there. But it's not only about cats. There are quite a lot dogs in the streets of Istanbul as well. But usually they are just lying on the ground, not caring for anything. None of them seems hungry and the reason for this are the piles of dog food in the streets I noticed around 5pm. And the chips in the ears of the dogs prove they are not homeless at all. They are just not imprisoned in homes of their owners, that's why there are so many of them in the streets of the Istanbul.