Thousands protest controversial law to remove millions of dogs from Turkey’s streets
The government estimates that around four million stray dogs roam Turkey’s streets
Huge demonstrations were held across Istanbul on Sunday, protesting recent legislation that critics say is leading to the killing of stray dogs across Turkey.
Last month, legislators approved the new law aimed at removing millions of stray dogs from Turkish streets citing safety concerns. Animal-lovers fear it will lead to widespread culling or dogs ending up in disease-ridden and overcrowded shelters.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the law was necessary to deal with the country’s “stray dog problem.”
Sunday’s protesters called for the law to be repealed, brandishing posters reading ‘shelters are death camps’ and ‘withdraw the bloody law.’
“We want this law to be withdrawn immediately,” protester Hasan Kizilyatak, 64, told The Associated Press. “They (stray dogs) are living beings, just like us. We are here because we are against them being annihilated.”
Ayten Arslan, 55, who said she supports Erdogan, also showed up to protest.
“Just like we stood beside our president on July 15 (2016) when there was a coup attempt, we are here for the stray animals,” she told the AP. “I say as an AK Party supporter, this law, is a bloody law.”
The main opposition Republican People’s Party moved to repeal the law in the Constitutional Court less than two weeks after it passed.
The government estimates that around 4 million stray dogs roam Turkey’s streets and rural areas. Although most are harmless, several people, including children, have been attacked.
A report released by the Safe Streets and Defense of the Right to Life Association, an organization campaigning for the removal of all stray dogs from the streets, says that 65 people have died in street dog attacks since 2022.
The new legislation requires municipalities to collect stray dogs and house them in shelters to be vaccinated, neutered and spayed before making them available for adoption. Dogs that are in pain, terminally ill or pose a health risk to humans will be euthanized. The initial draft bill included cats, but that article was changed after a public outcry.
However, many question where cash-strapped municipalities would find the money to build the necessary extra shelters required.Animal rights activists worry that some municipalities might kill dogs on the pretext that they are ill rather than allocate resources to shelter them.
Videos showing dead cats and dogs buried in ditches have been circulating on social media recently. Animal rights activists say the animals were indiscriminately killed after the passage of the law.
Oli Constable
BBC News
Emma and Anthony Smith moved from Yorkshire to Bulgaria in 2013
A North Yorkshire couple who moved to Bulgaria and set up a charity to help street dogs say they have rehomed more than 1,500 animals.
Former police officer Emma and commercial diver Anthony Smith left Skipton in 2013 and lived in the Dryanovo region, which was overrun with animals in need.
They set up the charity to help neuter the dogs and rehome as many as they could, with their story now being told in a new book.
Animal lover Emma said she was "a bit of a 'you either put up or shut up' kind of person" and took the plunge to become a full-time dog rescuer.
"I could see that there was a huge dog problem," Mrs Smith told the BBC, after they moved to Bulgaria.
Roshy was one of the dogs rescued by the couple
"There was a hospital just up the road and there were 26 [dogs] constantly mating, fighting, [they were] starving, sick dogs."
"My husband and I are animal lovers, and we wanted to give something back to the country we'd gone to live in."
Along with Mr Smith, they set up Street Hearts BG, which had the aim of preventing unwanted puppies and reducing dog abandonment.
The non-profit venture is documented in a new book called Street Hearts.
The idea for the charity came about after Mrs Smith saw a larger dog trying to mate with a much smaller dog, leaving the animal in "fear".
They planned to "at least castrate some dogs so that there's not more misery on the street", but it soon developed into a full-time job.
The charity was difficult to set up as a foreigner, Mr Smith said.
Anthony Smith, pictured with Branston and Renee
"The local mayor provided us with some authority to collect street dogs and neuter them on behalf of the municipality, but it soon became apparent that that was not enough."
After seeking help from the Bulgarian government, it took 18 months to become a fully-fledged non-profit, but the couple say the wait was worth it.
"To date, we've sterilised over 4,000 dogs and rehomed 1,500 dogs, and continuing a free service for neutering for all dogs in our municipality," Mrs Smith said.
Since they started their work, the street dog population in the Dryanovo region had drastically shrunk, she added.
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