Reuters
Fri, July 26, 2024
Turkish police scuffle with protesters rallying against bill targeting stray dogs
Animal rights activists take part in a rally in Istanbul
ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish police scuffled with protesters in the capital Ankara on Friday during a demonstration against plans to round up millions of stray dogs.
The plan, presented to parliament by President Tayyip Erdogan's ruling AK Party earlier this month, has alarmed animal lovers who say a mass neutering campaign would be a better solution than locking dogs up in shelters.
Police pushed back the protesters as they tried to gather in the city centre, leading to scuffles.
The demonstrators held banners reading, "You cannot round them up, you cannot jail them, you cannot kill them" and "Take back the law".
"People here are those taking care of many animals. What is this grudge? Do you want the dogs and cats on the street to be killed?" one protester said through a megaphone.
Under the draft law, municipalities would be charged with moving strays off the streets and into shelters until they are adopted. Aggressive dogs or any with untreatable diseases would be put down.
The population of street dogs in Turkey is estimated to be 4 million, and 2.5 million dogs have been neutered in the past 20 years by municipalities, according to the draft bill.
There are currently 322 animal shelters with a capacity to host a total of 105,000 dogs, the bill says.
(Reporting by Ece Toksabay; Editing by Gareth Jones)
Thousands protest in Istanbul against bill they fear will lead to mass cull of stray dogs
Euronews
Sat, July 27, 2024
Thousands protest in Istanbul against bill they fear will lead to mass cull of stray dogs
Thousands of people have gathered in Istanbul to protest against proposed legislation that critics fear will lead to the mass killing of stray dogs across Türkiye.
The draft bill aims to regulate the country's millions of stray dogs and make streets safer but animal rights advocates are concerned many animals would be put down or end up in neglected, overcrowded shelters.
Demonstrations against the bill, which was proposed in mid-July, have been an almost-daily occurrence for the past several weeks as the proposed legislation makes its way through the judicial system.
A parliamentary committee approved the draft earlier this week, and the full assembly is scheduled to have a final vote in the coming days with deliberations starting on Sunday.
The government estimates that around four million stray dogs roam Türkiye's streets and rural areas.
Although many are harmless, numerous people, including children, have been attacked in Istanbul and elsewhere.
Protest in Istanbul against bill critics say could lead to mass culling of stray dogs, July 27, 2024 - Screenshot from AP video 4508835
The proposed legislation mandates that municipalities collect stray dogs and house them in shelters where they would be neutered and spayed.
Dogs that are in pain, terminally ill, pose a health risk to humans or are aggressive would be put down.
Municipalities would be required to build dog shelters or improve conditions in existing ones by 2028.
The legislation is a watered-down version of an initial proposal, which reportedly called for the strays to be rounded up, housed in shelters and euthanised if they are not adopted within 30 days. That proposal, which was not submitted to parliament, sparked a public uproar, with animal rights activists arguing it would result in the mass extermination of unadopted dogs.
But animal rights activists worry that some municipalities might kill dogs on the pretext that they are ill, rather than allocate resources to shelter them.
The government denies the bill would lead to a widespread culling and the country's justice minister said anyone killing strays "for no reason" would be punished.
Why does Türkiye need to control its stray dog population?
A report released by the Safe Streets and Defense of the Right to Life Association, an organisation campaigning for the removal of all stray dogs from the streets, says that 65 people have died in street dog attacks since 2022.
The government promised to tackle the issue earlier this year after a child was severely injured after being attacked by dogs in the capital Ankara.
A woman feeds a stray dog in the Kadikoy neighbourhood in Istanbul, July 6, 2024 - Francisco Seco/Copyright 2024 The AP. All rights reserved
Despite existing legislation that requires stray dogs be caught, neutered and spayed, and returned to the spot where they were found, a failure to implement those regulations over the past years has caused the feral dog population to explode, animal rights groups say.
They argue that proper implementation of these regulations would be sufficient to control the population.
Britain has recently issued a stray dog warning for travellers to Türkiye, stating that they often form packs and can be aggressive. It has advised visitors to be cautious and avoid approaching them.
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