Last Sunday, thousands of people demonstrated in the streets of Istanbul against the law approved by the Grand National Assembly (Turkish parliament) in July, on the proposal of the president’s Justice and Development Party (AKP). Recep Tayyip Erdoganto remove millions of ownerless dogs from the country’s streets. On paper, the law stipulates that local governments will have to care for the animals in shelters, sterilize them and vaccinate them, in order to offer them for adoption. But there are very few shelters, 322, and they can only accommodate about 100,000 dogs, far from the estimated four million on the country’s streets.
The opposition and various animal rights groups have already called the move a “killer law.” Several protest posters in Istanbul said: “shelters are killing fields”and activists denounce that many animals have already been sacrificed and buried in ditches. The Humane Society International condemns, in this sense, “any form of cruelty towards stray animals”. Cats were also going to be affected by the law. But popular pressure prevented this from happening.
The opposition has announced that it will try to change the law in the Supreme Court. Many Turks see stray animals as a sad image.
In fact, local governments led by the Republican People’s Party (CHP) have said they will refuse to comply with the new law. However, The National explains that failure by mayors to comply can result in sentences of up to two years in prison.
Some organizations, however, are promoting Erdogan’s measure. Murat Pinar founded an association after his daughter Mahra, 9, was hit by a truck and died while fleeing a pack of dogs, he explains. The NationalArticles on their website explain that they deal daily with “dog attacks, children being torn to pieces, people being hit by cars while fleeing dogs, and people being killed by dogs.”
Official data provided by the government indicates that in recent years, stray dogs have contributed to 55 deaths, more than 5,000 injuries and 3,500 road accidents. But, according to Humane Society International, Erdogan’s initiative is “neither humanitarian nor effective.”
