The Boardmembers


Lisanne
Rescuer & Founder of Melez Dog Rescue
ISFJ personality type. ‘Glass half full’ kind of person. Terrible at saying no (especially when it comes to new dogs!). Confrontation avoider. Morning person.
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Hi! My name is Lisanne.
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I’m Dutch, but spent much of my life in the UK. It was there that I met my husband Alp, who is Turkish. After a having a long-distance relationship for a few years, I decided to leave my job in the corporate world to move to Turkey to be with Alp and (equally importantly!) to rescue dogs.
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We set up the shelter in 2018. What started as a basic enclosure for 20 dogs soon grew into a shelter with 20 kennels currently holding over 50 dogs.
I run the shelter and take care of the dogs’ daily needs. A day in the shelter includes cleaning the kennels, providing fresh water, feeding the dogs, administering medication and carrying out treatments for the sick dogs, taking dogs to their vet appointments, applying for travel papers, getting the dogs adoption- and travel-ready and carrying out reparations in the shelter. Work in the shelter is a full-time job and takes up doesn’t leave much time for anything else, but I wouldn’t have it any other way!
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I believe that ALL animals have the right to be safe, well-cared for and free from constraints, danger and fear.
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You can read more about how I set up the shelter in
Michelle
Head of Adoptions in the Netherlands & Belgium
My name is Michelle Duman and I live in Drenthe with my husband Yoran and dog Kai. In 2019 I did a Turkish language course for beginners and met someone who followed our shelter's page on social media. I received photos of all those sweet faces every day and soon discovered that the shelter is located in a place close to where we regularly go on holiday. I decided to be bold and sent Lisanne a message asking if we could come over and of course we were very welcome.
After our visit we stayed in touch, I have been maintaining the social media pages for 3 years since then and since autumn 2022 I have been responsible for adoptions from the Netherlands&Belgium, I am the first contact for our adopters and I am involved in all volunteer work. I do this with great pleasure and I find it fantastic to see when I have been able to match a dog with the perfect owner for him/her, because there is a suitable owner for every dog.
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We find personal contact with our (prospective) adopters extremely important. We are there for them before, during and after the adoption. If things go well, but also if there are difficult things that people encounter, we provide tips that can help the dog and owner move forward. Even when the dog has been in his/her new place for a year, we check in every now and then to see how they are doing. To avoid disappointment, I can be critical when it comes to choosing a dog. With us it is not the case that you register for a dog and that you automatically ''get'' it. We always look very closely at the character of both the dog and the prospective dog owner and what his/her wishes are. This works best for everyone and you won't be disappointed.
In addition to my work for Melez Dog Rescue, I am training to become a dog behaviorist in order to better guide our adopters. I look forward to making even more dogs and their owners happy and who knows, we may meet soon!


Maaike
Secretary
I’m Maaike, a Dutch animal lover with a deep passion for rescue work. My journey with Melez Dog Rescue began in September 2023 when I spent a week at Lisanne’s shelter with a friend to help out. From the very first moment, I was hooked by the rescue mission and knew I wanted to do more for stray and abandoned animals worldwide.
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Since then, I have volunteered at shelters across the globe, gaining hands-on experience and deepening my commitment to animal welfare. Alongside this, I started supporting Lisanne with social media strategy, website management, adoptions, and PR/marketing for Melez Dog Rescue.
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Rescue work became even more personal when I adopted my own Melez dog, Fien, who now fills my life with love and joy. Now, as Secretary of the foundation, I am dedicated to helping grow our mission, raising awareness, and finding loving homes for as many dogs as possible.
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Esther
Treasurer
My name is Esther and I’m from The Netherlands
I started visiting Turkiye since 2000 and from then every year I spended many holidays here. In 2010 I met a Dutch lady here and started to work for her construction company at the office and never left Kusadasi.
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I’ve met with Lisanne in 2019 through social media and because she is living just 45 minutes away I started to visiting her shelter.
The love I have for animals started to grow more and more seeing all those souls on the streets here, and since a few years I have a petshop here. Ofcourse that leads to a big advantage for the founding. I'm grateful to help out with the purchasing of the food for low prices.
Now I also joined the founding by being the treasurer. It’s a pleasure to be helpful in many ways for those sweet street animals and for Lisanne.
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