Buyukmihci founded the Association of Veterinarians for Animal Rights in 1981 with fellow veterinarian physician Neil Wolff.[7]
Buyukmihci joined the staff of the University of California, Davis in 1979, almost immediately conflicting with the School of Veterinary Medicine administration with his opposition to the use of shelter animals as test subjects for surgery practice.[8] He retired from the university in the spring of 2003, retaining his emeritus professorship.[2] In August 2003, he took up a position as director of the Animal Protection Institute's primate sanctuary for non-human primates in Dilley, Texas.[3][9] He is a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Ophthalmologists.[10]
His sister Nermin founded America's first cruelty-free vegan store, Nermin's Dry Goods, in the late 1970s.[11]
They were the two children of Hope Sawyer Buyukmihci of the Unexpected Wildlife Refuge, which was frequently featured in Ahimsa, a publication of the American Vegan Society.
