Turkey’s parliament on Tuesday passed controversial legislation to round up four million stray dogs despite fierce opposition from activists.
Ignoring countrywide and international protests from animal welfare groups who fear many dogs will be put down, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) proceeded with the vote in an overnight session in advance of summer recess.
Turkey has an estimated four million stray dogs and supporters of the law cited concerns about attacks, road accidents and rabies.
Referred to as the “massacre law” by critics, the measure mandates euthanasia if strays “present a danger to the life or health of people and animals, display uncontrollable negative behaviour, have a contagious or incurable disease or whose adoption is forbidden”.
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The leader of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) has said it will appeal the legislation. “We will challenge this law in the constitutional court as soon as possible. It violates the animals’ right to life,” said CHP leader Özgür Özel.
While president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said the stray dog problem must be tackled, activists have advocated for a mass vaccination and sterilisation campaign.
The country has 322 animal shelters with a capacity for 105,000 dogs, according to the Bill, far short of what would be needed to round up the number of strays. Humane Society International said the law could cause “unnecessary suffering and death to countless animals in a short-term fix that won’t deliver a long-term solution”.
The law requires municipalities to invest 0.3 per cent of their annual budgets on expanding shelters by 2028, which could strain limited resources. The law could target the nine main cities won by the CHP in March’s elections. CHP deputy Murat Emir said: “You have made a law that is morally, conscientiously and legally broken. You cannot wash your hands of blood.” The CHP has said its mayors would not implement the law, risking two years in jail.
Millions of Turks provide food and shelter for the stray dogs, vote laws for their protection, and castigate culls. Municipalities neutered, vaccinated, and tagged more than a million strays between 2004-2020 and returned them to the streets. Charities fundraise to meet their needs.
Istanbul’s roving Anatolian shepherd mix Boji became famous in 2021 for riding on the city’s buses, subway, trams, trains, and ferries and knowing when and where to get on and off. He has been vaccinated and microchipped and his journeys were tracked by transport authorities who found he could ride 30km a day. He is profiled on Wikipedia and had an X account with 60,000 followers before being adopted in 2022 by Omer Koc who took him for a ride on a London bus in March 2024.
A female Labrador cross called Zeytin was filmed in 2021 by Elizabeth Lo for award-winning documentary Stray, on Istanbul and its canine and human inhabitants. The trailer announced proudly that Turkey has a “no-kill, no-capture policy towards all its stray animals”. – Additional reporting: Reuters
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