is a

street dog Street dogs, known in scientific literature as free-ranging urban dogs, are unconfined dogs that live in cities. They live virtually everywhere where cities exist and the local human population allows, especially in the developing world and the ...

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

, Turkey, known for regularly riding on the city's public transport. He is described as being an "

Anatolian shepherd The Kangal Shepherd Dog (Turkish: ''Kangal Çoban Köpeği'') is a historic Turkish breed of large livestock guardian dog native to eastern Turkey. The breed name derives from that of the town and district of Kangal in Sivas Province, the eastern ...

mix" and having "golden-brown fur, dark eyes and floppy ears". He makes use of buses, metro trains, trams, and

ferries A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water tax ...

. He is one of several examples of animals taking public transportation. City officials arranged for him to be

vaccinated A vaccine is a biological preparation that provides active acquired immunity to a particular infectious or malignant disease. The safety and effectiveness of vaccines has been widely studied and verified.< ...

, and be fitted with a microchip which enables them to track where he has been. They found him to use up to 29 metro stations in a day, travelling up to . On one occasion he reached the

Princes' Islands The Princes' Islands ( tr, Prens Adaları; the word "princes" is plural, because the name means "Islands of the Princes", el, Πριγκηπονήσια, ''Pringiponisia''), officially just Adalar ( en, Islands); alternatively the Princes' Arch ...

. His name is the

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

word for

bogie A bogie ( ) (in some senses called a truck in North American English) is a chassis or framework that carries a wheelset, attached to a vehicle—a modular subassembly of wheels and axles. Bogies take various forms in various modes of transp ...

. His adventures first came to public notice in mid 2021. A spokesperson for

Metro Istanbul Metro İstanbul is a public rail transport operator headquartered in Istanbul, Turkey. Established in 1988, the company is responsible for operating most Istanbul's rail systems, including the Istanbul Metro, Istanbul Tram, funiculars and aeria ...

said: A

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

account is operated in 's name, with tweets in Turkish and English, and with almost 60,000 followers as of 6 October 2021. There is also an

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

account. Many people post pictures of him, or

selfie A selfie () is a self-portrait photograph, typically taken with a digital camera or smartphone, which may be held in the hand or supported by a selfie stick. Selfies are often shared on social media, via social networking services such as F ...

s with him, to their own social media channels. Boji was adopted by

Ömer Koç Mehmet Ömer Koç (born March 24, 1962) is a Turkish businessman, art collector, and chairman of Koç Holding. Koç, in 2013 ''Forbes'' estimated his net worth at US$1.1 billion. Early life Koç was born on March 24, 1962, in Ankara, Turkey. A ...

in 2022. In March 2024, Boji was spotted out in public again, this time in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

with Koç on a

London bus Buses have been used as a mode of public transport in London since 1829, when George Shillibeer started operating a horse-drawn ''omnibus'' service from Paddington to the City of London. In the decades since their introduction, the red London b ...

References

{{Reflist Individual dogs Public transport in Istanbul 2021 in Istanbul 21st-century individual animals