Turkish Parliament approves killing of sick and aggressive street dogs
Dogs with "uncontrollable negative behavior and those with contagious or incurable diseases" are supposedly to be euthanized. The passing of the entire law could occur in the coming days. Animal rights activists are afraid that now a large campaign for the killing of street dogs is imminent.
The Turkish opposition, which holds the mayorship in Ankara and Istanbul's metropolis, has announced that they will not implement the new regulation if it is passed by the parliament. On Sunday, opposition parliamentarians demonstrated against the bill text in the parliament, staining their white gloves with red paint.
The Turkish government defends the new regulation due to an increase in attacks by street dogs and cases of rabies among stray animals. "Our people want secure streets," Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated. His Islamic-conservative AKP party and its allies have a majority in the parliament.
At the end of May, Erdogan pointed out that there are approximately four million stray dogs in Turkey - more than any other developed country in the world. In the past few weeks, there have been frequent protests against the planned killing of street dogs.
In the discussions, the campaign against street dogs in the Ottoman Empire was also mentioned. In 1910, tens of thousands of stray dogs were captured in Istanbul and taken to a deserted island in the Marmara Sea. The dogs ate each other due to hunger, and most of the animals eventually starved to death.
- Animal rights activists are particularly concerned about the situation in Turkey, where around four million street dogs reside, making it the country with the most stray dogs among developed nations, as mentioned by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
- The mayor of Ankara, who belongs to the Turkish opposition, has declared that they will not carry out the new regulation pertaining to the euthanasia of street dogs, should it be approved by the parliament.
- On a Sunday in the not-so-distant future, opposition parliamentarians in Turkey's Parliament assembled to voice their disapproval of the bill, symbolically staining their white gloves with red paint, representing the potential bloodshed that may ensue if the killing of street dogs becomes widespread.
- Streets in Istanbul have been the site of numerous protests in recent times, with citizens rallying against the proposed plan to eradicate street dogs, citing the example of the Ottoman Empire's past failures in dealing with stray canines, such as the mass capture and starvation of dogs in Istanbul in 1910.
- The Turkish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry has stated that Ankara and Istanbul have the highest number of street dogs with uncontrollable negative behavior and contagious diseases, justifying their intention to euthanize these dogs, much to the dismay of animal welfare advocates and opposition representatives in Parliament.
