Türkiye Dog Euthanasia Law: In a move that brings back a painful memory from the early 1910s, when the Ottoman authorities captured thousands of stray dogs and exiled them to a deserted island where they died without food, the Turkish government has approved a controversial new law that allows the authorities to “euthanise” stray dogs deemed sick or aggressive. The county’s Parliament passed the law on July 29 amid protests by animal lovers and activists who fear the move will lead to a vast number of dogs getting killed, news agency AFP reported.
The new law, part of a draft Bill on the fate of the animals, says sick stray dogs, and those very aggressive, should be put down. The objective is to reduce attacks by dog and contain the spread of rabies, reports said, adding that the government led by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has also said other stray dogs should be sent to animal shelters and put up for adoption.
Erdogan was reported to have said the stray dog problem was “growing exponentially”, and that the people of Türkiye wanted “safe streets” to walk on.
Along with allies, His party AKP holds an absolute majority in parliament where the Bill containing 17 clauses is being debated.
The Turkish Government have passed a law they cannot enforce. It will result in millions of stray dogs & cats being demonised & slaughtered by poisoning, shooting, or be beaten to death, it will be an appalling brutal bloodbath playing out on social media in front of the world… pic.twitter.com/4Y64ARBHee
— dominic dyer (@domdyer70) July 29, 2024
Opposition To Türkiye Govt Move On Culling Dogs
Animal rights groups, supported by opposition parties in the country, have raised questions of morality, and also sought to know if the government’s approach would even be effective.
They have said the number of stray dogs is high — nearly 4 million, according to reports — and hence adoption is not a feasible solution.
The animal lovers are pressing for a mass sterilisation campaign, instead.
The bill tabled on Sunday saw protests as deputies opposing the law sported white gloves that were stained with fake blood, AFP reported.
While the euthanasia clause was adopted on Monday, the rest are still being debated. The clause explains that those dogs will be euthanised that “present a danger to the life or health of people and animals, display uncontrollable negative behaviour, have a contagious or incurable disease or whose adoption is forbidden”, the report noted.
The opposition Republican People’s Party, which rules Istanbul and a few other major cities, has said its mayors would not accept the law. The government has, however, warned that such mayors would be jailed.
Türkiye has also banned visitors from entering the parliament building to avoid protests.
In 1911, when the Ottoman Empire ruled Türkiye, the authorities in Istanbul were said to have had caught nearly 60,000 stray dogs and sent them to Sivriada, which was then a deserted rock in the Sea of Marmara. The dogs had nothing to eat; they either died of hunger, or drowned. The animals were also known to have torn each other to pieces to feed themselves.
