Turkey’s government wants to cull millions of stray dogs despite protests

Lawmakers in Turkey passed legislation on Tuesday, July 30, that would allow the government to round up millions of stray dogs across the country. However, the legislation is facing backlash from animal rights activists, who have dubbed the bill a “Massacre Law.”

Despite protests by animal rights activists inside and around the Turkish parliament, lawmakers still moved forward with the bill early Tuesday morning. It will now head to the Turkish president’s desk for his signature.

Proponents of the bill argue that with Turkey’s population of around 4 million stray dogs, there are sick and uncontrollable strays that need to be euthanized to prevent a growing number of attacks and the spread of rabies. According to the bill, healthy strays will need to be sent to shelters and put up for adoption. Under the proposed law, local council will be forced to build animal shelters to implement the new rules by 2028.

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However, critics note that the country lacks the resources to house stray dogs and argue that will lead to mass killings of stray dogs. There are currently 322 animal shelters with room for 105,000 dogs in the country, far short of what is needed to house the millions of stray dogs on Turkish streets.

Additionally, Turkish residents are historically sensitive to the issue of efforts to culling the stray population. In 1910, Ottoman authorities rounded up tens of thousands of stray dogs from Istanbul and put them on a deserted rock island in the Sea of Marmara. All of the dogs reportedly died of drowning and starvation, with some forced to resort to cannibalism.

Furthermore, when it comes to the stray dog problem, many residents are trying to care for the animals themselves.

“They are our priority,” Salim Yuce, a resident of Istanbul, said. “I put water out among these trees for them to drink. I feed them. We do whatever we can. We are against euthanasia of animals. Against locking them up. They have the right to live just as much as we do, and we’re actually occupying their space.”

International welfare groups are urging Turkey President Tayyip Erdogan not to sign the bill into law. However, Erdogan has previously said that the country’s stray dog problem is something that “does not exist in any developed country.”

Several opponents to the bill have said that there are many mayors of major cities who will not enforce the law if it is signed. However, under the law, mayors could be jailed for up to two years for failing to implement the new rules.