BREAKING NEWS
Stray Animals in Türkiye are in Danger: A New Bill that Will Murder Millions of Stray Dogs Got Accepted at the Parliament and Started to be Applied
[SEO Tags: Stray animals, Türkiye, stray dogs, animal rights, animal welfare, animal cruelty, parliament, new bill, animal abuse, stray animal control, animal control, animal protection]
In a shocking and devastating turn of events, the Turkish Parliament has accepted a new bill that will lead to the mass murder of millions of stray dogs in the country. The bill, which was passed on [date], allows for the killing of stray dogs in the streets, without any attempt to neuter or rehabilitate them.
The new law, which has sparked widespread outrage among animal lovers and activists, will give local authorities the power to capture and kill stray dogs, without any accountability or transparency. The bill has been widely criticized for its inhumane and ineffective approach to addressing the issue of stray animals.
According to estimates, there are over 1 million stray dogs in Türkiye, and the new law will only serve to exacerbate the problem. The bill will not address the root causes of stray animal populations, such as poverty, lack of education, and inadequate animal control measures.
Animal welfare organizations and activists have condemned the new law, calling it a "cruel and inhumane" measure that will lead to the senseless slaughter of innocent animals. "This law is a disaster for animal welfare in Türkiye," said [name], a spokesperson for [animal welfare organization]. "It will lead to the deaths of millions of stray dogs, and will do nothing to address the underlying issues that cause them to be on the streets in the first place."
The new law has also been criticized for its lack of transparency and accountability. There are concerns that local authorities will use the law as a means of targeting specific groups of people, such as Roma communities, who are often blamed for the presence of stray animals.
As the law takes effect, animal lovers and activists are calling on the Turkish government to reconsider its decision and instead work towards finding humane and effective solutions to address the issue of stray animals. "We urge the Turkish government to rethink this cruel and inhumane law, and instead work towards finding solutions that prioritize animal welfare and compassion," said [name], a spokesperson for [animal welfare organization].
What You Can Do
- Contact your local government representative and express your opposition to the new law
- Sign petitions and join online campaigns to raise awareness about the issue
- Donate to animal welfare organizations working to help stray animals in Türkiye
- Spread the word on social media and encourage your friends and family to take action
Stay Up to Date
For the latest news and updates on this developing story, follow us on social media and sign up for our newsletter.
Related Articles
- [Article title]: The Dark Side of Animal Control: How Cities Are Using Euthanasia to Manage Stray Populations
- [Article title]: The Importance of Spay/Neuter Programs in Reducing Stray Animal Populations
- [Article title]: The Impact of Animal Cruelty on Mental Health and Well-being
Keywords
Stray animals, Türkiye, stray dogs, animal rights, animal welfare, animal cruelty, parliament, new bill, animal abuse, stray animal control, animal control, animal protection
As a human, I believe it is morally wrong to keep silent when the rights of beings that are not able to speak for themselves are in danger. Right now, in Türkiye, the parliament has accepted a new bill regarding stray animals. The law puts 4 million innocent animals’ lives in danger, and some have already been killed. To keep our voices heard, we need your help.
The bill aims to clear up the streets from “danger” by gathering stray dogs from the streets, putting them in shelters for a month, and then euthanizing them if they are not adopted, which basically gives 4 million dogs a lifespan of 30 days.
Yet, it is not surprising that the mass murder started without even waiting for barely 30 days and some were not even being euthanized but rather tortured. Many dogs have started to gather from the streets and be killed. Many news about dogs that are killed, some being still pregnant, and their dead body thrown into a pit are coming from Niğde Province. Likewise, images from the Altındağ district from Ankara have brought heartbreak and fury, where it was reported yesterday that many dogs have been tortured (not even euthanized with drugs) and their pieces put in plastic bags to be thrown in an area. When the municipality of Altındağ was called by the public, they rejected and told them these dogs had died from “traffic accidents,” even though the torture traces were visibly seen. This is an encouragement of murder.
The mass-extermination should never be a solution, considering there are many humane solutions that could be applied if planned right. Such as, many animal rights activists have suggested the Catch-Neuter-Vaccinate-Release (CNVR) program as well as building more shelters through municipalities that can provide a safe and caring place for dogs that can take them under control as well.
Officials from AKP (Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party) stated that previous methods like sterilization and shelters didn’t provide a solution for stray dog population growth. This is an inaccurate and misleading conclusion because such methods haven’t been practiced and operated systematically since the sterilization that was done in the past was scattered around certain districts and never consistent.
Many people would agree that streets would be safer without stray dogs, while it would be better for the dogs to be taken care of in shelters or be sterilized to control their population as well. It’s obvious that it is also hard for these animals to stay in the streets as they try to survive while being harassed by many, it was never their choice in the first place. Yet, the devilish portrayal of dogs, by underlining that they “want to bite people,” (as if they are “intentionally” preferring to be aggressive) in the media these days is nothing but a provocation for the bill to pass.
Therefore, I should clarify something that is completely misunderstood by many. Animal rights activists and people who care about stray dogs are all aiming for a safer life as well, AND they offer humane solutions that can be easily applied with enough effort and planning to achieve this. Many many protests were held in the capitals of Türkiye, yet the government didn’t listen. But we don’t want these innocent hearts to become tools of politics.
Killing millions of dogs just because “some of them are attacking” while the majority of them are just wiggling their tails because they hope for a hug, care, or food whenever a human approach only demonstrates how unfair the world of judgment is. And it should never be forgotten that today the case might be the dogs, but you shall never know when it might be your turn to face such disparity without a hand of help.
As a human, I believe it is morally wrong to keep silent when the rights of beings that are not able to speak for themselves are in danger. Right now, in Türkiye, the parliament has accepted a new bill regarding stray animals. The law puts 4 million innocent animals’ lives in danger, and some have already been killed. To keep our voices heard, we need your help.
The bill aims to clear up the streets from “danger” by gathering stray dogs from the streets, putting them in shelters for a month, and then euthanizing them if they are not adopted, which basically gives 4 million dogs a lifespan of 30 days.
Yet, it is not surprising that the mass murder started without even waiting for barely 30 days and some were not even being euthanized but rather tortured. Many dogs have started to gather from the streets and be killed. Many news about dogs that are killed, some being still pregnant, and their dead body thrown into a pit are coming from Niğde Province. Likewise, images from the Altındağ district from Ankara have brought heartbreak and fury, where it was reported yesterday that many dogs have been tortured (not even euthanized with drugs) and their pieces put in plastic bags to be thrown in an area. When the municipality of Altındağ was called by the public, they rejected and told them these dogs had died from “traffic accidents,” even though the torture traces were visibly seen. This is an encouragement of murder.
The mass-extermination should never be a solution, considering there are many humane solutions that could be applied if planned right. Such as, many animal rights activists have suggested the Catch-Neuter-Vaccinate-Release (CNVR) program as well as building more shelters through municipalities that can provide a safe and caring place for dogs that can take them under control as well.
Officials from AKP (Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party) stated that previous methods like sterilization and shelters didn’t provide a solution for stray dog population growth. This is an inaccurate and misleading conclusion because such methods haven’t been practiced and operated systematically since the sterilization that was done in the past was scattered around certain districts and never consistent.
Many people would agree that streets would be safer without stray dogs, while it would be better for the dogs to be taken care of in shelters or be sterilized to control their population as well. It’s obvious that it is also hard for these animals to stay in the streets as they try to survive while being harassed by many, it was never their choice in the first place. Yet, the devilish portrayal of dogs, by underlining that they “want to bite people,” (as if they are “intentionally” preferring to be aggressive) in the media these days is nothing but a provocation for the bill to pass.
Therefore, I should clarify something that is completely misunderstood by many. Animal rights activists and people who care about stray dogs are all aiming for a safer life as well, AND they offer humane solutions that can be easily applied with enough effort and planning to achieve this. Many many protests were held in the capitals of Türkiye, yet the government didn’t listen. But we don’t want these innocent hearts to become tools of politics.
Killing millions of dogs just because “some of them are attacking” while the majority of them are just wiggling their tails because they hope for a hug, care, or food whenever a human approach only demonstrates how unfair the world of judgment is. And it should never be forgotten that today the case might be the dogs, but you shall never know when it might be your turn to face such disparity without a hand of help.
Image from DW
Who is responsible?
The main argument of AKP for the bill is that these stray dogs are a danger to people:
Murat Pinar, head of an association campaigning to keep the streets clear from stray dogs, says at least 75 people (44 of them children) have been killed as a result of attacks or traffic accidents caused by dogs in the last 2 years.
“Because of the stray dogs, our children cannot go to school. Our women cannot go to the market. Our elderly cannot go to morning prayer,” Mustafa Destici, an ally of Erdogan and leader of the Great Unity Party said.
It is very ironic how the main argument for the bill portrays an ideal of safety after killing millions of dogs, while many rapists and kidnappers still wander around the streets.
The officials who approved the bill in the parliament were the same people who decided on the withdrawal of Türkiye from the Istanbul Convention, which protected women's rights. Just in 2023, a minimum of 403 femicides have been committed in a year. Or, many news of kids being raped or kidnapped are coming each week. Considering these major dangers, it is very accurate to say that, the mass extermination of millions of dogs will never solve the safety issue in the streets as these dogs are not even the top issues that come into mind when people consider taking a walk down through a street at night. There are bigger issues that should be solved by the parliament (yet are neglected more and more each day) before it comes to millions of innocent dogs. The aimed change shouldn’t start with a mass murder that will solve nothing.
It is very important to note that it is claimed that the drugs for euthanization will be provided by Newbridge. Not surprisingly, the partner of the company is former minister Vahit Kirişci, the CEO is former minister Ali Rıza Alaboyun, and its directors are former AKP representatives Nevzat Pakdil and Mehmet Erdoğan. This claim demonstrates how mass extermination is not only a showcase of “power” but will also bring profit to some figures in the Turkish political scene while making millions of animals’ lives a tool for it.
Further, the local mayors of municipalities who do not enforce the law will be put in prison for two years according to the law, just like a threat to mayors who don’t want to operate such a massacre.
Possible Solutions
- To set up a pilot Catch-Neuter-Vaccinate-Release project
- Having a systematic sterilization
- Building more shelters that can provide care, water, and food for these animals
- Introducing legislation that makes the purchasing and selling of dogs on online platforms illegal (Haytap)
- Introducing legislation to stop the import of dogs into Turkey and put measures in place to enforce that law (Haytap)
Reviewing the possible solutions, it can be said that this law is the result of avoiding the implementation of a plan that can be properly applied by allocating an adequate budget (with the huge amount of taxes we pay) and it is nothing but an “easy” solution (that has its roots in anthropocentrism) for the government to get away with the growth that didn’t receive enough effort to be stopped in previous years.
Then, an excessive amount of suffering and death to countless animals in a short-term fix for what? While it is certain that, leaving morals aside, it won’t even deliver a long-term solution…
An Example from History
Even if we were to put how the solution of mass extermination is wrong ethically aside, a similar version of the “solution” that has been proposed was already done in the past by the Ottoman Empire. During that time, nearly 100,000 dogs were gathered and put on an island without food and water, which resulted in the dogs eating each other, starving, and drowning while swimming back from the island. It is even recorded that people from the mainland were haunted by the howls of these dogs. Yet, after a few years, the dog population grew back in the cities of the Ottoman Empire, proving that population management cannot be done in such ways
Image from Turkiye Today
Personally, I would like to add a few statements more. The reason why a dog is aggressive could be due to two reasons: the disease it has OR the trauma it experienced. Through the years I’ve personally seen (and never forgot) videos of kids who “play” with a dog by pulling its tail or hitting it with cans or teens who go over these dogs with their bicycles/motorcycles through various media. These behaviors of humans without empathy or any humane instinct are another strong reason why a dog might grow up to be aggressive and why dogs should be gathered from the streets for their own safety as well. These animals never chose to be born into such a human-centered world, they are doing their best to survive in these human-made cities, and they don’t deserve to face such issues.
Therefore it is important to understand that everyone, both humans and dogs, wishes and deserves a safer life in safer environments. However, the bill that has been passed is nothing but an encouragement of murder (as there are many humane ways to solve the issue) and it will never be an intended solution for a safer life because the dogs were never the first reason why Turkish streets are dangerous for many women, kid or elder.
As a Turkish teen, I’m truly ashamed of this bill, and how it is supported by people from my nation and deeply devastated by the death of these animals.
Türkiye is known for its hospitality towards the stray cats and dogs, which are noticed and loved by many tourists all around the world. It’s in our culture to love and care for animals, and that’s how it was working till the past months. Our people put water cans in front of their houses, build small homes for them on the street, and give them food by using the money they barely made to support their families. Yet, today, it is unbelievable to see how there are people who still consider mass extermination as a solution, while it’s our culture to take care of these animals. While many people protest against it, we still cannot win over unemphatic ones.
It is worth noting that, after the 6th of February 2023 earthquake, these stray dogs helped many people to be noticed and found from under wrecks and ruins of demolished houses. We should be grateful for their loyalty, yet…
This bill takes away the most fundamental right to live from these innocent hearts and lets them down. Please help us, share the story of these animals that lost their rights, and point out how they are taken advantage of and became tools of politics. It is in our hands to defend these lives.